22.04.2016

Quick thinking jumper

A man survived an incident yesterday, after the boom lift he was using overturned onto power lines. He managed to jump from the platform to the roof of the building he was working, on in New Britain, Connecticut – to the south of Hartford.
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The other boom lift on the job was not involved

The man was operating the articulated JLG on a slope, and it looks as though the riser/lower boom was at a relatively low angle, although fully retracted. He felt the machine begin to 'get light' threaten to overturn backwards, he then had the foresight to unclip his lanyard and jump onto the roof he was working on. It was a gamble worth taking, as although the basket did not descend to the ground, the boom came to rest against the live power lines, cutting power to around 2,000 homes in the area.

The man was uninjured, and his actions of jumping and removing some counterweighting, may have helped the machine overturn. However his risk was certainly the right thing to do, as according to witnesses when the boom contacted the power lines, it created a massive electrical arc resulting in flames and sparking before the power was eventually dissipated. He would surely have been electrocuted.
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The man using this platform jumped clear before it tipped