Industrial Accidents San Francisco

A construction crane snapped in two and tumbled 19 stories Tuesday, sweeping three workers to their deaths and crushing two passers-by under a rain of debris during the morning rush hour in downtown San Francisco. At least 21 people were injured, four seriously, including one 12-year-old boy hit in the head while waiting for a bus. Rescuers combed the debris for five construction workers believed missing, but they were later located unharmed.

An equipment operator was killed when his forklift tumbled to the ground from the second floor of United Airlines' maintenance terminal at San Francisco International Airport, officials said. The dead man's name was not immediately released. He was crushed by the forklift and died instantly, airport spokesman Ron Wilson said.

The failure of a subcontractor to properly train and supervise its employees led to the collapse of a 16-story construction crane that killed five people in San Francisco in November, state regulators said Wednesday. The Division of Occupational Safety and Health blamed the accident, which also injured22 people, on The Erection Co., which was operating the crane when it plunged about 200 feet onto a crowded downtown intersection during the morning rush hour.

A United Airlines Boeing 737 jetliner with 107 people on board was unable to lock its right landing gear and skidded to a safe emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday, officials said. The jet's right main gear would not lock and the pilot set the plane down on the nose gear, the left main gear and the engine under the right wing, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Fred O'Donnell. The 102 passengers and five crew members slid down emergency chutes.

A United Airlines Boeing 737 jetliner with 107 people on board was unable to lock its right landing gear and skidded to a safe emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday, officials said. The jet's right main gear would not lock and the pilot set the plane down on the nose gear, the left main gear and the engine under the right wing, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Fred O'Donnell. The 102 passengers and five crew members slid down emergency chutes.

The state Senate approved legislation Friday that would require crane operators to be licensed by a new three-member board, a move inspired by the deaths of six people in the collapse of an industrial crane in San Francisco. The bill by Sen. Bill Greene (D-Los Angeles) would set up a new board within the Division of Occupational Safety and Health to license crane operators.

The president of the construction firm in charge of a building project where a 240-ton crane fell and killed five people here last November said Thursday that he was unaware of the extremely poor safety record of the subcontractor hired to operate the crane. The problem is "we don't deal with safety" records when it comes to hiring subcontractors, said David Grubb, president of Swinerton & Walberg, a large company with a good reputation for safety on its own.

In a highly unusual action, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced Wednesday that it has asked the U.S. Justice Department to consider criminal charges against a San Francisco construction company, Odax Inc., in connection with the death of a worker on May 20. Mel Cassady, OSHA's deputy regional administrator in San Francisco, said the case stems from the death of Pedro Velasquez, 20, who was killed when an excavation wall collapsed on him.

An equipment operator was killed when his forklift tumbled to the ground from the second floor of United Airlines' maintenance terminal at San Francisco International Airport, officials said. The dead man's name was not immediately released. He was crushed by the forklift and died instantly, airport spokesman Ron Wilson said.

The district attorney has dropped his criminal investigation into the crane collapse last November that killed five people, saying drugs and alcohol played no part in the accident. The announcement followed a coroner's report on the crash in which the crane plunged 16 floors in the financial district Nov. 28. The operator, Lonnie Boggess, of Tacoma, Wash., three ironworkers and a bus driver on the street died in the mass of twisted steel and 21 people were injured.

The failure of a subcontractor to properly train and supervise its employees led to the collapse of a 16-story construction crane that killed five people in San Francisco in November, state regulators said Wednesday. The Division of Occupational Safety and Health blamed the accident, which also injured22 people, on The Erection Co., which was operating the crane when it plunged about 200 feet onto a crowded downtown intersection during the morning rush hour.

The president of the construction firm in charge of a building project where a 240-ton crane fell and killed five people here last November said Thursday that he was unaware of the extremely poor safety record of the subcontractor hired to operate the crane. The problem is "we don't deal with safety" records when it comes to hiring subcontractors, said David Grubb, president of Swinerton & Walberg, a large company with a good reputation for safety on its own.

The district attorney has dropped his criminal investigation into the crane collapse last November that killed five people, saying drugs and alcohol played no part in the accident. The announcement followed a coroner's report on the crash in which the crane plunged 16 floors in the financial district Nov. 28. The operator, Lonnie Boggess, of Tacoma, Wash., three ironworkers and a bus driver on the street died in the mass of twisted steel and 21 people were injured.

The state Senate approved legislation Friday that would require crane operators to be licensed by a new three-member board, a move inspired by the deaths of six people in the collapse of an industrial crane in San Francisco. The bill by Sen. Bill Greene (D-Los Angeles) would set up a new board within the Division of Occupational Safety and Health to license crane operators.

The operator of the crane that killed five people when it plunged 19 stories to the ground Tuesday had a drinking problem and a history of suicide attempts, prompting public officials to question why such an unstable person was allowed to run the dangerous piece of equipment. Pierce County, Wash.

State investigators probing Tuesday's downtown crane collapse said Wednesday that they are focusing on possible worker error and mechanical failure of the 240-ton crane as the two most likely causes of the accident that killed five people and left 21 others injured. Less likely causes include wind or a structural failure in the steel frame of the 20-story office building that was under construction, said Hamilton Fairburn, Cal/OSHA deputy chief, at a news conference at the site of the accident.

The operator of the crane that killed five people when it plunged 19 stories to the ground Tuesday had a drinking problem and a history of suicide attempts, prompting public officials to question why such an unstable person was allowed to run the dangerous piece of equipment. Pierce County, Wash.

A construction crane snapped in two and tumbled 19 stories Tuesday, sweeping three workers to their deaths and crushing two passers-by under a rain of debris during the morning rush hour in downtown San Francisco. At least 21 people were injured, four seriously, including one 12-year-old boy hit in the head while waiting for a bus. Rescuers combed the debris for five construction workers believed missing, but they were later located unharmed.