Crane collapses happen more than we’d like them to and they almost always caused fatalities, like the recent one that killed 107 in Mecca. On Friday morning, New York City experienced another crane collapse that killed one man and injured 3 others. An onlooker from a nearby building caught the accident on video with his cell phone.
The crawler crane that toppled over was working on installing generators and HVAC roof top units atop 60 Hudson Street, which was formerly a Western Union Building. When high winds of up to 20 mph started to blow, crews began the process to secure the crane, which, at the time, was extended to approximately 565 feet. But, while the operator was lowering the boom, he lost control and the crane fell to the street below, killing a man who was walking to work and injuring 3 others, according to the New York Times.
The impact also completely crushed several cars parked along the road and damaged gas lines. A source close to the investigation told the New York Post that if the crane operator didn’t make a quick decision to turn the crane along Worth Street as the crane was falling, the damage and human toll could have been much worse. Worth Street had been mostly cleared of pedestrians at that point. The operator also blew a .00 on a breathalyzer test and is cooperating with the investigation.
The video below is the footage of the accident, there’s some NSFW language, but it’s been bleeped pretty heavily.