Georgia

When the giant cargo ship began to tip over off the Georgia coast, harbor pilot Jonathan Tennant found himself on his side, screaming orders in the darkness while flying debris that felt like gravel pelted him. After much of the Golden Ray slipped into the sea, crew members feared they would perish if they stayed on the ship — but they also could die if they attempted perilous climbs and dangerous leaps to reach the ocean. Their accounts are contained in interviews included among more than 1,700 pages of documents made public Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Interstate 16 is the main route used by many people from metro Atlanta who travel south from the city to Macon, and then use I-16 to get to Savannah and Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. The bridge is about 150 miles (240 kilometers) southeast of Atlanta.