Virginia Beach, VA : Truck driver killed when truck goes off Chesapeake Bay Bridge on May 15, 2014

A tractor trailer and its driver are still submerged in the Chesapeake Bay after it crashed into a maintenance truck before jack-knifing and crashing into the water Thursday morning.

The tractor trailer traveled over the bridge near mile marker 15 shortly after 10:00 a.m.

The tractor trailer driver was heading northbound, as workers were on the CBBT making repairs to cracks.

The tractor trailer crashed into one of the maintenance trucks, as well as a light pole, police say. It then went over the railing and into the water.

Todd Cannon with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management was immediately behind the truck and saw the crash happen.

“It was a loud impact. I actually was on the phone with the Coast Guard talking about a different issue and that actually helped me to get more assets there quickly because I was actually speaking to them at the time of the impact,” he says.

Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewman (SWCC), from an East Coast based Special Boat Team (SBT) were training in the area and able to assist the Coast Guard with Search and Rescue Operations until local authorities arrived on scene.

Navy crews have also hooked up cables to the cab of the truck and the trailer to keep them from drifting, officials say. The truck was visible above the surface for quite a while but has since sunk.

Virginia Beach Fire and EMS teams are on scene, attempting to recover what was reported as a single occupant of the truck, police say.

So far, nobody has made contact with the driver.

Navy sources tell NewsChannel 3 that an H-60 helicopter was dispatched with a rescue swimmer who made multiple attempts to try and reach the driver. However, the cab of the truck was reportedly too damaged for the swimmer to breach.

The swimmer could see the driver and reports that they appeared to be in bad shape.

A rope was attached to the door of the tractor-trailer’s cab and pulled by one of the SWCC boats, but that effort was also unsuccessful.

The driver of the tractor trailer was “too entangled” in the wreckage to be saved, according to Amy Valdez of the Virginia Beach Fire Department.

Recovery attempts are continuing at this time.

The Coast Guard dispatched crews aboard a 45-foot Response Boat – Medium from Coast Guard Station Little Creek and diverted the Coast Guard Cutter Beluga, an 87-foot patrol boat to assist.

“It’s a multi jurisdictional response to make sure all of the responders are safe. Concerned with what the truck may be carrying or if anything was spilled into the water, no hazards at this point. As far as what is in the trailer, they don’t know,” Valdez added.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is now open to all traffic. A single northbound lane is open near mile marker 15. Drivers are advised to use caution.

A private Portsmouth company is now tasked with diving in to recovery the driver’s body.

When exactly that starts depends on if the choppy waters even out.

Source :
Witnesses describe tractor-trailer crash