February 19, 1980 report from WTVT's Neil Vacino, Tampa/St. Petersburg. Blackthorn had collided with a freighter on the evening of Jan. 28, and quickly sank. Twentythree of the 50 crewmen were lost. The cutter was raised, with 14 bodies still trapped inside, three days after another freighter, attempting to navigate a small, temporary channel around the sunken Blackthorn, clipped one of the Skyway's main piers. The pilot was John Lerro.