Kelowna Crane Collapse and climbing operations

We are left to speculate 3.5 years later as Canadian lawyers and their process prevents the general public from knowing exactly what caused the accident in Kelowna that left five dead. When the accident happened, I made contact with people in the know. It seemed pretty clear from the get go where we need to be looking. However, the details are closely held and we don't get our closure. So I'm left to speculate when I don't really appreciate doing so.

The evidence would suggest that the tower wasn't connected completely to the turntable, or in this case, the transition tower. The crane was out of balance and without that connection, things shift and there is no saving it. But it's just bald speculation. We can't know the back end of what went on to get to where this got. But if we had a couple of more data points, we could at least be certain of what caused this.

A similar accident happened in 1986 in Seattle. The front bolts were not in place and the crane got too far out of balance. It also wasn't connected properly to the climber. So the ironworkers involved basically just watched it go over and didn't go for a ride themselves. The operator lived in that 200+' fall. The crane punched through multiple decks slowing the final stop. I am told it was the same crew that then went down to San Francisco and lost a luffer from around 500'. It crashed on a school bus that only had the driver in it. The crew went with that crane. The pictures of a front of a bus being under a crane wreckage like that is pretty rough to see.

Stay safe and ensure someone is around that really knows what's going on. I see too many crews with one guy that sort of knows, and everyone else just getting by. It's not the best of situations. You need a few experienced leaders in this world.