I am a crane operator and I watch this video once a month. Apparently two or three crane operators refused this lift due to the high winds that day. R.I.P. to the departed.
@@SilentNightBodomNight no, it's important to have incidents like these documented from as many angles as possible so they can be more thoroughly investigated and prevented in the future
@@gaba-goo3733 What I'm saying is it's impressive the cameraman realized the crane was going to other way so quickly that he was able to stop running and record the collapse.
@@Fireglo . You can find an actual crane expert in the thread that explains two to three other crane operators refused to do that job due to excessive winds. My father was a crane expert of nearly 50 years and always said that excessive winds and certain jobs are a risky/deadly proposition.
@Brian's Place I agree it was too windy not the mention the section of the roof should have been smaller than that even on a day w/no wind (and they subsequently were after that) That said, u have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about so you should shut your mouth. U don’t want to work union go ahead, but don’t say some $ given to their “union boss” (do u mean a BA or a foreman?) was the difference that day. It was more pressure from HC & C than anything else.
For those that may not know, the three men were in a crane bucket in the other crane adjacent to Big Blue. At :55, botton left part of screen, you can see how Big Blue knocks the bucket off the crane.
It must’ve been horrifying, as they were in position to watch the collapse spread to the crane supporting the bucket they were in and send them plummeting to the ground.
You've got these project managers who have their spreadsheet timelines and all they want to do is check off boxes and mark "Complete and on-time" so they get a good review at the end of the year.
Really? From what I understand it takes 2 or 3 crane operators to operate that unit. And no doubt it wasn't a 5-minute job getting that lift to that point, so anybody that "refused" just have waited a long time to decide it was too windy. I really don't think wind had anything to do with it. The load doesn't appear to be moving at all and there's no wind noise in the video, etc. The operator(s) made some sort of boom or hoist movement and that seems to have led to the collapse. Its not hard to pick more than you can place safely and it looks like they may have had to pick the load and then walk it forward. That's never a good situation to start with and I suspect they tried to hoist down or boom down and found or thought they couldn't get it stopped. Those big bangs and booms were down low on the machine. An inexperienced/untrained operator, at least on that machine, trying to boom up with the boom already as vertical as it could go? I have no idea. I worked bridge construction for a while and spent a little time in a crane as a couple of the actual crane operators were trying to talk me into getting into that line of work but I spent a lot more time on the ground and after a few months I went back to being a diesel mechanic. But I've worked around a few cranes and one or two pretty big ones and I know on a properly managed and operated construction sight what the crane operators say goes and that's all there is too it. And even if there are several, there is ONE "boss" and the others defer to his judgement because he's usually the "old-timer". And I find it hard to believe a good operator who refused to do the lift would stand there and watch somebody else give it a go. One way or another, crane collapses basically always come down to operator error, whether its assembly, positioning, rigging or picking.
+Chad Meyer, i read the osha book on this incident.Your correct n also,the operator who refused the pick,left the site n called his superiors,superior n then called osha.Sad day!
I'm an attorney. My advanced trial advocacy professor was Ralph Weber, lead defense counsel for Mitsubishi Heavy Machinery. Many, many factors contributed to the collapse. Wind, improper base for the crane (maybe...very difficult to tell what was there before and what resulted after), excessive load (given the wind speed and force against the load), defective instruments, improper modification to the crane, improper placement of wind monitors, and schedule pressure to proceed (bad management) among them. The only true equipment defect that was raised as a cause was a defective anemometer (recorded peak winds 15 mps less than actual) and two wind speed warning monitors (both had dead batteries). The crane, itself, was not defective; however, the personnel that set up the crane inserted a shim to keep the key pin tight and to secure against shear, but this shim was not high grade steel, but was ... bronze or something ... can't remember. That shim failed, but the shim failed because of the wind pushing on the load, but the load shouldn't have been up because of the pressure to proceed, but the pressure to proceed relied upon defective wind monitors. Many, many people were to blame. Three men died.
Vogel Account I’m sitting in a class right now for crane certification and just looked this video up. You can see the damn flags blowing on the pole and this instructor just said the first operator called it off and they put another guy or guys in the seat. Sumbodys ass shoulda got hung for it
The crane literally blew over. That's why it fell to it's left side, striking the other crane that was hoisting the three gentlemen who died in the incident. ua-cam.com/video/6PRk_iKdiTA/v-deo.html
I was 8 and living in Milwaukee at the time, and our route back home from my school would take us directly past the in-construction Miller Park. I'd always loved machines, and every time we went by, I'd marvel at how massive Big Blue was. If I recall correctly, at the time that model was the largest in the world. Riding home that day, as we pulled up towards that big, wide-open overpass in front of the the stadium, I remember mom and her friend saying "What was that noise?", as they'd heard a loud bang. About 30 seconds later, we came through the trees out into the open. I looked up, & I couldn't see Big Blue, just a smaller blue crane further back, as well as a huge dust cloud. Then I hear my mother say "....Oh my god, it's gone". I looked down, towards the back left of the stadium, & then I saw it; twisted girders & smashed concrete. I immediately knew that was it. The only time in my life I've been present as something historically significant happened, terrible as it may have been.
That first big bang was a 1 and a 1/2 foot radius steel safety pin snapping, followed by the massive bolted sections of the turret giving way one after the other. Once that main pin broke it was all over. The sight the guys in the elevated platform witnessed would have been hell. So scary. RIP fellas. Edit: 1 1/2 foot diameter, not radius, as pointed out below.
@@runswithbeer pretty sure it was just another steel worker grinding metal nearby. If it was the crane, it was possibly the force of the wind grinding the bearings as the crane tried to turn.
I remember taking my dog for a walk that afternoon. The winds were very gusty in Racine County. My first thought when I heard about the accident, it must have been wind related. Who gave the go ahead to proceed with crane work in high winds? My heart goes out to the iron workers who lost their lives. RIP
Probably the scumbag iron worker owners along with the crane owners (the higher ups). They usually green light big picks since most big jobs like this usually have a quota that needs to be met by a specific date. The crane operator probably didn’t want to upset his higher ups and decided to operate anyways. I’ve worked In horrible work conditions like rain and wind because the job site contractors need it to be done, so they push rules aside for progress.
Over here in Switzerland, the crane operator is the highest authority because its his/her ass on the line. Not that of any other person of the companies involved. You do a lift that is against official safety regulations, you take full responsibility for it and you will be the defendant in court if it causes enough damage or injury or death. The regulations are pretty specific about wind speeds at various altitudes and in relation to the size of the load you're lifting, so there can be no misinterpretations. And there is also the benefit that it would be illegal to be fired for obeying the law... Is that not the case in the US?
It was the engineers on that job from what I understand. When I was going to school for my boom truck ticket we did a study on that accident and it was an engineered lift. They didn't take the wind into consideration at all even though multiple crame operators refused to do the lift for that very reason.
