Schettino said on Italian TV that “we were the last to leave the ship.” Yet witnesses describe Schettino wrapped in a blanket on the shore at 11:40 p.m., two hours after the crash, one hour after first alerting authorities, and a full six hours before evacuation was complete.
In the instantly famous recording between Schettino and coast guard official Mr. De Falco, the latter tells the captain at 1:46 a.m., “Listen, Schettino. There are people trapped on board. Now, you go with your lifeboat. […] Go on board the ship and get back to me and tell me how many people are there.[…] Listen Schettino, perhaps you have saved yourself from the sea but I will make you look very bad. I will make you pay for this."
Schettino insists it is “too dark to see,” and he is “coordinating” the rescue from his lifeboat. While he agreed to go back on board, Italian officials believe he did not.
Before a magistrate Tuesday, Schettino reportedly said he accidentally fell into a life boat: “The passengers were pouring onto the decks, taking the lifeboats by assault. I didn’t even have a life jacket because I had given it to one of the passengers,” he is quoted as saying. “I was trying to get people to get into the boats in an orderly fashion. Suddenly, since the ship was at a 60 to 70 degree angle, I tripped, and I ended up in one of the boats. That’s how I found myself there.” He reportedly remained in the lifeboat for nearly an hour before it was launched.
