On Friday, January 28, 2022, at about 6:37 a.m. eastern standard time, the Fern Hollow Bridge, which carried Forbes Avenue over the north side of Frick Park in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, experienced a structural failure. As a result, the 447-foot-long bridge fell about 100 feet into the park below. The collapse began when the transverse tie plate on the southwest bridge leg failed due to extensive corrosion and section loss. The corrosion and section loss resulted from clogged drains that caused water to run down bridge legs and accumulate along with debris at the bottom of the legs, which prevented the development of a protective rust layer or patina. Although repeated maintenance and repair recommendations were documented in many inspection reports, the City of Pittsburgh failed to act on them, leading to the deterioration of the fracture-critical transverse tie plate and the structural failure of the bridge. At the time of the collapse, a 2013 New Flyer articulated transit bus, operated by the Port Authority of Allegheny County, and four passenger vehicles were on the bridge. A fifth passenger vehicle drove off the east bridge abutment after the collapse began and came to rest on its roof on the ground below. As a result of the collapse, the bus driver sustained minor injuries and two bus occupants were uninjured. Of the six passenger vehicle occupants, two sustained serious injuries, one sustained a minor injury, two were uninjured, and the injury status of one was unknown.
On October 25, 2023, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) published a proposed rule to establish a safety standard for residential gas furnaces and boilers. In the proposed rule, CPSC announces its preliminary determination that these products pose an unreasonable risk of injury and death. Therefore, CPSC’s proposed rule would require all residential gas furnaces and boilers to, either directly or indirectly, continuously monitor the concentration of carbon monoxide (CO) produced during the combustion process. The gas furnace or boiler would also be required to prevent dangerous CO levels through a shutdown or modulation mechanism.
The Commission has prepared an initial regulatory flexibility analysis for the rulemaking outlining the costs and impacts to small businesses. The analysis finds that the rulemaking will result in a maximum conversion cost of $13.80 million for each of the five small furnace and boiler manufacturers identified by CPSC. CPSC requests comments on the rule, and small businesses are encouraged to provide detailed information on the direct cost implications and whether any regulatory alternatives would minimize the impact on small entities.
I have spent much time reading NTSB accident reports over my career. They are usually very educational, even for those of us outside the aviation industry. This incident involving this mother of three being sucked into a jet engine has captured a lot of headlines due to its graphic nature, but there will be so much to learn from this incident in the coming months/years. So far what we can learn from this tragedy... Administrative Controls have severe limitations! Here is the preliminary information from the NTSB. See if you can see the weaknesses, slips, lapses, mistakes, and violations that caused this accident.
I will say this; the NTSB made clear that two (2) ground crew members placed themselves in harm's way and had to be corrected by another ground crew member; one of these members was the deceased. This after both of these workers had attended a "safety briefing" 10 minutes before the plane arrived and a "safety huddle" before the aircraft reached the gate. Both meetings specifically stated that engines would remain on at the gate until ground power was connected to the plane.
On May 3, 2022, at about 19:45 local time, the inspected passenger vesselNatchez, with one crewmember on board standing a security watch, was moored in the Industrial Canal in New Orleans, Louisiana, undergoing renovations when a fire broke out.1Local firefighters extinguished the fire at 2139. No pollution or injuries were reported. Damage to the vessel was estimated at $1.5 million.
SPECIAL NOTE:
The investigation determined Hot work to remove the electrical panel in the generator space within the engine room was completed at 15:45.
The diesel engine technician, working in a different area of the space, was the last to leave when he stopped working in the generator space at about 18:00. He did not notice any sign of a fire or smoke before departing the area, and neither he nor the deckhand on vessel security watch noticed any indication of a fire when the technician departed the vessel about 18:30.
The first indication that there was a fire was about 1 hour and 15 minutes later, at 19:45, when the deckhand saw smoke, went to investigate, and saw the fire within the engine room.
