The man who dropped his 18-month-old granddaughter to her death from the balcony of a cruise ship has spoken about the incident for the first time.

Salvatore Anello, who hails from Indiana, has been charged with negligent homicide over the accidental death of his granddaughter, Chloe Wiegand.

Anello had been on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship with his family in July when he dropped the child. Chloe fell 150 feet to her death while the liner was docked in a Puerto Rican port, and CCTV footage shows the girl slipping from Anello's grasp.

Speaking to CBS News reporter David Begnaud about the accident, Anello claims he thought there had been a window separating his granddaughter from the open air. Anello stated: "I saw her fall. I saw her fall the whole way down. I saw her fall, and it was just disbelief. I was like, 'Oh my God.'"

He continued: "I think that's the point where she slipped out of me. At no point during that whole incident did I think that, well, she fell out. It was, like, it was unbelievable. It's like it disappeared. It's like the glass disappeared ... This seems like it's all not real. She's such a beautiful little girl, a perfect little girl … that everybody should have been able to know, that everybody should have been able to know [sic]."

He added: "The more and more days go by ... I couldn't help but blame myself. But I know that ... if there was a sign if there was something that indicated there was a chance for that window to be an opening, that this wouldn't happen [sic]."

Anello is due to face a Puerto Rican court on December 17 and faces three years in prison if convicted.

The man who dropped his 18-month-old granddaughter to her death from the balcony of a cruise ship has spoken about the incident for the first time.

Salvatore Anello, who hails from Indiana, has been charged with negligent homicide over the accidental death of his granddaughter, Chloe Wiegand.

Anello had been on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship with his family in July when he dropped the child. Chloe fell 150 feet to her death while the liner was docked in a Puerto Rican port, and CCTV footage shows the girl slipping from Anello's grasp.

Speaking to CBS News reporter David Begnaud about the accident, Anello claims he thought there had been a window separating his granddaughter from the open air. Anello stated: "I saw her fall. I saw her fall the whole way down. I saw her fall, and it was just disbelief. I was like, 'Oh my God.'"

He continued: "I think that's the point where she slipped out of me. At no point during that whole incident did I think that, well, she fell out. It was, like, it was unbelievable. It's like it disappeared. It's like the glass disappeared ... This seems like it's all not real. She's such a beautiful little girl, a perfect little girl … that everybody should have been able to know, that everybody should have been able to know [sic]."

He added: "The more and more days go by ... I couldn't help but blame myself. But I know that ... if there was a sign if there was something that indicated there was a chance for that window to be an opening, that this wouldn't happen [sic]."

Anello is due to face a Puerto Rican court on December 17 and faces three years in prison if convicted.