Crane accident at the Dean Mcgee Eye institute’s new construction. No injuries reported at this time, however the operator did have to call home for a spare pair of pants to be brought to the site.



Seriously, it’s a good thing that nobody got hurt, and I can’t help but think it’s probably a indicator of good procedure somewhere that nobody was stupid enough to be underneath the running crane. As for the causes, could be operator error, could be equipment malfunction, I don’t know. Five minutes from now it’ll be old news.

Update: My dad (a pipe weldor with ~40 years on construction sites) tells me that it was almost definitely operator error. The main line was pulled too tight, the cable snapped, everything jumps and goes slack, at which point the lack of tension causes the jib to fall. It was a huge stroke of luck, according to dad, that the crane came down in an empty area, and also that the operator is alive.

Posted by Matt on 2009-02-24T00:00:00Z GMT