@@Ganiscol At the end of the day, 1000 crane operators can refuse the job, but if the company keeps looking, they will find one person willing to do it. I feel that while the crane operator IS responsible for working in conditions that he should know were dangerous, the company holds way more responsibility. In this case, the company contracting the building of the roof was fined $99 million dollars in court, and this egregious amount was purely to set an example in my opinion because it was the largest lawsuit in Wisconsin history.
And this is why I'm a safety manager in construction. Because I can almost guarantee you that the GC said "this needs to get done or else." Also, I'm sure costs were a factor, because those cranes aren't cheap. It's a shame that it cost 3 people their lives. And for what? Destroying a multi-million dollar crane and destroying 3 familes. RIP to those Iron Workers. I will remain vigilant as a safety manager so that it doesn't happen to anyone under my responsibility. I'm currently working on a project for one of the largest tech companies in the world. We are approaching 3 million man hours without an OSHA recordable.
0:42 you can see the little white flag on the top right of the project. The wind was blowing in the exact direction where the crane collapsed. This is why there should be low crane activities in high winds. The force of wind adds additional weight to the rigging load pulling/pushing the crane’s tipping point.
You´re right. I also saw an intersting video about this incident. They say that the crane was close to it´s max. capicity anyway, like at about 97%... Additional forces like wind can easely add another 15% to that. So, even if it may should not fail at about 112% because there is of course a span for safety added, it did, the risk was simply to high :-( As a steel worker myself i totally agree to comments i read here about the conditions on sites sometimes. I´m 42 now and i´m 26 yrs in that bussiness here in Austria. To be honest, in that time i had about 4-5 occations when i told my supervisor to fuck himself and just left, on 1 occation we were 4 man and all of us refused to act like he wanted because of time pressure, it was too fucking dangerous and we all 4 left together while this clown was yelling! One of my supervisors told me he´s gonna slap me back to work if i dont go back myself when i was about 30... I smashed my gloves in front of his feet and told him that he has a free hit, and if i´m not KO after that he should run for his life - damn pussy just walked away after that. We often risked more than we should have, i also saw 2 people falling from about 35-40m hitting the ground in Vienna in 1998... Those guys were just 18 and 24... :-((( This job can be really hard on many levels.
The crane never tipped. If you watch the video you will notice the crawler tracks never left the ground. What happened was the wind forces created enough side loading it sheared the turn table bearing bolts that bolt the upper to the lower. It was also pulling on the roof panel so hard the winch brakes started slipping as the sqealing noise right before the collapse. Watch closely and you can hear small explosions with some dirt being kicked up near back of crane. That is the bolts snapping. During the collapse you can see the upper roatating superstructur seperated from the lower carbody.
I was eight years old when this happened, and I’ll never forget hearing about it because two days later, I went with my family to see the White Sox play the Brewers at old County Stadium and we saw first hand the crane still laying on the new stadium.
I was 8 yrs old when this happened. I could literally see them building this from my parents house. RIP to those brave men. We actually had a field trip here and went down a huge slide too, damn does time fly.
im a union construction worker . i love my trade but this is what i hate about construction every body wants to be in a hurry instead of being safe and these are the results 3 dead .
Damn right! I'm grateful for OSHA everyday I'm on a worksite. It's empowering to know that there is an organization that has my back against reckless job sites.
I started as an apprentice in local 7 right around this time..... I remember seeing it for the first time! The danger of the job got real watching this..... rip brothers!!!
It's kinda crazy how footage like this exists seeing the slow demise of something as big as a crane and the subsequent deaths of innocent and hardworking people
If this hadn’t resulted in a major collapse and the deaths of three people then I’d imagine that the person(s) who disregarded safety in favor of timetables would’ve been rewarded
Surely you’re not suggesting that a company might compromise safety in favour of profits? That mean that workers lives are expendable….! And we know that can’t possibly be true 😢
Having been around many cranes on many sites I can say the sound coming from the one in question prior to this disaster was unlike anything I’ve ever heard….
According to the interview with the prosecuting law firm, Lampson fired their Sr. supervisor (Bengston) at the behest of Mitsubishi because he kept insisting on delaying lifts to stabilize the crane with gravel, etc.
Very sad that good people lost there lives building the stadium I’m a brewers fan I know they have a statue outside but I think they should be remembered every game
My wife and I lived in Milwaukee from '16 to '21 and went to a number of games at Miller Park. Such a beautiful ballpark. RIP to those brave ironworkers in what was obviously a preventable tragedy.
I was a union Ironworkers in Colorado with local 24 and we seen this video in so many safety meeting. The cause was due to wind and the superintendent pushing to hoist this module. I was told the superintendent is now in prison and a few others for neglect and so on. Sad story but to this day there is still superintendent’s that push and push not realizing the consequences. #ironhand #ballsofsteel #ripbigblue #ripironhands
What's even more sad is corporate America still won't learn from these events. 20+ years later and we have negligent deaths daily in the workforce, and it all boils down to jackass supers pushing dangerous tasks in the most dissatisfactory circumstances. I fell off of a roof in 2018 doing pre engineered buildings. Wind was gusting an easy 15-20 mph that day and bossman insisted that we "just knock it out real quick and don't worry about tie offs." I got lucky I didn't die or become paralyzed, needless to say I walked away from steel buildings after that. So many industries now will pressure people into dangerous situations, my last job was doing logging and oh boy was that a solid industry for safety standards. This shit needs to change, the employees are the most expendable asset in America.
There was one other opperator on site that day and he refused to do the lift if you've ever worked construction they were probably already behind on schedule and that's why they were pushing to get that load in the air. You don't play with mother nature because she will always win why you would attempt this when your already at 97% max load is unbelievable to me
Yeah, something should have and could have been done…but there’s a hell of a lot of people that are in line before them, if you want to thank them as well. Im not necessarily a fan of OSHA, but to play devils advocate and in all honesty… They’re the LAST people on that site that had anything to do with this…
@@blueyedevil3479 Why not a fan of OSHA? Not trynna be snarky or start anything. Just genuinely curious. And don't mind another's opinion at all. Only ask cause I assumed they are around.to help organizations remain safe?
Osha can't do shit besides send reports and get them fined.. he can't physically put his hands on anyone or stop people from doing anything. The huge fine you would get from violating safety laws should be enough to keep most business on their best behavior if they're around. These guys didn't give a damn and it got their workers killed.
I'm not completely convinced that it was the wind. If you notice, he starts lowering the load. I think it's entirely possible that the operator got the load moving downward too fast and tried to slow it down and it was more strain than the king pin could hold. That squealing sound that you hear right before the pin breaks is the winch brake trying to stop the winch drum.
@@Fireglo 15 years experience running material barges for offshore oil platform teardown operations. Working with offshore cranes such as the D/B Bisso 800 and the D/B Thor making lifts as much as 1.5 million pounds
I work in construction so am around big equipment all the time. The thought that you can show up to work one day and it will be your last day is terrifying! May the victims of this accident Rest In Peace!
