3 Hurt As Liberty Island Ferry Makes Hard Landing

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) – Three crew members suffered minor injuries Tuesday afternoon when a ferry made a hard landing at Liberty Island, authorities said.

The ferry, the Miss New Jersey, which was taking passengers from Battery Park to the Statue of Liberty, was carrying 497 passengers and nine crew members when it struck the dock at 3:10 p.m, CBS 2′s Joe Biermann reported. All three of those injured refused medical attention.

After the vessel struck the dock, the passengers disembarked and continued their visit, said Statue Cruises, the ferry’s operator. The Coast Guard inspected the boat and deemed it safe to return to its home in Jersey City, the company said.

It is unclear what caused the accident. The vessel was not taking on any water, officials said.

U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman Jetta Disco said Coast Guard investigators were to test crew members for drugs and alcohol, among other possibilities.

“They’re going to go through the vessel and examine any sort of work that’s been done to the vessel, take into account sort of any environmental factors and then of course, take into account any human factors,” Disco told WCBS 880′s Marla Diamond.

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