Former merchant mariner on the Mexican naval ship collision

Breaking news about that ship that crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge last night

We now know federal transportation officials have officially launched an investigation into that crash

The two who lost their lives were crew members of that ship, which is currently sitting at Pier 36 on the Lower East Side there

The Mexican Navy says it is a training vessel that was scheduled to visit 22 ports across 15 nations

Those naval officials say they are going to conduct their own investigation as well

There was no major damage to the Brooklyn Bridge. This is according to city officials who say the cause of the crash has yet to be determined

But there are some preliminary conclusions. And for that, let's head out to Fox 5's Michelle Ross, who is live in lower Manhattan right now

Michelle. Arthur, the clearance for the Brooklyn Bridge is about 127 feet

But it's clear after seeing the three steel masts here snap that the ship's height

the Mexican Navy vessel's height, was higher than that, about 150 feet

with people harnessed dangling in the air. And now federal investigators are trying to get the bottom of this

to figure out what happened, leaving two people dead. It's crashing! A Mexican Navy vessel crashed into the underside of the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday night

Tex Smith and his friends saw it all happen. I was just in shock. We all were, like, really confused, like

if this was a stunt for, like, a film or something. He and his friends were enjoying the view on the East River like everyone else there

It was kind of sunset time. Everyone was really relaxed, sitting on the bench enjoying it

And all of a sudden it struck and you could see the bridge shake a little. A lot of people immediately started spraying and then out from under the bridge afraid that it was going to like crash A training vessel Kwak Temuk left Pier 17 just minutes before

A federal investigation is underway, but former merchant mariner Dr. Salmer Cogliano says looking at the footage

it appears the ship was backing out of the berth when the northeast current and wind continued the ship's motion in reverse

It appears when Kvautamok engaged its engines, the ship went astern, in other words, backwards instead of forwards

And so the combination of the ship's propulsion, the wind and the current set the ship toward the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Bridge

The ship was supposed to be heading south to its next destination in Iceland

Many question why there were crew members standing on the masts and why they didn't jump

Dr. Mercogliano says they were harnessed to man the rail or what's called dress the ship

And that's to show the vessels saluting the country they're leaving. So on naval vessels, they'll stand along the side of the vessels

But because you have a three-masted ship with five sails on each of the two forward masts, it is customary to go up there

As we wait for answers, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says the NTSB will lead the investigation and not the U.S. Coast Guard

In these types of investigations, sometimes it's the Coast Guard, sometimes it's the NTSB, but the NTSB is leading it

The Coast Guard willingly ceded the authority to lead the investigation to the NTSB

And the first group of investigators arrived this afternoon, according to Chuck Schumer, and even more will join the investigation

About 277 crew members were on board, 19 were injured, and sadly, two passed away

We're live on Pier 36 on the Lower East Side. Michelle Ross, Fox 5 News