The captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that wrecked off the coast of Italy is under fire for his apparent cowardly and selfish actions following the accident. There is an audio recording of Captain Francesco Schettino being ordered to return to his ship by a coastguard official. The captain did not want to return to the sinking ship.
Now we learn how the captain ended up in a lifeboat in the first place. The
Telegraph reports that the captain told investigators that he tripped and fell into the life boat.
Schettino reportedly told investigators, "The passengers were pouring onto the decks, taking the lifeboats by assault. I didn't even have a life jacket because I had given it to one of the passengers. I was trying to get people to get into the boats in an orderly fashion. Suddenly, since the ship was at a 60 to 70 degree angle, I tripped and I ended up in one of the boats. That's how I found myself there."
This video contains the audio of a coastguard official repeatedly urging and ordering Captain Schettino to return to his ship. Take a look:
