Aerial Suffers Catostophic Failure

[TNFF319]

All I can say is WOW!

[RoofTopTrucky]

http://firefighterclosecalls.com/fullstory.php?106382

Not sure how many of you have seen this on FFCC, but it happened to an Aerial in my town. Like the article reads, no one was injured...thank god. Also it was determined not to be operator error. Guys from my station were the ones getting ready to climb when the failure occoured, they said when it hit it sounded like a bomb went off and before they knew it the rigs fornt bumper was inches from the ground and the back end was already on its way back down, slamming the rear out riggers/tires off the ground, sounding like a smaller bomb....being that the rig weighs in just under 90K lbs, thats a hell of a lot of force in itself. And it's quite noticable from the looks on the faces of the guys when the talk about it 4 days later.
As I thought more and more about what happened, I started wondering...what could have possibly lead to this faiure? I'm not an aerial guru by any means, but dosent NFPA require some sort of gizmo in the hydraulic system that keeps it from "free falling" in the event of a failure?
Other thoughts are what kind of damage was caused? THe bucket is "listing" forward in the stowed position and the cradle is pretty much fubar. But what kind of ladder damage, frame damage, torque box damage, and our rigger damage could ahve been done. After all, that a big friggin hunk of steel that came crashing down...with enough force to tip the rig forward on it's front out riggers and then slam back down onto the pavement. THe inquisative part of me kind of wishes I could have seen it in person... just the sheer force involved is mind boggeling.

What are your thoughts on it?
Have you ever heard of or seen anthing like this?

[FIREMECH1]

Comment deleted due to dumb asses.

FM1

[redbaron]

There is an extreme possibility that this rig had a catastrophic failure of everything but for some reason the ladder is still up and the pinless outriggers are holding also. It must be the useless shopping cart not being heavy enough to fall !!!!

[captainchaos]

Like Cary, NC, those dang outsourced welders are probably at fault again.


They probably can just re-release the statement from 2002:

Pierce officials expect to complete their investigation within a few days but have already found most of their answers, said Kirsten Skyba, vice president of communications at Pierce.

"First and foremost we're very relieved and thankful no one was seriously injured," she said.

Skyba said the initial investigation indicates there was a failure near the base of the ladder due to human error during the vehicle's welding and assembly process.

[Rescue101]

There is an extreme possibility that this rig had a catastrophic failure of everything but for some reason the ladder is still up and the pinless outriggers are holding also. It must be the useless shopping cart not being heavy enough to fall !!!!

Who parked too close to the fire? hehe T.C.

[Rescue101]

Like Cary, NC, those dang outsourced welders are probably at fault again.


They probably can just re-release the statement from 2002:

Pierce officials expect to complete their investigation within a few days but have already found most of their answers, said Kirsten Skyba, vice president of communications at Pierce.

"First and foremost we're very relieved and thankful no one was seriously injured," she said.

Skyba said the initial investigation indicates there was a failure near the base of the ladder due to human error during the vehicle's welding and assembly process.

Should have stuck with Smeal. T.C.

[Ledebuhr1]

Any pics of this failure?

[RoofTopTrucky]

Any pics of this failure?

I'm not sure if any pics exsist.... Only chance is if some one cranked off a quick picture with their cell phone. From everyone I spoke with who witnessed it, the ladder was never extended or rotated he was in the process of raising it out of the cradle. one of my guys explained it like this:
"It was like some one was lifing the aerial up out of the cradle, then when it got to about 6 or 7 feet up, they cut the rope and bang, it came crashing down and came to rest in the stowed position"
Only "obvious" damage was the bucket being tilted forward, the cradle cracked and bent, and they said it even kinda looked like the rig "bowed" in the middle as if the downward force on the cradle bent the frame, but they had no way of confirming that. So it pretty much looks just like it did in the picture located in the article.

[WoodbridgeFFII]

The good news is that no one was hurt, the bad news is that the apparatus will be out of service for a long time. What was the make & model of the aerial truck ?

[nameless]

very interesting failure. We've had our truck turned off with the aerial up during training, and it stays put. I don't know much about hydraulic systems but I'd bet it was some sort of internal leak. Very scary too, thankfully this wasn't raised higher when it fell an most of all no one was on it.

[Rescue101]

very interesting failure. We've had our truck turned off with the aerial up during training, and it stays put. I don't know much about hydraulic systems but I'd bet it was some sort of internal leak. Very scary too, thankfully this wasn't raised higher when it fell an most of all no one was on it.

Check the new release. If I READ it right,sounds like a weld failure. T.C.

[LT2410]

Check the new release. If I READ it right,sounds like a weld failure. T.C.

Is there a link to this press release?

[Rescue101]

No LT. I READ the OLD one by mistake. Nothing has been released yet. Sorry! T.C.

[k1500chevy97]

My kool aid has a sour taste to it.

[LT2410]

No LT. I READ the OLD one by mistake. Nothing has been released yet. Sorry! T.C.

No problem. Completely understandable for a Monday.

[Rescue101]

very interesting failure. We've had our truck turned off with the aerial up during training, and it stays put. I don't know much about hydraulic systems but I'd bet it was some sort of internal leak. Very scary too, thankfully this wasn't raised higher when it fell an most of all no one was on it.

Most everything built of late has "lock" valves. Without hydraulic pressure they will stay wherever they were when the pressure was lost. Along with velocity restrictors in the lift cylinders so they can only come down so fast in the event of a hose or fitting failure. T.C.

[RoofTopTrucky]

Here's a few answers for some of the questions/comments;

The rig is a 2003 Pierce Lance 100' Ladder tower w/ prepiped water way.

There were absolutly NO hydraulic leaks found, be it a hose, a fitting or valve, even after it came crashing down.

T.C. asside from what got damaged when it slammed down onto the cradel, there was no other obvious damage, so I don't understand how it could be a weld problem.

I Spoke with one of the guys yesterday, the rig is at the local dealer, they actually drove the thing up there, and when they got there the dealer tried to set it up. As soon as they threw the switch every alarm, bell whistle and light started going off, (gee wonder why) And after their quick inspection, they found no hydraulic leaks either.

[FIREMECH1]

First, glad nobody was hurt.

I would only imagine that the cause of the sudden drop of the ladder would be one of two things, or a combination of the two.

Either way, the problem is internal to the hydraulic system. Either the safety valve block released internally, and or, the raise/lower valve gave up. I'd be more than likely would be looking at the safety valve block as the fault/problem.

FM1

[Rescue101]

Trucky,Read post 14. I read the CARY report thinking it was YOURS. My BAD. Like FM says,this is a HIGHLY unusual event with modern hyd safety systems. I will be MOST interested to see what you find out. Glad no one was hurt,100' is a LONG way to fall. Sorry for the confusion,T.C.