# Lighting rig crashes on musicians during concert on China



## dvsDave (May 15, 2018)

The video appears to show a long length of free-standing truss falling from upstage to downstage onto the musicians. There are reports of at least 1 fatality.


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## Amiers (May 15, 2018)

Wrong bases plus wind hard to tell if it’s inside or outside.


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## cbrandt (May 15, 2018)

Doesn't look like they had any guy lines on the towers either. I'm fairly sure that it is outside. When they do the side shot it is a lot more evident. 

I hope people don't discount this just because it is in China. We've all seen these setups dozens of times.


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## JD (May 15, 2018)

Doesn't look like any wind based on the dresses. Truss does not appear to canter up as it comes forward, which looks to me like it may not have had any base, simply open truss end on floor, not bolted.


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## Mac Hosehead (May 15, 2018)

It looks like it is 20' high with a 50' or 60' span. Bases or not, way top heavy with no apparent ballast on the floor. Scary to look at it upright.


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## gafftaper (May 17, 2018)

JD said:


> Doesn't look like any wind based on the dresses. Truss does not appear to canter up as it comes forward, which looks to me like it may not have had any base, simply open truss end on floor, not bolted.



Although I do think it was outside and there was a little wind, that wasn't the problem. No base. No bolts. Just a huge span of truss overloaded standing on end with no support. This was going down the first time someone touched it.


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## BillConnerFASTC (May 17, 2018)

Could have been toe-nailed.

Destined to fall.


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## gafftaper (May 18, 2018)

BillConnerFASTC said:


> Could have been toe-nailed.
> 
> Destined to fall.


Toe nailed with 1 1/4" drywall screws.


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## JohnD (May 18, 2018)

gafftaper said:


> Toe nailed with 1 1/4" drywall screws.


That they got from Ali-whatsit, at a very good price.


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## bobgaggle (May 18, 2018)

gafftaper said:


> Toe nailed with 1 1/4" drywall screws.



of course, 1 1/4" drywall screws are the industry standard for making stuff not move... 

But seriously. Do y'all actually think it was 3 pieces of truss, and that's it?! some one just got it balanced and walked away? I know stupidity can be rampant, but if that's the case it seems to surpass even ignorant naivete. Someone with no knowledge would look at that and go, "this doesn't seem safe". There has to be more to that system than three pieces of truss.


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## BillConnerFASTC (May 18, 2018)

I think there was probably some ineffective anchorage - just too little - and nothing that approached a reasonable standard of care. Some nails bent over the truss members or through the plate or a very light weight, which maybe slipped off. But effectively just three pieces of truss.


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## gafftaper (May 18, 2018)

BillConnerFASTC said:


> I think there was probably some ineffective anchorage - just too little - and nothing that approached a reasonable standard of care. Some nails bent over the truss members or through the plate or a very light weight, which maybe slipped off. But effectively just three pieces of truss.


Yeah in order for it to stay upright as long as it did, especially through the hanging process, there has to have been some sort of stabilization that failed. As was mentioned before in this thread if there were base plates attached at the time of the fall, the entire thing would have lifted up as it toppled and that didn't happen. Perhaps it was incorrectly secured and weighted to base plates and that connection failed somehow. Perhaps it had guy lines that were improperly tied off or the thing they were tied off to failed. Perhaps the guy lines broke because they were not a proper strength. Something had to have kept it upright until that point and then failed leaving it just three pieces of truss.


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## JD (May 18, 2018)

Actually think we had something like that happen in Philly a few years back that almost killed one the SCOTUS judges. In that case, someone forgot to bolt the truss to the stage. Truss was part of a prop being used. holes were drilled but bolts never went in.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4546387/ncc-killed-justice-sandra-day-oconnor
Never underestimate the power of apathy!


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## StradivariusBone (May 20, 2018)

JD said:


> Actually think we had something like that happen in Philly a few years back that almost killed one the SCOTUS judges. In that case, someone forgot to bolt the truss to the stage. Truss was part of a prop being used. holes were drilled but bolts never went in.
> https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4546387/ncc-killed-justice-sandra-day-oconnor
> Never underestimate the power of apathy!



I don't know if it's apathy or forgetfulness. I find myself regularly getting out of my car after leaving the house to go back and make sure I really did lock the door and didn't just imagine it. Making a habit of double-checking and having someone that approves a step before permission is given to go to step 2 helps us avoid mistakes.


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## BillConnerFASTC (May 20, 2018)

Like a timeout in the operating room. Always a good concept where people's well being could be damaged.


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## Amiers (May 20, 2018)

StradivariusBone said:


> I don't know if it's apathy or forgetfulness. I find myself regularly getting out of my car after leaving the house to go back and make sure I really did lock the door and didn't just imagine it. Making a habit of double-checking and having someone that approves a step before permission is given to go to step 2 helps us avoid mistakes.



