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Lemme Tell Ya ’Bout The Sunshine Skyway Bridge Collapse - Disaster & Survival In Florida
In the early morning hours of May 9, 1980, a violent storm and a massive freighter collided with one of Florida’s most important highways—sending a large section of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge plummeting into Tampa Bay. In this gripping episode of The Tom Gulley Show, Tom takes you through the harrowing minutes before impact, the tragic loss of life, the survivors’ remarkable stories, and the profound engineering and policy changes that followed.
This wasn’t just a bridge collapse—it was a catastrophic chain of events involving weather, visibility, maritime navigation, and structural vulnerability. Tom breaks down the full story with clear-eyed detail and deep respect for everyone affected.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
• What led the freighter Summit Venture to strike the bridge
• How extreme weather and blinding rain created a perfect storm
• Firsthand accounts from rescuers, survivors, and witnesses
• The engineering weaknesses exposed by the collapse
• How the disaster transformed bridge-building standards nationwide
• Why the new Sunshine Skyway became a model of modern design and safety
Whether you’re interested in engineering, maritime disasters, or the real human stories behind historic events, this deep dive brings clarity and context to one of America’s most devastating infrastructure failures.
Subscribe for more in-depth explorations of history, culture, mysteries, disasters, and the moments that shaped our world—only on The Tom Gulley Show.
thetomgulleyshow.com
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By Tom Gulley
3
1414 ratings
In the early morning hours of May 9, 1980, a violent storm and a massive freighter collided with one of Florida’s most important highways—sending a large section of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge plummeting into Tampa Bay. In this gripping episode of The Tom Gulley Show, Tom takes you through the harrowing minutes before impact, the tragic loss of life, the survivors’ remarkable stories, and the profound engineering and policy changes that followed.
This wasn’t just a bridge collapse—it was a catastrophic chain of events involving weather, visibility, maritime navigation, and structural vulnerability. Tom breaks down the full story with clear-eyed detail and deep respect for everyone affected.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
• What led the freighter Summit Venture to strike the bridge
• How extreme weather and blinding rain created a perfect storm
• Firsthand accounts from rescuers, survivors, and witnesses
• The engineering weaknesses exposed by the collapse
• How the disaster transformed bridge-building standards nationwide
• Why the new Sunshine Skyway became a model of modern design and safety
Whether you’re interested in engineering, maritime disasters, or the real human stories behind historic events, this deep dive brings clarity and context to one of America’s most devastating infrastructure failures.
Subscribe for more in-depth explorations of history, culture, mysteries, disasters, and the moments that shaped our world—only on The Tom Gulley Show.
thetomgulleyshow.com