Props to the guy recording though. The kind of cam he was using had no optical stabilization and he managed to frame up on the action just in time and track with it as the crane went down. Magnificent filming and helpful for investigators later.
I'm in the UK, but still remember when this happened. Terrible. :( Crane collapses seem to happen far too often, or maybe we just see more of them now. Rest in peace, guys.
As an operator it is down to you to decide if the lift is safe, i have had to tell site managers i will not do the lift many times because they do not understand it like i do as a trained professional
The 3 that were killed were in the bucket that you can see in the background. They were over 100 feet off the ground when their bucket was slingshotted down.
Just to be clear to people not from Milwaukee, it’s still called Miller Park regardless of the new sign that says “American Family Field”. Just thought I’d clear that up for everyone.
I remember having to watch this video when i got accepted into the Laborers union of North America back in 2007. It was shown to us to give an example of how things can quickly go wrong at job site and to always be prepared and safe 💯
Rip man that’s crazy! Im a scaffold builder in the refineries. They always fly shit over our heads even though they teach us to never be under a suspended load. Crane operators got no patience!
I work construction for 30 years as a welding pipe fitter, Some of my best friends were operators and I have so much respect For them, I am crying as I text this Most of them are gone now but I learned so much From them. You have to remember the operator cannot always see the load he has someone given him directions by radio or by hand signals, My operator stopped 1 day I couldn't get my load to move one way or the other I asked him what was wrong he said you are being too quiet I'm not getting enough informasian I said buddy you really screwed app I'm gonna tell you every move every inch every foot that's the way I want it. It got To the point where there was a Is heavy load he would ask for me to be giving him directions it made the other men mad. A lot of times the load got bent are heart or the building because of the person giving the directions Rest in peace You talented Steely-eyed operators😊😊😊
Steel is pretty unforgiving, think of how solid it is for say jails. Cars. Here it's holding up incredible weight and then Mother Nature comes along and that steel looked like melted cheese
Remember that crane (Big blue) was lifting 1,000,000pounds which is equivalent to 500 tons 1 ton is equivalent to 2,000 pounds also in high winds too winds that were to strong for Big blue they had a wind speed measuring system that day and when the wind got to strong for Big blue to handle they were told to stop right then and there instead of stopping they actually turned off the wind measuring device and kept working ignoring all the rules and safety as a result of the stupidity of ignoring all the safety guidelines 3 people lost their lives on that horrific at the construction site of Miller Park forever R.I.P.
Yeah on engineering catastrophes the episode they say that it weighed 1 million tons I've been involved in huge lifts the most we had was 2,000 tons thankfully when it broke it was a tube section underwater but it still cost one managed life most of the time when accidents occur it's industrial complex
They showed is this in one of my structural engineering classes years ago. Evidently the contractor wanted to save time by pre-installing the luver section on the end of the truss when they were supposed to be added once the truss was mounted. They were in the open position when lifted and the wind closed them side loading the crane. You can hear the king pin shear in two moments before the failure.
I went to County Stadium in 1999 about a week after this and I still have pictures (or, my parent's home does somewhere) of the aftermath. It was odd to drive by this amazing relic of the 1950s (and one of my personal favorite ballparks among the 45 or so I've been to--Tiger Stadium being the best of all). But it felt so weird because next to that great relic, there was this massive half completed dome that looked like an explosion had occurred. It was a weird way to watch a game.
I've been a contractor for only 20 years now I can tell you right now this was an absolute disaster and men died that day. I can never go back to that site and finish.
I watched a video by an engineer about this tragedy. He said the cause was overloading ths crane. It was already at 97% capacity and the wind added to the load and pushed it over the limit.
As a ironworker myself this pisses me off, carelessness on the part of the superintendent and anyone else in charge. If they expect us to die we need to be paid more.
Thank you for warning about the profanity in the description, i would have not been able to tolerate such awful traumatizing language on such a peaceful video of a crane collapsing on an entire building and workplace.
Three brother ironworkers died in this footage, fuck the operator, fuck the management, and fuck you for calling this peaceful. Choose your words wisely.
I work shaft mining in the western states, this last week I’ve been up in a crane basket a couple hundred feet in the air in relatively windy conditions. I always double check the rigging, safety line, loads, etc., I’m pretty thorough in making sure I’m being as safe as possible, but when it comes down to it, common sense and properly maintained equipment is paramount. This is the first time I’ve seen this, and it’s heartbreaking because it shouldn’t have happened. There’s a reason why specific operators are hired and used, if the operator was unsure or not confident in performing the lift in said conditions, there is no plan B regardless of how important or how much publicity is surrounding the event. This is a textbook example for numerous failures in safety procedures and protocol. Truly sad.
The craziest part is that if you look in the background, you can see the roof of the stadium smacking into a box on another crane. Inside that box was the general contractor, owner, and a supervisor. All three of them died that day. All because the owner wanted to supersede the engineer who advised them not to continue and delay construction of the roof, due to Highwinds. Smh the owner was so focused on saving money, and ended up having nothing in the end.
The normal... it's just the tracks crawling moving the crane a little bit to position the section before lowering, which is when one track began to sink
@@tommypetraglia4688 the tracks never sank. That was the swing brake. He was trying to move the boom back over the load. My advanced rigging instructor is the one who did the investigation on this incident
@@monstertrucktennis Safety was not what it is today 25 years ago. That's when I got into the business. I can remember hanging steel without a harness on. Now you can't even fart without being tied off.
The operator of Big Blue wouldn't make the pick that day. He said it was too windy. He was replaced and the pick went forward because the white hats that made this video didn't want to come back another day.
Imagine the sinking feeling in the stomach when you watch that thing go. Even if you weren't involved in the operation, just on the job site. watching that thing go must be like oh sh*t. You can hear the immediate panic in the recording and a man in the distance
The construction industry doesn't get the praise that it deserves. This unfortunate incident underscores the delicate balance between safety,& tragedy. Condolences to the families,& friends of those lost.
Every time we go down to watch the brewers, i think about what happens even though I was born 10 years later. I was told about it and when I was, I was in utter shock. It’s really sad. Rest in peace to the brave workers who died… 🕊️
Sorry for those 3 brothers lost. Im in the union in Cali and help build foundation's for Bridges and buildings and yes it is a dangerous job. We work with big equipment all day and sometimes shit can happen no matter how safe you think it is. God bless those who build this country. Men are the backbone.
What a dumb thing to say. You can always compare to something worse, that doesn't alleviate anything. Pretty sure children starving to death have it worse than these crane operators, and that you have it easier than those coffee workers. Tells us nothing other than you having no brains.
+35yrs in the trades, large scale projects. I made it out ... a few fractures, a new knee, new shoulder, my back's largely ok. My opinion, the worst thing is the hits to the head. These days the slightest hit to the head really hurts.
