Cause of deadly NYC crane collapse is under investigation

A collapsed crane crushed cars along the street on Friday, Feb. 5, 2016, in NY.

The updated audit was released after a construction crane toppled over during a snowstorm in lower Manhattan, killing one person and crushing a line of parked cars.

Wall Street worker David Wichs was killed in the collapse. Mayor de Blasio said on Friday morning that the accident killed a person who was in a parked vehicle, and three others were injured.

The National Weather Service reported that “New York was under a winter weather advisory Friday morning, with the forecast calling for snow and sustained winds between 16 mph and 18 mph, and gusts as strong as 29 mph”.

“Our detective bureau is working with the (Department of Buildings) on this, and we’re interviewing the crane operator”, O’Neill said. City officials ordered more than 400 cranes in use in NY to be put in secure positions until further notice, the AP said. The collapses also led to new safety measures, including hiring more inspectors and expanding training requirements and inspection checklists.

City officials confirmed that this could have been a lot worse.

The crane was owned by Bay Crane, based in the New York City borough of Queens, and operated by Queens-based GTI, or Galasso Trucking. The crane landed across an intersection and stretched much of a block in the Tribeca neighbourhood, about 10 blocks north of the World Trade Center. “The fact is this is a very, very sad incident”, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

New York City officials say it could be weeks before they know what caused a deadly construction crane collapse. The Department of Buildings disputed some of the audit’s conclusions, but spokesman Joe Soldevere said the agency had implemented numerous comptroller’s recommendations and “there is more oversight of cranes in place than ever before”.

– May 2008: A tower crane snapped, fell apart and crashed into a Manhattan apartment building, killing the crane operator and a construction worker on the ground.

The equipment that collapsed is known as a crawler crane, which consists of an upper carriage, or boom, mounted on a crawler-type undercarriage that can be moved from one location to another.

The incident Friday morning was one of several crane-related accidents in just the past year. The extended crane passed all inspections.

In March 28, 2010, a 280-foot crane at 80 Maiden Lane smashed into an office building after hours because a hydraulic pump in the rig failed.

Last May, several people were injured when a heating and air conditioning unit became untethered in Midtown, falling 30 stories to the street.