Mechanic Mayhem
2002 Darwin Award Nominee
Confirmed True by Darwin
Boeing News Release
The Boeing Company extends its sincere condolences to the family and loved ones of the employee who was fatally injured in an accident at the Boeing site in Auburn, WA. The employee, who worked for Boeing Equipment Services, was performing routine maintenance on a machine in the Integrated AeroStructures building when the incident occurred. He was immediately transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he later died. The cause of the accident is under investigation. We are deeply saddened by this very difficult and tragic event.

(15 January 2002, Washington) A 49-year-old Boeing worker, a sixteen-year member of the Machinists union, became dangerously careless on the job and suffered dire consequences.
He was working on a giant, computer-controlled machine that makes parts out of metal blocks using hydraulics to control its movement. The hydraulic lines hold over 20,000 PSI of pressure even when the machine is shut off. Despite redundant safety procedures, tags, warning signs, and a fearful co-worker, this employee began to remove a hydraulic line without first relieving the pressure. The bolts holding the line in place were so tight that he had to locate a 4-foot section of pipe to attach to his ratchet to give him enough leverage to loosen the bolt. For some, that would have been warning enough.

Four high-strength bolts attached the line to the machine. The soon-to-be-ex-employee had removed three, and loosened the fourth, when the bolt snapped. A foot-long, 3" diameter brass sleeve was inside the line to prevent the hose from kinking. It shot out and hit the mechanic in the forehead with such force that it knocked him back eight feet, ricocheted off his head, and hit a crane fifty feet overhead.

The maintenance worker never knew what hit him.

ROTFLMAO! [img]graemlins/laugh2.gif[/img]

ROTFLMAO!!! now that's one for the record books... of deaths by stupidity...

and now its time... to unveil...

MY NEW SIG *blam* consider this a test...

Sad really. Sad that a 16 year veteran on the job could be so cocky (and yes, stupid) that he thinks he can do anything and get away with it. He found out the hard way.

I wonder if the insurance company is going to claim it was suicide. Surely he had to know it COULD kill him. I feel sorry for his family.

I think this should be added to the Tips of Life thread [img]tongue.gif[/img]

NEVER try to remove bolts from a super high pressure hydrualic line until the pressure has been relieved. DONT try to relive the pressure by removing the bolts.

What an AIR head. (yes there were a couple puns intended in that [img]tongue.gif[/img] )

[ 07-04-2002, 11:10 AM: Message edited by: Earthdog ]

Why is a stupid death called "a darwin" anyway? I fail to see what it have to do with Charles Darwin and his studies.

Survival of the fittest, in this case the most intelligent. Though you're right it has little to do with Darwin's actual theories...

Oh well - I can't see what's so funny about this sort of stuff anyway.

[ 07-04-2002, 12:36 PM: Message edited by: Melusine ]