Mechanic Mayhem
2002
Darwin Award Nominee
Confirmed
True by Darwin
(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.