IW local 67 and have hung out in the local 1 in Chicago. It’s terrible this could have been avoided. Everyday I go to work, I know it could be my last. There is no small fuck up or accident in Ironwork. Stay safe brothers and sister.
The were two guys in a aerial lift next week to it that were killed instantly. This video scares the shit out of me as a ironworker. We have rigorous training but there’s people who do dumb shit. A year ago I just about had a similar accident happen. No one was alerting the crane operator where his boom was and he came down on the iron heavy lifting a massive roof bent just like this. Scary stuff.
Those booms and cable snapping noises were so ominous, it’s like they were out of a movie scene. Crazy to capture that on film being so close to the incident back in 1999. RIP to the departed.
Why aren’t most people acknowledging that an accident of this scope is a direct result of blatant negligence for the sake of production/money before safety and well-being of workers???
Because the head runners don’t want to hear that. Hyper-capitalism reinforces the idea that coming under budget and under the timeline are rewarded, whilst being safe and putting safety at the top of the list is punished.
From wiki: "Wind speeds were between 20 and 21 miles per hour (32 and 34 km/h), with gusts of up to 26 to 27 miles per hour (42 to 43 km/h), at the time of the collapse. The boom was rated to 20 miles per hour (32 km/h), and other workers had expressed concern at the speed of the wind. An investigation revealed that although the effects of side winds on the crane itself had been calculated, it had not been considered for the load the crane was lifting."
I have been involved in many heavy lifts as I'm sure many of you who watch this have. If you feel in danger or unsafe save yourself bye walking away while you still can if nothing else do it for your kids in the construction World we're all basically temporary workers and they really don't care what they have to do to get the job done in fact death is factored into their insurance quotient be safe
I work downtown in San Diego. A lot of new buildings going up, my buddy’s step dad is a crane operator and let me just say, no fucking way. It’s not of the fear of danger so much as, just the pressure of handling that much. You’re basically a surgeon for a Gundam.
I will make this simple. Making a crane lift that exceeds 75% of the configuration capacity, into a side wind and then tracking (moving) the crane with a suspended load is absolutely the operator’s decision. That decision is also considered being a “cowboy” and the loss of life is completely upon the operator’s shoulders. The ground bearing capability, crane structural integrity etc. all belong to that person operating the crane.
Yep the first operator or two didn’t even agree to fly that load because of the wind and they still rushed production. That’s why osha and unions have strict rules on pushing overly fast production it always ends in injury
I am a crane operator and I watch this video once a month. Apparently two or three crane operators refused this lift due to the high winds that day. R.I.P. to the departed.
@@brandonmay6287 for a dose of reality and not to become complacent. Crane operators can be charged with negligent homicide
@@brandonmay6287 you got a big mouth on you boy. Stay humble 🤣
@@brandonmay6287 stop asking people stupid obvious questions then.
@@johnnymnemonic69 look out, we have a tough guy here lol take your own advice.
I'm always amazed at how toxic threads can be. Good job folks.
It still amazes me how the cameraman very quickly realizes he's not in danger and how important it was to keep recording.
Is this sarcasm?
@@SilentNightBodomNight no, it's important to have incidents like these documented from as many angles as possible so they can be more thoroughly investigated and prevented in the future
@@gaba-goo3733 What I'm saying is it's impressive the cameraman realized the crane was going to other way so quickly that he was able to stop running and record the collapse.
It was an OSHA guy filming it, he randomly stopped by to watch the big homemade crane make this pick. Complete coincidence
@@SilentNightBodomNight no
You can hear the wind on the camera microphone. This lift had to be done without any wind, a structure like that is a massive sail
Thank you armchair expert
@@Fireglo 😂
@@Fireglo Its true you absolute waste of resources
@@Fireglo . You can find an actual crane expert in the thread that explains two to three other crane operators refused to do that job due to excessive winds. My father was a crane expert of nearly 50 years and always said that excessive winds and certain jobs are a risky/deadly proposition.
@@Fireglo right back at ya, keyboard warrior!
RIP to the three ironworkers who lost their lives. Local 55 will never forget
That was a sad day.
Amen annie♥️
So sorry for the loss. This is crazy
😆😆😆😆😆
@Brian's Place I agree it was too windy not the mention the section of the roof should have been smaller than that even on a day w/no wind (and they subsequently were after that) That said, u have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about so you should shut your mouth. U don’t want to work union go ahead, but don’t say some $ given to their “union boss” (do u mean a BA or a foreman?) was the difference that day. It was more pressure from HC & C than anything else.
For those that may not know, the three men were in a crane bucket in the other crane adjacent to Big Blue. At :55, botton left part of screen, you can see how Big Blue knocks the bucket off the crane.
Did those 2 die? And the crane operator? Been curious about it
@@snev7545 Yes. All three men in the bucket/basket died.
@@nelsond6 😭😭😭
@Stevi Robinson youre so edgy
@Stevi Robinson you’re next punk bitch keep that energy you’ll end up dead or in prison.
I've been by miller park and its huge, I could not imagine seeing that fall, I could not imagine what those 3 workers felt, rest in peace
They probably said oww!
They weren’t around to feel it.
I been there too and it is huge!
It must’ve been horrifying, as they were in position to watch the collapse spread to the crane supporting the bucket they were in and send them plummeting to the ground.
Wouldn't have felt much but probably shouted FFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKK................................................
this is what happens when you put production schedule ahead of safety and logic. the space shuttle program was also a victim.
Rip space shuttle
Developers pushing their greed towards their deadlines.
Money is just money. Life’s cannot be replaced!
You've got these project managers who have their spreadsheet timelines and all they want to do is check off boxes and mark "Complete and on-time" so they get a good review at the end of the year.
Yep. Production production production then it’s too late.
the 1st crane operator refused to make the lift because of high winds.
Really? From what I understand it takes 2 or 3 crane operators to operate that unit. And no doubt it wasn't a 5-minute job getting that lift to that point, so anybody that "refused" just have waited a long time to decide it was too windy. I really don't think wind had anything to do with it. The load doesn't appear to be moving at all and there's no wind noise in the video, etc. The operator(s) made some sort of boom or hoist movement and that seems to have led to the collapse. Its not hard to pick more than you can place safely and it looks like they may have had to pick the load and then walk it forward. That's never a good situation to start with and I suspect they tried to hoist down or boom down and found or thought they couldn't get it stopped. Those big bangs and booms were down low on the machine. An inexperienced/untrained operator, at least on that machine, trying to boom up with the boom already as vertical as it could go? I have no idea. I worked bridge construction for a while and spent a little time in a crane as a couple of the actual crane operators were trying to talk me into getting into that line of work but I spent a lot more time on the ground and after a few months I went back to being a diesel mechanic. But I've worked around a few cranes and one or two pretty big ones and I know on a properly managed and operated construction sight what the crane operators say goes and that's all there is too it. And even if there are several, there is ONE "boss" and the others defer to his judgement because he's usually the "old-timer". And I find it hard to believe a good operator who refused to do the lift would stand there and watch somebody else give it a go. One way or another, crane collapses basically always come down to operator error, whether its assembly, positioning, rigging or picking.