I do this with my front doors every night. The girlfriend thinks I’m insane. But it’s just one of those things.

The second you get complacent is the second that something bad can happen.


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## RonHebbard (May 20, 2018)

Amiers said:


> *I do this with my front doors every night. The girlfriend thinks I’m insane. But it’s just one of those things.*
> 
> StradivariusBone said:
> 
> ...


 @StradivariusBone @Amiers Understood and writing in obsessive compulsive FULL SUPPORT. Back in the 1960's and 70's I was the second in command studio and transmitter maintenance person for a local 10 Kw AM station with redundant transmitters driving a 6 tower directional array. Our reference tower stood on its insulated base at approximately 5,400 volts above ground. I learned to think twice and then think a third time before EVERY action as that's the ingrained behavior that keeps you alive in a grass field, tower base ATU (Antenna Tuning Unit) hut or isolated transmitter building on your own doing preventative maintenance while the various chief engineers were on vacation and the owners of your 24 / 7 / 365 station are more concerned with 'dead air' than dead bodies. I received only one tiny RF burn as a result a making an adjustment in an ATU one night when the chief engineer called over his walkie that he'd just shut down our plate voltage supply a couple of seconds before he'd actually pushed the 'Plates Off' button. Only once in 13 years and I still recall the instant pain and distinctive aroma of scorched flesh. After that lone experience I ALWAYS felt safer when alone with my 'think. Think again. then think once more BEFORE acting mentality. I began my stint in commercial AM studio and transmitter maintenance while still in my teens. The deeply ingrained habitual behavior has gotten me into my 70's, is still ingrained into me and I've yet to see any reason to change. 
With apologies for droning on AGAIN! 
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard


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## JD (May 21, 2018)

Some people call it OCD. I call it Staying Alive. Same as someone yelling "Ok, power's off." I still treat everything as if it is live. Always have. Basically, would you bet your life on what someone else said?


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## RonHebbard (May 21, 2018)

JD said:


> Some people call it OCD. I call it Staying Alive. *Same as someone yelling "Ok, power's off.*" I still treat everything as if it is live. Always have. Basically, would you bet your life on what someone else said?


@JD I've made that exact error twice in my life, the first time was during my electrical apprenticeship while attending a mandatory 6 week training session at a provincially controlled community college in a nearby city which considers itself superior to all other cities in our province. I was crouched on my knees with my head under a bench top. Above the bench top was an old school magnetic 5 HP motor starter and the teacher, realizing I'd already successfully completed this particular project, asked me if I'd mind crouching under the bench and pointing out the precise location of the adjustments for the mechanical governor housed within the 600 Volt 3 phase motor which needed to be precisely positioned and finessed to trigger the auto-reversing and 'on a dime' stopping ("Plugging" as the technique was called in its day.) of the the motor's rapidly spinning armature. From beneath the bench my first query was of course: *"Is the power switched off at the fused disconnect?"* Whereupon our provincially licensed electrical Installation and Maintenance instructor immediately responded by slamming down the 600 Volt 3 pole disconnect's actuator followed by his clear verbal confirmation of: "Yes! Power is off!!" whereupon I pointed at the precise location of the governor's adjustment screws for the benefit of my classmate only to recoil instantly upon taking a 120 Volt hit between my finger and one of its associated knuckles. Upon hearing my wince and observing my right arm's reaction our teacher then apologized for "forgetting" there were TWO fused disconnects on this particular test and demo' rig: A larger 5 HP rated 600 Volt disconnect for the motor itself *AND* a much smaller one or two pole 15 Amp fused disconnect for the associated 120 Volt control circuits, holding coils and push-buttons. The ONLY other time I needed a refresher lesson was when a hired gun top flight commercial AM pattern PEng from the west coast was inside the aforementioned transmitter building calling his commands to our current Chief Engineer whose only real responsibility was manning the "Plates On" and "Plates Off" buttons, my self dealing with the three ATU's on one side of the field and another assistant who was adjusting the other three ATU's on the opposite side of our site. Every lesson learned is a good lesson. Sometimes you learn how to do things and sometimes you learn how NEVER to do things. Occasionally, you can fall into the trap of 'I'm working with two highly paid professionals, what can possibly go wrong, go wrong, go wrong?' As a few of the tag lines of some of CB's various highly paid pro's support and indicate: Some of them have quit better places and / or been part of bigger cover-ups. Excrement happens; best to neither be the cause nor the recipient of such excrement. Thanks for your posts @JD , they're always appreciated.
*Edited* to correct inadvertent misspelling of 'you' as 'your'.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.


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