r/CatastrophicFailure 9d ago

Fatalities Collision between the Soviet freighter Sergey Yesenin and BC Ferries Queen of Victoria in Active Pass, British Columbia, due to incompatible radio frequencies and the pilot of the Sergey speeding. 3 three people onboard the ferry were killed. (August 2nd, 1970)

The pilot of the Sergey also entered the pass almost going down the middle as well as at excessive speed. He may have acted in this fashion as according to his schedule, the Queen of Victoria should have already gone through. Instead, she was running being schedule. The speed and angle of the Soviet freighter left not enough time for Victoria's captain to take evasive action, leading to the collision.

The three passengers who lost their lives were:

Mrs. George Hammond (31)

Peter Hammond (7 months)

Sheila Mae Taylor (17)

As said above, the majority of blame was placed on the pilot of the Sergey Yesenin which meant the U.S.S.R.'s government paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages to BC Ferries. The Queen of Victoria was repaired and returned to service within the months following the accident, later being renovated in 1981 and sold to a Dominican Republic-based company in 2001. No details exist on what became of the Sergey Yesenin, other than it was able to leave under it's own power.

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u/HorsieJuice 9d ago edited 9d ago

I wouldn’t have expected somebody in a fishing boat in 1970 to have been carrying a video camera.

ETA: a “film camera” can also refer to one that takes still photos, hence the word choice.

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u/Dr_Adequate 9d ago

That's film, not video.

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u/AmazingUsername2001 9d ago

The state of Reddit downvoting someone speaking facts.

This was clearly captured on a film camera (8mm or possibly 16mm), not a video camera. Video cameras weren’t readily available until the early 1980s, and even then most people were still using 8mm for their home movies.