+Chad Meyer, i read the osha book on this incident.Your correct n also,the operator who refused the pick,left the site n called his superiors,superior n then called osha.Sad day!
I'm an attorney. My advanced trial advocacy professor was Ralph Weber, lead defense counsel for Mitsubishi Heavy Machinery. Many, many factors contributed to the collapse. Wind, improper base for the crane (maybe...very difficult to tell what was there before and what resulted after), excessive load (given the wind speed and force against the load), defective instruments, improper modification to the crane, improper placement of wind monitors, and schedule pressure to proceed (bad management) among them. The only true equipment defect that was raised as a cause was a defective anemometer (recorded peak winds 15 mps less than actual) and two wind speed warning monitors (both had dead batteries). The crane, itself, was not defective; however, the personnel that set up the crane inserted a shim to keep the key pin tight and to secure against shear, but this shim was not high grade steel, but was ... bronze or something ... can't remember. That shim failed, but the shim failed because of the wind pushing on the load, but the load shouldn't have been up because of the pressure to proceed, but the pressure to proceed relied upon defective wind monitors. Many, many people were to blame. Three men died.
Vogel Account I’m sitting in a class right now for crane certification and just looked this video up. You can see the damn flags blowing on the pole and this instructor just said the first operator called it off and they put another guy or guys in the seat. Sumbodys ass shoulda got hung for it
The crane literally blew over. That's why it fell to it's left side, striking the other crane that was hoisting the three gentlemen who died in the incident.
ua-cam.com/video/6PRk_iKdiTA/v-deo.html
"It's coming down now."
Buddy didn't realise how right he was.
the guy knew because he had a camera.
He meant the load was being lowered.
Such a scary sight. RIP to those poor gentlemen. 20 years ago today.
Wtf are you talking about ? That was 6 months ago.
@@brockm3340 Are you blind? The video was posted in 2014
Numbnuts, this video was from 1999... learn to read.
Wow you guys are fucking idiots!!!
@@nogfgoodnight It was from 1999 I remember. Miller Park was completed in 2001.
I was 8 and living in Milwaukee at the time, and our route back home from my school would take us directly past the in-construction Miller Park. I'd always loved machines, and every time we went by, I'd marvel at how massive Big Blue was. If I recall correctly, at the time that model was the largest in the world.
Riding home that day, as we pulled up towards that big, wide-open overpass in front of the the stadium, I remember mom and her friend saying "What was that noise?", as they'd heard a loud bang.
About 30 seconds later, we came through the trees out into the open. I looked up, & I couldn't see Big Blue, just a smaller blue crane further back, as well as a huge dust cloud. Then I hear my mother say "....Oh my god, it's gone". I looked down, towards the back left of the stadium, & then I saw it; twisted girders & smashed concrete. I immediately knew that was it.
The only time in my life I've been present as something historically significant happened, terrible as it may have been.
There was no historical significance to that lmao, nobody gives a fuck my G
Thankyou for your story telling us your story my man.
My bullshit-omoter is flashing
Thank you for sharing.
Try and summarise a bit more. And lie less
That first big bang was a 1 and a 1/2 foot radius steel safety pin snapping, followed by the massive bolted sections of the turret giving way one after the other. Once that main pin broke it was all over. The sight the guys in the elevated platform witnessed would have been hell. So scary. RIP fellas. Edit: 1 1/2 foot diameter, not radius, as pointed out below.
Scary sounds
And those huge pins take some major stress to snap.
a radius of 1.5 feet would be 18 inches, and a diameter of 36 inches. Try again
What was the squealing sound prior to the first bang?
@@runswithbeer pretty sure it was just another steel worker grinding metal nearby. If it was the crane, it was possibly the force of the wind grinding the bearings as the crane tried to turn.
I remember taking my dog for a walk that afternoon. The winds were very gusty in Racine County. My first thought when I heard about the accident, it must have been wind related. Who gave the go ahead to proceed with crane work in high winds? My heart goes out to the iron workers who lost their lives. RIP
Probably the scumbag iron worker owners along with the crane owners (the higher ups). They usually green light big picks since most big jobs like this usually have a quota that needs to be met by a specific date. The crane operator probably didn’t want to upset his higher ups and decided to operate anyways. I’ve worked In horrible work conditions like rain and wind because the job site contractors need it to be done, so they push rules aside for progress.
Over here in Switzerland, the crane operator is the highest authority because its his/her ass on the line. Not that of any other person of the companies involved. You do a lift that is against official safety regulations, you take full responsibility for it and you will be the defendant in court if it causes enough damage or injury or death.
The regulations are pretty specific about wind speeds at various altitudes and in relation to the size of the load you're lifting, so there can be no misinterpretations. And there is also the benefit that it would be illegal to be fired for obeying the law...
Is that not the case in the US?
It was the engineers on that job from what I understand. When I was going to school for my boom truck ticket we did a study on that accident and it was an engineered lift. They didn't take the wind into consideration at all even though multiple crame operators refused to do the lift for that very reason.
@@Ganiscol At the end of the day, 1000 crane operators can refuse the job, but if the company keeps looking, they will find one person willing to do it. I feel that while the crane operator IS responsible for working in conditions that he should know were dangerous, the company holds way more responsibility. In this case, the company contracting the building of the roof was fined $99 million dollars in court, and this egregious amount was purely to set an example in my opinion because it was the largest lawsuit in Wisconsin history.
@@Ganiscol we say fuck rules some times because we a got a country to run, but this is a tragedy regardless. RIP to those guys
An accident which should never have happened. RIP to those who lost their lives.
And this is why I'm a safety manager in construction. Because I can almost guarantee you that the GC said "this needs to get done or else." Also, I'm sure costs were a factor, because those cranes aren't cheap. It's a shame that it cost 3 people their lives. And for what? Destroying a multi-million dollar crane and destroying 3 familes.
RIP to those Iron Workers. I will remain vigilant as a safety manager so that it doesn't happen to anyone under my responsibility.
I'm currently working on a project for one of the largest tech companies in the world. We are approaching 3 million man hours without an OSHA recordable.
0:42 you can see the little white flag on the top right of the project. The wind was blowing in the exact direction where the crane collapsed. This is why there should be low crane activities in high winds. The force of wind adds additional weight to the rigging load pulling/pushing the crane’s tipping point.
