Water taxi rams pier; seven sent to hospital

The West Seattle water taxi rammed a historic landing Sunday in downtown Seattle at full speed, injuring seven passengers and unleashing chaos on the downtown waterfront just ahead of the Seahawks game.

Some 78 passengers and crew were aboard the water taxi -- mostly Seahawks fans heading for the game with the San Diego Chargers at Qwest Field -- at the time of the crash.

The vessel slammed into historic Pier 50, also known as the Washington Street Public Boat Landing Facility, at least 100 feet south of its normal berthing space near Colman Dock.

One person fell into the cold water of Elliott Bay and was immediately recovered. In addition, a Coast Guardsman who was walking in the area jumped into the water to look for passengers who might need rescuing.

"We seen people fly forward and hit their head into the glass, blood everywhere, kids screaming -- just really, really scary," said one passenger.

Seven injured people were taken to the hospital, according to a Seattle Fire Department spokesman. Others reportedly suffered minor injuries.

Passengers and crew members were stuck on the vessel, the Rachel Marie, for about an hour and a half as Seattle Fire Department emergency personnel converged on the scene.

Two 41-foot utility boat crews from Coast Guard Station Seattle, along with the Seattle Fire Department and Seattle Police Harbor Patrol crews, responded to the scene to transport passengers and crew off the vessel.

A Seattle Fire Department ladder truck also was brought to the scene to remove stranded people from the vessel.

There was no immediate explanation for how the taxi could have strayed so far from its normal course and hit the seawall, but preliminary evidence pointed to some kind of mechanical malfunction.

According to witnesses, the ferry left West Seattle just after 11 a.m. and proceeded on its normal route to downtown Seattle, arriving off the waterfront about 11:30 a.m.

As the ferry was approaching shore, the captain made an emergency announcement, warning passengers of the impending crash.

The captain reportedly shouted there was some sort of problem and the taxi would have to make a crash landing.

"We heard the boat sputtering, and then we saw the captain was running around saying, 'Something's not right. Something's not right. Brace yourself for impact.' It all happened so fast," said one passenger.

The ferry first hit a piling before crashing into the historic landing at full speed, and passengers told KOMO News that the captain's timely warning enabled many passengers to brace for impact and thereby avoid injury.

The boat landing where the crash happened is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built in 1920 and has fulfilled a number of functions over the years. The landing is the only remaining link from the historic Pioneer Square Skid Road Historic District.

The landing was damaged by the impact, and officials now are trying to decide the next steps.

The Rachel Marie was removed from the crash site a few hours later, and inspectors were examing the vessel, trying to determine what went wrong.

The Coast Guard is investigating the crash.

The water taxi operates between Seacrest Park at 1660 Harbor Avenue Southwest in West Seattle and Pier 52 on the downtown Seattle waterfront.

King County transportation officials announced that water taxi service between West Seattle and downtown Seattle will operate on a normal schedule Monday, beginning with the 6:50 a.m. sailing, using an Argosy Cruises vessel.