Crane company blames high winds for fatal Dallas collapse, says operator followed procedure

The company that owns the crane that fatally crashed through a Dallas apartment building during a storm this month blames high winds for the collapse, saying the crane's operator followed proper procedure.

Bigge Crane and Rigging said in a statement Thursday that the operator placed the crane in the “appropriate out-of-service mode” when he completed work the day before the June 9 collapse, which killed one woman, injured five other people and displaced more than 500 residents from the Elan City Lights apartments in Old East Dallas.

“We believe that extreme local wind conditions caused this crane accident,” Bigge said. “But what matters most now is that OSHA and independent investigations continue and lead to their official findings.”

The crane, a Peiner SK 415-20, should be able to withstand wind up to 95 mph, according to manufacturer's specifications on Bigge's website. The National Weather Service recorded gusts of up to 71 mph the day of the storm.

Juan Rodriguez, a spokesman for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said he could not say whether the agency’s findings so far match with what Bigge says is the cause of the collapse.

Rodriguez declined to say how far along OSHA’s investigation was, saying that the agency does not comment on open investigations. The agency has up to six months to complete an investigation and determine whether any citations will be issued, he said.

'It shouldn't have come down'

A crane expert unaffiliated with the investigation, Thomas Barth, has said that video of the collapse points to operator error. In the video, two cranes are visible: the one that fell, and one that remained stable in the high winds.

“You see that one crane — that was weathervaning, it was pointing in the wind," he said. "You look at the one that fell, it wasn't facing that way."

An operator should unlock the brake on a crane before leaving work, allowing it to swing freely in the direction of the wind. Though the grainy video was shot from a distance, Barth said it clearly shows something going wrong.

If everything had been done properly — and the recorded wind speeds are accurate — “it shouldn’t have come down,” Barth said.

The Dallas collapse was not the first fatal incident for Bigge, which was cited in 2013 for an Arkansas accident that killed one worker and injured eight other people at a nuclear power plant. OSHA fined the company $56,700, but Bigge disputed the charges and settled for a smaller amount.

Over the past decade, OSHA has fined Bigge a total of $154,525 for 14 violations.

'Deeply saddened'

In its statement, Bigge said its employees were “deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life” in the collapse.

“We are also deeply concerned about those who were injured in the collapse, as well as those who have been unable to return to their homes or have suffered property loss,” the statement said.

Kiersten Smith, 29, was in her apartment when the crane fell. She died just months before her wedding was set to take place in September.

“Instead of planning a wedding, our family is mourning her loss and struggling to make sense out of this tragedy,” Smith’s family said in a written statement. “Kiersten’s death is unbelievable, shocking and unnecessary.”

Five other people were hurt in the collapse, including two who were critically injured. One resident has sued the crane company, along with Elan City Lights and The Gabriella — the unfinished complex where the crane stood — for more than $1 million in damages.

All Elan City Lights residents were forced to evacuate and won’t be allowed to move back in. The company that owns the apartments, Greystar, has not said whether the building will be torn down or repaired.

Residents will be able to reclaim property that they had to leave behind, but Greystar said Wednesday that its plan to have disaster contractors pack up residents' belongings and move them to storage is facing delays.

Randy Smith, corporate counsel for Bigge, has said the process of removing the crane from the building could take weeks and that the company would allow time for plaintiffs to take photos of the scene once OSHA completes its investigation.