Great finding. 💯💯👍 On spot
Fun fact the original crane operator refused to do the lift because of the wind, so the project superintendent took over
You´re right. I also saw an intersting video about this incident. They say that the crane was close to it´s max. capicity anyway, like at about 97%... Additional forces like wind can easely add another 15% to that. So, even if it may should not fail at about 112% because there is of course a span for safety added, it did, the risk was simply to high :-( As a steel worker myself i totally agree to comments i read here about the conditions on sites sometimes. I´m 42 now and i´m 26 yrs in that bussiness here in Austria. To be honest, in that time i had about 4-5 occations when i told my supervisor to fuck himself and just left, on 1 occation we were 4 man and all of us refused to act like he wanted because of time pressure, it was too fucking dangerous and we all 4 left together while this clown was yelling! One of my supervisors told me he´s gonna slap me back to work if i dont go back myself when i was about 30... I smashed my gloves in front of his feet and told him that he has a free hit, and if i´m not KO after that he should run for his life - damn pussy just walked away after that. We often risked more than we should have, i also saw 2 people falling from about 35-40m hitting the ground in Vienna in 1998... Those guys were just 18 and 24... :-((( This job can be really hard on many levels.
The crane never tipped. If you watch the video you will notice the crawler tracks never left the ground. What happened was the wind forces created enough side loading it sheared the turn table bearing bolts that bolt the upper to the lower. It was also pulling on the roof panel so hard the winch brakes started slipping as the sqealing noise right before the collapse. Watch closely and you can hear small explosions with some dirt being kicked up near back of crane. That is the bolts snapping. During the collapse you can see the upper roatating superstructur seperated from the lower carbody.
@@ryanjohnson8340 apparently he went to prison too
I was eight years old when this happened, and I’ll never forget hearing about it because two days later, I went with my family to see the White Sox play the Brewers at old County Stadium and we saw first hand the crane still laying on the new stadium.
Thank God you came out safely
@@garymitchell5899huh?
@@NemeanLion-ikr, religious people are weird
And how old are you now?
@@Johnny-pj5cn33
Heroic of the cameraman to keep the occuring wreckage in the frame
it was a safety inspector
Well in that case fuck that guy for being shitty at his job
@@VegatableThe irony...
I was 8 yrs old when this happened. I could literally see them building this from my parents house. RIP to those brave men. We actually had a field trip here and went down a huge slide too, damn does time fly.
im a union construction worker . i love my trade but this is what i hate about construction every body wants to be in a hurry instead of being safe and these are the results 3 dead .
Damn right! I'm grateful for OSHA everyday I'm on a worksite. It's empowering to know that there is an organization that has my back against reckless job sites.
I work in public utility, it is the sad truth...everyone wants to rush to maximize profits.
The fact that it was filmed by a fuckin OSHA worker is just the cherry atop this shitshow.
I started as an apprentice in local 7 right around this time..... I remember seeing it for the first time! The danger of the job got real watching this..... rip brothers!!!
Same. As a carpenters apprentice though.
It's kinda crazy how footage like this exists seeing the slow demise of something as big as a crane and the subsequent deaths of innocent and hardworking people
If this hadn’t resulted in a major collapse and the deaths of three people then I’d imagine that the person(s) who disregarded safety in favor of timetables would’ve been rewarded
100% . That’s the production mindset until it’s too late
Surely you’re not suggesting that a company might compromise safety in favour of profits? That mean that workers lives are expendable….! And we know that can’t possibly be true 😢
Having been around many cranes on many sites I can say the sound coming from the one in question prior to this disaster was unlike anything I’ve ever heard….
I worked ground crew for Lampson in 90 and safety was paramount. I can not imagine how this happened.
According to the interview with the prosecuting law firm, Lampson fired their Sr. supervisor (Bengston) at the behest of Mitsubishi because he kept insisting on delaying lifts to stabilize the crane with gravel, etc.
Pertinent info starts at 10:15 here:
ua-cam.com/video/6PRk_iKdiTA/v-deo.html
The king pin snapped duhh my father was there tell me other wise
@@sammyriner1130
No shit, Sherlock. We KNOW that!!
Tell all of us something we don’t know.
@@sammyriner1130 congrats fatso ur the silliest woman on the internet.
Very sad that good people lost there lives building the stadium I’m a brewers fan I know they have a statue outside but I think they should be remembered every game
I get the feeling the safety inspector recording this saw it coming.
rest in peace to the brave ironworkers who lost their lives
My wife and I lived in Milwaukee from '16 to '21 and went to a number of games at Miller Park. Such a beautiful ballpark. RIP to those brave ironworkers in what was obviously a preventable tragedy.
1916 to 1921? damn
@@albertjr7928 seriously 😐
@@mackydog99 yes bro. we're not in the 22nd century. u cannot refer to 2016 as '16
@@albertjr7928 yes I can
@@albertjr7928 yes they can lol
I was a union Ironworkers in Colorado with local 24 and we seen this video in so many safety meeting. The cause was due to wind and the superintendent pushing to hoist this module. I was told the superintendent is now in prison and a few others for neglect and so on. Sad story but to this day there is still superintendent’s that push and push not realizing the consequences. #ironhand #ballsofsteel #ripbigblue #ripironhands
One of the few stories like this where justice actually happened
What's even more sad is corporate America still won't learn from these events. 20+ years later and we have negligent deaths daily in the workforce, and it all boils down to jackass supers pushing dangerous tasks in the most dissatisfactory circumstances. I fell off of a roof in 2018 doing pre engineered buildings. Wind was gusting an easy 15-20 mph that day and bossman insisted that we "just knock it out real quick and don't worry about tie offs." I got lucky I didn't die or become paralyzed, needless to say I walked away from steel buildings after that. So many industries now will pressure people into dangerous situations, my last job was doing logging and oh boy was that a solid industry for safety standards. This shit needs to change, the employees are the most expendable asset in America.
There was one other opperator on site that day and he refused to do the lift if you've ever worked construction they were probably already behind on schedule and that's why they were pushing to get that load in the air. You don't play with mother nature because she will always win why you would attempt this when your already at 97% max load is unbelievable to me
fast tracking drugs is an example YES IT'S RELATED
@@JBeamGT3 Faster and cheaper is the motto now. The lawyers and sometimes judges take most of the lawsuit money.
The first operator refused to make the lift because of high winds, and OSHA was literally standing right there videoing. Thanks a lot, OSHA.
Yeah, something should have and could have been done…but there’s a hell of a lot of people that are in line before them, if you want to thank them as well. Im not necessarily a fan of OSHA, but to play devils advocate and in all honesty… They’re the LAST people on that site that had anything to do with this…
@@blueyedevil3479 Why not a fan of OSHA? Not trynna be snarky or start anything. Just genuinely curious. And don't mind another's opinion at all.
Only ask cause I assumed they are around.to help organizations remain safe?
Osha can't do shit besides send reports and get them fined.. he can't physically put his hands on anyone or stop people from doing anything. The huge fine you would get from violating safety laws should be enough to keep most business on their best behavior if they're around. These guys didn't give a damn and it got their workers killed.
@@yoosherbthekid464 If that's the case, they would have shut the operation down.
Federal Agencies are powerless to help you, but not powerless to punish you.
Wow that was scary. I'm honestly surprised only 3 workers died, a terrible way to go.
