Just before ten this morning, the basket of a crane suspended 35 feet in the air came plummeting down with two men inside. One of the men made it out with minor injuries, but the other, Wilmer Coyi, was killed when his neck snapped during the fall.
It was a freak accident that no one suspected would happen since the construction workers were using the crane for about a month as they worked on the BDF's Aircraft Hangar, which was damaged during Hurricane Lisa.
Today, Courtney Menzies visited the air wing unit to find out how it happened. Here's her story:
A freak accident on the BDF's Air Wing compound killed a construction worker in mere seconds. He and another man were using a crane to repair the hangar, which houses the BDF's aircraft, when the wire rope suspending them about 35 feet in the air snapped suddenly.
According to the acting commander officer of the unit, they'd been hired about a month ago by the subcontractor, and there had been no issues, up until today.
Major Francis Usher, Ag. Commanding Officer, Air Wing Unit
"They had already replaced the zinc on both sides of the hangar, today they were going to begin the front of the hangar and then this tragedy happened."
"They removed the old zinc and replaced it with new zinc. What happened is today they were going to begin removing the old zinc on the front of the hangar and so two individuals were lifted in the basket. From what I saw, the wire that held up the basket snapped, causing the basket to fall. The wire was connected to a pulley which is what holds up the basket and it looks like that metal pulley is what hit the individual in the face, in the head, the individual that passed away."
And while one of the men is lucky to be alive, the other didn't have a high chance of survival since they weren't wearing any safety gear - a fault of the employer, since the men were civilians operating under a contract, and not part of the BDF.
Major Francis Usher, Ag. Commanding Officer, Air Wing Unit
"This work is being done under a contract that was handed out by the Ministry of National Defense and Border Security. The individuals who were working on the hangar are all civilians, they don't fall under the air wing, special boat unit, or the greater BDF. It was just a contract that was issued out."
Courtney Menzies:
"And to your observation, the men working here for the past month, they don't usually wear safety gear?"
Major Francis Usher, Ag. Commanding Officer, Air Wing Unit
"I haven't, I'm using either flying or in my office but the individuals who were on the trolley, the basket today, they weren't wearing any helmets or harness as such."
Courtney Menzies:
"And was it ever an issue that you brought up to the person who hired these men?"
Major Francis Usher, Ag. Commanding Officer, Air Wing Unit
"Unfortunately, I never voiced concern to them. At the end of the day, they work for, we take safety seriously here at the air wing, it's something that we enforce here but they don't fall under our command and so the individuals that receive the contract, they would be the ones that have to enforce the safety standards for them. There were certain safety guidelines that we set out as to where you can smoke, what area of the hangar or what buildings you can walk on top of but as far as enforcing the wear of personal protective equipment, that doesn't fall under our jurisdiction."
So, there wasn't much the soldiers could do, except call 911. Now, they're waiting to see what will be the outcome of the police's investigation, and whether the victim's family will take action against the company.
According to Major Usher, while the work being done on the hangar is urgent, it is unclear what the way forward will look like following this accident.
