28.09.2010

Crane tips in Pascagoula

A 240 ton All Terrain crane went over late last week at a Chevron Refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi, due to a lack of communication and full walk around daily inspection.
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The crane tipped over backwards

The initial reports state that the crane’s outriggers had been retracted on the left hand side of the crane by a second shift, in order to take them out of a roadway during the night.

When the day operator arrived the following morning he got in crane cab raised the retracted boom and with counterweight over the retracted outriggers the unit tipped over backwards.
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The boom landed on a container

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The outriggers were retracted on the one side

Assuming that the reports we have been sent are entirely accurate, it would seem that a brief walk around inspection of the crane would have highlighted the problem and almost certainly avoided the accident. As far as we know no one was injured.

The crane, a Liebherr LTM, is owned by B&G crane service of New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana which operates a fleet of around 100 cranes. The company was founded in 1946 by Xavier J. Grilletta and has been run since 2007 by his son, also named Xavier.

B&G was recently acquired by the Sterling Group, a private equity firm based in Houston. The Grilletta family has retained a significant shareholding in the business.