I'm not completely convinced that it was the wind. If you notice, he starts lowering the load. I think it's entirely possible that the operator got the load moving downward too fast and tried to slow it down and it was more strain than the king pin could hold. That squealing sound that you hear right before the pin breaks is the winch brake trying to stop the winch drum.
And what are your qualifications?
@@Fireglo 15 years experience running material barges for offshore oil platform teardown operations. Working with offshore cranes such as the D/B Bisso 800 and the D/B Thor making lifts as much as 1.5 million pounds
@@Fireglo What are your qualifications?
@@SeanODea25 I have diploma in ghost hunting and paranormal research.
How about an NCCCO? Want my ID number? The wind was a factor but jack is absolutely correct with his assessment.
I work in construction so am around big equipment all the time. The thought that you can show up to work one day and it will be your last day is terrifying! May the victims of this accident Rest In Peace!
Props to the guy recording though. The kind of cam he was using had no optical stabilization and he managed to frame up on the action just in time and track with it as the crane went down. Magnificent filming and helpful for investigators later.
Yea yea anyways hurry tf up y’all take too long
@@GamingIncMasterTroll you are precisely the type of dumbass that causes job site accidents. Here take this with you and keep it someplace safe. 🖕🏻
@@GamingIncMasterTroll just because you said that I am going to work slower
Loads of jobs come with that risk. Its mad when you think bout it
I'm in the UK, but still remember when this happened. Terrible. :(
Crane collapses seem to happen far too often, or maybe we just see more of them now.
Rest in peace, guys.
As an operator it is down to you to decide if the lift is safe, i have had to tell site managers i will not do the lift many times because they do not understand it like i do as a trained professional
Movement = Torque = exponential shift in weight
It's all physics.
Exactly 25 years ago. Damn...
R.I.P.
I was a half a block away when this happened. I was sitting at a red light The whole ground shook. Pretty crazy.
Kudos to the guy holding the camera still. 99% of time people freak out, and camera shaking and you can’t see nothing.
or point to the ground for some reason
My god... This was the worst incident that everyone think of in Milwaukee, Wisconsin History..
The 3 that were killed were in the bucket that you can see in the background. They were over 100 feet off the ground when their bucket was slingshotted down.
I didn't notice that at first, watched it a second time and my heart dropped at the sight of that, RIP to the workers.
That must’ve been terrifying to be there, poor guys. And R.I.P. to the workers who died.
As an Ironworker local 22 here I know how hard work this is and so sorry for those brothers that lost there lives trying to support t families
Just to be clear to people not from Milwaukee, it’s still called Miller Park regardless of the new sign that says “American Family Field”. Just thought I’d clear that up for everyone.
I I remember that when I was super young and saw it on the news
The problem is that the contractor was on a time-crunch and put safety on the back burner. This is why Challenger exploded in 1986.
I remember having to watch this video when i got accepted into the Laborers union of North America back in 2007. It was shown to us to give an example of how things can quickly go wrong at job site and to always be prepared and safe 💯
Rip man that’s crazy! Im a scaffold builder in the refineries. They always fly shit over our heads even though they teach us to never be under a suspended load. Crane operators got no patience!
I work construction for 30 years as a welding pipe fitter, Some of my best friends were operators and I have so much respect For them, I am crying as I text this Most of them are gone now but I learned so much From them.
You have to remember the operator cannot always see the load he has someone given him directions by radio or by hand signals, My operator stopped 1 day I couldn't get my load to move one way or the other I asked him what was wrong he said you are being too quiet I'm not getting enough informasian I said buddy you really screwed app I'm gonna tell you every move every inch every foot that's the way I want it.
It got To the point where there was a Is heavy load he would ask for me to be giving him directions it made the other men mad.
A lot of times the load got bent are heart or the building because of the person giving the directions
Rest in peace
You talented Steely-eyed operators😊😊😊
Steel is pretty unforgiving, think of how solid it is for say jails. Cars. Here it's holding up incredible weight and then Mother Nature comes along and that steel looked like melted cheese
Remember that crane (Big blue) was lifting 1,000,000pounds which is equivalent to 500 tons 1 ton is equivalent to 2,000 pounds also in high winds too winds that were to strong for Big blue they had a wind speed measuring system that day and when the wind got to strong for Big blue to handle they were told to stop right then and there instead of stopping they actually turned off the wind measuring device and kept working ignoring all the rules and safety as a result of the stupidity of ignoring all the safety guidelines 3 people lost their lives on that horrific at the construction site of Miller Park forever R.I.P.
Yeah on engineering catastrophes the episode they say that it weighed 1 million tons I've been involved in huge lifts the most we had was 2,000 tons thankfully when it broke it was a tube section underwater but it still cost one managed life most of the time when accidents occur it's industrial complex
They showed is this in one of my structural engineering classes years ago. Evidently the contractor wanted to save time by pre-installing the luver section on the end of the truss when they were supposed to be added once the truss was mounted. They were in the open position when lifted and the wind closed them side loading the crane. You can hear the king pin shear in two moments before the failure.
Were those the two loud booms just before the collapse?
I went to County Stadium in 1999 about a week after this and I still have pictures (or, my parent's home does somewhere) of the aftermath. It was odd to drive by this amazing relic of the 1950s (and one of my personal favorite ballparks among the 45 or so I've been to--Tiger Stadium being the best of all). But it felt so weird because next to that great relic, there was this massive half completed dome that looked like an explosion had occurred. It was a weird way to watch a game.
Astonishing how such an imposing and powerful machine such as that tower crane folded like paper when the wind overcame it. Crazy
I've been a contractor for only 20 years now I can tell you right now this was an absolute disaster and men died that day.
I can never go back to that site and finish.
RIP to the men just trying to feed their family.
I watched a video by an engineer about this tragedy. He said the cause was overloading ths crane. It was already at 97% capacity and the wind added to the load and pushed it over the limit.
As a ironworker myself this pisses me off, carelessness on the part of the superintendent and anyone else in charge. If they expect us to die we need to be paid more.
Because higher pay really matters when you're dead, huh? 🤣
@@RobertJ-vo4bk it does, unless you don’t care about living your kids anything.
Thank you for warning about the profanity in the description, i would have not been able to tolerate such awful traumatizing language on such a peaceful video of a crane collapsing on an entire building and workplace.
One of the largest cranes in the world collapsing and causing fatalities? Yeah alright. Swearing? Hell naw
Three brother ironworkers died in this footage, fuck the operator, fuck the management, and fuck you for calling this peaceful. Choose your words wisely.
I remember them saying - they are going to do the lift that day on the radio and I thought, man it's too windy to be doing that.
Look closely at the boom lift in the background. There was two iron workers in that. RIP brothers.
Incredible. How incredible and tragic. Sorry for the loss of lives.
No matter how you look at this accident...there was absolutely no excuse for this to happen!
Money will always override reason and logic
I lived in Dousman at the time and was 4. I've never thought about this again until now. But it was the talk of the town, I remember!
