Less than a minute after impact, the bridge shudders and folds. Six people, three passenger vehicles, one piece of construction equipment and one unidentified vehicle are thrown into the chilly water below. The pilot radios the Coast Guard about the colla

for a tug boat. A pilot association dispatcher, meanwhile, phones a Maryland Transportation Authority duty officer to report the ship’s loss of power.

1:27:04: The pilot orders the Dali to drop an anchor and issues steering commands. Cars and trucks continue to travel on the roadway.

1:27:05 a.m. to 1:29 a.m.: The pilot issues a mayday alert to the Coast Guard. Maryland Transportation Authority Police stop bridge traffic in both directions. A handful of vehicles cross the bridge as the Dali closes in on the bridge’s western steel support column.

“Hold all traffic on the Key Bridge. There’s a ship approaching that just lost their steering,” a dispatcher says.

1:27:53 a.m.: An officer asks whether a construction crew is working on the bridge.

“Just make sure no one’s on the bridge right now. I’m not sure what — there’s a crew up there.

You might want to notify whoever the foreman is, see if we can get them off the bridge temporarily,” a dispatcher responds.

1:28:25 a.m.: A half minute later, an officer says he’ll grab the construction workers when backup arrives.

But there’s no time. Traveling at a speed of just under 7 knots or about 8 mph, the ship rams into the bridge.

The voyage data recorder captures what sounds like the collision at 1:29 a.m. The NTSB said Wednesday night that more analysis was needed to determine the precise time of impact.

An inspector contracted by the Maryland Transportation Authority who was standing on a section of the bridge that did not immediately collapse runs to safety at the end of the bridge.

Less than a minute after impact, the bridge shudders and folds. Six people, three passenger vehicles, one piece of construction equipment and one unidentified vehicle are thrown into the chilly water below.

The pilot radios the Coast Guard about the collapse.

“The whole bridge just fell down,” a shocked transportation authority officer says. “Start … start whoever, everybody.”

1:40 a.m.: Baltimore

City fire and emergency medical units are dispatched to the Key Bridge for a report of a possible vehicle in the water.

1:44 a.m.: A second report over fire dispatch reports 13 members of a construction crew potentially in the water. Authorities believe six people were thrown into the water.

1:45 a.m.: Baltimore City and County fire rescue boats and a dive team are dispatched to the scene to search for the missing men. The Coast Guard deploys four boats and a helicopter to aid in the search. Responders use sonar and underwater drones.

1:46 a.m.: Someone asks the dispatcher for a more specific location; the dispatcher says the Coast Guard called it in and said it was off Fort Armistead Park.

1:50 a.m.: A dispatcher says police are reporting the “middle section of the bridge has collapsed into the water” and that there are “unknown amounts of people or vehicles in the water.” Beltway traffic is jammed.

1:51 a.m.: A boat launched from the Coast Guard’s Station Curtis Bay reaches the scene.

1:52 a.m.: Several police officers on eastbound 695 block traffic. A dispatcher says they will get as close to the bridge as possible.

“Be advised, the entire bridge, the entire Key Bridge is in the harbor,” a dispatcher says in disbelief.

2:30 a.m.: One of two survivors arrives at Shock Trauma and is released without being admitted. A second person rescued from the bridge declines medical treatment.

4 a.m.: Divers searching the 50-foot deep waters for vehicles or missing people are hindered by cold temperatures and murky water. The National Data Buoy Center reported water temperatures in that area to be about 49 degrees at 4 a.m. — a dangerously cold temperature.

12:30 p.m.: President

Joe Biden gives a White House address on the Key Bridge disaster, pledging federal money to pay for its replacement.

“This is going to take some time,” Biden said. “But the people of Baltimore can count on us, though, to stick with it every step of the way until the port is reopened and the bridge is rebuilt.”

7:30 p.m.: Search-andrescue efforts transition to recovery efforts, authorities announce at a news conference.