The suicidal pilot of the Staten Island Ferry that slammed into a pier last month met with federal prosecutors for the first time yesterday while the boat’s embattled captain continued to be tight-lipped about the disaster.
Assistant Capt. Richard Smith, who was at the helm of the Andrew J. Barberi when it plowed into a pier Oct. 15 near Staten Island’s St. George Terminal, answered several questions about the crash that killed 10 people and injured 72, sources said.
The feds met with Smith and his lawyers at an undisclosed location in Newark, sources said.
Both sides refused to discuss what was said.
Smith, 55, who attempted suicide after the crash, had told cops he blacked out at the wheel because he was on blood-pressure medication.
Toxicology tests show Smith had not taken the pills 12 to 14 hours before the crash.
Mate Robert Rush told investigators Smith was standing erect and Capt. Michael Gansas, 38, was not in the pilothouse when the ferry hit the dock.
Smith and Gansas, who have been suspended by the city without pay for their failure to cooperate with investigators, could face seaman’s manslaughter charges.
Meanwhile, Gansas remained mum yesterday, invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination about 50 times when questioned by Coast Guard investigators at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island.
Additional reportingbyIkimulisa Livingstonand Kati Cornell Smith
(p. 5 in metro)