I work shaft mining in the western states, this last week I’ve been up in a crane basket a couple hundred feet in the air in relatively windy conditions. I always double check the rigging, safety line, loads, etc., I’m pretty thorough in making sure I’m being as safe as possible, but when it comes down to it, common sense and properly maintained equipment is paramount. This is the first time I’ve seen this, and it’s heartbreaking because it shouldn’t have happened. There’s a reason why specific operators are hired and used, if the operator was unsure or not confident in performing the lift in said conditions, there is no plan B regardless of how important or how much publicity is surrounding the event. This is a textbook example for numerous failures in safety procedures and protocol. Truly sad.
The craziest part is that if you look in the background, you can see the roof of the stadium smacking into a box on another crane. Inside that box was the general contractor, owner, and a supervisor. All three of them died that day. All because the owner wanted to supersede the engineer who advised them not to continue and delay construction of the roof, due to Highwinds. Smh the owner was so focused on saving money, and ended up having nothing in the end.
That screeching sound.....
The normal... it's just the tracks crawling moving the crane a little bit to position the section before lowering, which is when one track began to sink
The friction brakes
@@tommypetraglia4688 the tracks never sank. That was the swing brake. He was trying to move the boom back over the load. My advanced rigging instructor is the one who did the investigation on this incident
Those popping noises were absolutely terrifying, especially knowing what they meant was coming next!
Safety experts were on site supervising. Very sad for the people who lost their lives and their families that impacted by this.
@BOB K promoted
Safety "experts" wtf?
That's who was recording this video.
@@monstertrucktennis Safety was not what it is today 25 years ago. That's when I got into the business. I can remember hanging steel without a harness on. Now you can't even fart without being tied off.
"Experts" . This is such a typical female comment. They really have no clue about anything.
I went through 62F Crane Operating school in the Army in 2000 at Ft. Leonard Wood. We watched this in class. RIP to the workers.
1999: cameraman is genuinely worried about the situation.
2022: Omg! Lmao! My followers are gonna love this! Perfect for the 'gram!
ha ha true
Camera guy deserves an award for this recording. RIP those who died.
The operator of Big Blue wouldn't make the pick that day. He said it was too windy. He was replaced and the pick went forward because the white hats that made this video didn't want to come back another day.
I lived a few blocks away from Miller Park when this happened. The ground shook so hard I thought we were having an earthquake.
Imagine the sinking feeling in the stomach when you watch that thing go. Even if you weren't involved in the operation, just on the job site. watching that thing go must be like oh sh*t. You can hear the immediate panic in the recording and a man in the distance
would’ve been terrifying for sure. Can’t even imagine
It was due to mechanical failure. If I understand correctly, it was the main pivot bolt that snapped. That's that big boom sound you hear
The construction industry doesn't get the praise that it deserves. This unfortunate incident underscores the delicate balance between safety,& tragedy. Condolences to the families,& friends of those lost.
Perhaps the most justified profanity on any video
Rest in peace to those poor three, seems to ring a bell.
Every time we go down to watch the brewers, i think about what happens even though I was born 10 years later. I was told about it and when I was, I was in utter shock. It’s really sad. Rest in peace to the brave workers who died… 🕊️
The two loud BOOMs. What was that?
The Kingpins that hold the chassis of the crane snapped from the extra force of the wind
Sorry for those 3 brothers lost. Im in the union in Cali and help build foundation's for Bridges and buildings and yes it is a dangerous job. We work with big equipment all day and sometimes shit can happen no matter how safe you think it is. God bless those who build this country. Men are the backbone.
And there’s grown adults crying about working 25hrs a week pouring coffee.
R. I. P. To these fine men
What a dumb thing to say. You can always compare to something worse, that doesn't alleviate anything.
Pretty sure children starving to death have it worse than these crane operators, and that you have it easier than those coffee workers. Tells us nothing other than you having no brains.
+35yrs in the trades, large scale projects.
I made it out ... a few fractures, a new knee, new shoulder, my back's largely ok.
My opinion, the worst thing is the hits to the head. These days the slightest hit to the head really hurts.
IW local 67 and have hung out in the local 1 in Chicago. It’s terrible this could have been avoided. Everyday I go to work, I know it could be my last. There is no small fuck up or accident in Ironwork. Stay safe brothers and sister.
Finally a good camera man
20 years this July
I was at university sat in a math class. Crazy to think of where you were and what events were happening
Dang, that’s sad. God rest their souls, and give their families peace after all these years.
You can see the bucket they're in on the other crane get knocked off at 0:55
The were two guys in a aerial lift next week to it that were killed instantly. This video scares the shit out of me as a ironworker. We have rigorous training but there’s people who do dumb shit. A year ago I just about had a similar accident happen. No one was alerting the crane operator where his boom was and he came down on the iron heavy lifting a massive roof bent just like this. Scary stuff.
Those booms and cable snapping noises were so ominous, it’s like they were out of a movie scene. Crazy to capture that on film being so close to the incident back in 1999. RIP to the departed.
That’s so tragic. RIP to those that lost their lives. 😊
Rest in peace to three people who died in the accident
Why aren’t most people acknowledging that an accident of this scope is a direct result of blatant negligence for the sake of production/money before safety and well-being of workers???
Because the head runners don’t want to hear that. Hyper-capitalism reinforces the idea that coming under budget and under the timeline are rewarded, whilst being safe and putting safety at the top of the list is punished.
From wiki: "Wind speeds were between 20 and 21 miles per hour (32 and 34 km/h), with gusts of up to 26 to 27 miles per hour (42 to 43 km/h), at the time of the collapse. The boom was rated to 20 miles per hour (32 km/h), and other workers had expressed concern at the speed of the wind.
An investigation revealed that although the effects of side winds on the crane itself had been calculated, it had not been considered for the load the crane was lifting."
I have been involved in many heavy lifts as I'm sure many of you who watch this have. If you feel in danger or unsafe save yourself bye walking away while you still can if nothing else do it for your kids in the construction World we're all basically temporary workers and they really don't care what they have to do to get the job done in fact death is factored into their insurance quotient be safe
I work downtown in San Diego. A lot of new buildings going up, my buddy’s step dad is a crane operator and let me just say, no fucking way. It’s not of the fear of danger so much as, just the pressure of handling that much. You’re basically a surgeon for a Gundam.
R.I.P. To the iron workers
RIP to the brave hard working heroes who lost their lives on this day. They were just doing their job. And a damn good job at that.
I will make this simple. Making a crane lift that exceeds 75% of the configuration capacity, into a side wind and then tracking (moving) the crane with a suspended load is absolutely the operator’s decision. That decision is also considered being a “cowboy” and the loss of life is completely upon the operator’s shoulders. The ground bearing capability, crane structural integrity etc. all belong to that person operating the crane.
Yep the first operator or two didn’t even agree to fly that load because of the wind and they still rushed production. That’s why osha and unions have strict rules on pushing overly fast production it always ends in injury
100 percent