19.03.2026

Preliminary incident report

Falcon Crane Services has published a preliminary report on the tower crane jib incident that occurred in London, UK, on the morning of March 4th, 2026. See: Tower crane down in London.

It seems that a lower chord connection pin between the two outermost jib sections worked its way out of position causing one of jib section chords to break. As a result, the jib collapsed into scaffolding, and the hook block fell into a brick cage.
The crane operator applied the emergency stop button and descended the crane. The site was evacuated and the affected area secured. No injuries were reported.
You can read the full report below.

The report goes on to say: “Inspection of the crane following the incident identified evidence of contact between the hook block and the underside of the jib structure. It is possible that this contact dislodged the retaining pin from the jib connection pin. This resulted in the pin walking out of the connection.”

The crane had been properly installed, and all relevant inspections carried out, as the report details in full. The company has proposed an alternative pin retention mechanism to the manufacturer – Jaso. It has also stepped up its inspection regime to go beyond the normal requirements and also proposed the installation of an impact protection plate as a method to prevent hook block contact from causing an issue..

Vertikal Comment

This looks like a decent, well documented report that has been issued promptly – just two weeks after the incident occurred. If only all companies would be this quick and diligent, the world might be a safer place.

Given that this case is still under investigation by the HSE, which is likely to take forever, we have been advised that any further comments should wait.