Rumors swirl over girl's terrifying plunge from Disney cruise ship before hero dad leapt into water to save her
The girl, five, plunged around 50 feet while the ship was heading back to Florida, prompting her dad to jump into the water and save her.
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She fell from the fourth deck of the $900 million Disney Dream vessel on Sunday morning, sparking a frantic rescue mission.
Both the girl and her dad were rescued and brought back to the ship.
But, theories are now swirling over how the girl seemingly fell over the rails.
Pictures taken on board the ship show plexiglass in front of the railings.
Some passengers claimed the girl was sitting on the railings, while others on board the ship have heavily disputed the claims.
'She was sitting on the rail and he wanted to take a picture, and she fell off,' Gar Frantz told the NBC affiliate WTVJ-TV.
'We were just on that deck.
'And then you saw them throwing, like, life jackets over the sides and stuff.'
Social media users, who claimed they were on board the ship, debunked the theory.
One traveler, Monica Shannon, claimed that a crew member told her the child was climbing the railings.
The staffer apparently told Shannon that the girl's parents were playing shuffleboard at the time of the accident.
Shannon told The Mail the wind may have contributed to the fall.
Broward County cops in Florida told the CBS affiliate WFOR-TV the child was not being held at the time of the accident.
The girl's mom cried that her child couldn't swim after realizing what had happened.
Shannon claimed the girl's mother was hysterical.
The man overboard alarm blared out and rescue crews sprang into action.
She was sitting on the rail and he wanted to take a picture, and she fell off
Gar Frantzpassenger on board the Disney Dream ship
Cruise ships must have technology that detects anyone who may have fallen overboard.
'It's a kind of infrared technology; it uses heating and sensors to determine when someone goes over,' lawyer Nicholas Gerson told WTVJ.
'It kind of acts like an alarm system.'
The dad treaded water for around 10 minutes before being brought onto the boat.
Float rings were thrown into the water as part of the rescue operation.
Gail Merrick, who was also on board the vessel, which can carry up to 3,500 passengers, said there was a commotion on board with crew members frantically running around.
He gave a thumbs up gesture as he returned to the ship.
Travelers praised the cruise workers for the speed of the response.
'The Disney Cruise Line staff were phenomenal, the crew, everybody was on it,' Brenda Tackett told NBC News.
'You could tell they've practiced this, hopefully have never used it before, but they were great.'
The ship, last renovated in 2024, returned to Fort Lauderdale on Monday morning.
It is currently on a five-day round trip to The Bahamas.
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