© 2024 All Rights reserved WUSF
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Remembering The Sunshine Skyway Bridge Collapse of 1980

Richard Hornbuckle's car rests where it skidded to a stop just 14 inches from the edge of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which was struck by a freighter on May 9, 1980.
ERIC MENCHER | St. Pete Times (1980)
Richard Hornbuckle's car rests where it skidded to a stop just 14 inches from the edge of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which was struck by a freighter on May 9, 1980.
Richard Hornbuckle's car rests where it skidded to a stop just 14 inches from the edge of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which was struck by a freighter on May 9, 1980.
Credit ERIC MENCHER | St. Pete Times (1980)
Richard Hornbuckle's car rests where it skidded to a stop just 14 inches from the edge of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which was struck by a freighter on May 9, 1980.

  This is the actual Mayday call pilot John Lerro made to the Coast Guard on May 9, 1980 when the Summit Venture hit the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

On May 9,  1980, tragedy struck Tampa Bay when a 600-ft cargo ship struck the Sunshine Skyway Bridge causing a segment of the bridge to collapse.    Seven cars and a Greyhound bus fell over the edge and 35 people died. We speak with writer Bill DeYoung about his new book, “ Skyway: The True Story of Tampa Bay's Signature Bridge and the Man Who Brought It Down ,” covering the state of the bridge prior, details about the tragedy, its aftermath, and the man who was piloting the ship when it struck the bridge.

Copyright 2020 WGCU. To see more, visit WGCU.

Remembering The Sunshine Skyway Bridge Collapse of 1980

Amy Tardif is WGCU’s FM Station Manager and News Director. She oversees a staff of 10 full and part-time people and interns in news, production and the radio reading service. Her program Lucia's Letter on human trafficking received a coveted Peabody Award, an Edward R. Murrow Award, a gold medal from the New York Festivals and 1 st place for Best Documentary from the Public Radio News Directors Inc. She was the first woman in radio to Chair RTDNA, having previously served as Chair-Elect and the Region 13 representative on its Board of Directors for which she helped write an e-book on plagiarism and fabrication. She also serves on the FPBS Board of Directors and served on the PRNDI Board of Directors from 2007 -2012. Tardif has been selected twice to serve as a managing editor for NPR's Next Generation Radio Project. She served on the Editorial Integrity for Public Media Project helping to write the section on employee's activities beyond their public media work. She was the producer and host of Gulf Coast Live Arts Editionfor 8 years and spent 14 years asWGCU’slocal host of NPR's Morning Edition. Amy spent five years as producer and managing editor ofWGCU-TV’sformer monthly environmental documentary programs In Focus on the Environmentand Earth Edition.Prior to joiningWGCUPublic Media in 1993, she was the spokesperson for the Fort Myers Police Department, spent 6 years reporting and anchoring for television stations in Fort Myers and Austin, Minnesota and reported forWUSFPublic Radio in Tampa. Amy has two sons in college and loves fencing, performing in local theater and horseback riding.
WUSF 89.7 depends on donors for the funding it takes to provide you the most trusted source of news and information here in town, across our state, and around the world. Support WUSF now by giving monthly, or make a one-time donation online.