Crane Probe Focuses on Worker Error, Mechanical Failure in S.F.

State investigators probing Tuesday’s downtown crane collapse said Wednesday that they are focusing on possible worker error and mechanical failure of the 240-ton crane as the two most likely causes of the accident that killed five people and left 21 others injured.

Less likely causes include wind or a structural failure in the steel frame of the 20-story office building that was under construction, said Hamilton Fairburn, Cal/OSHA deputy chief, at a news conference at the site of the accident.

“This is very similar to an airplane accident,” said Fairburn, who said it will likely take weeks before probers reach a conclusion. The crane broke loose from its moorings, snapped into several pieces and plunged 19 stories to the street, sweeping four workers to their deaths and killing a bus driver on the ground.

Fairburn said investigators have received no confirmation of reports that the 45-year-old crane operator, Lonnie Boggess, slumped forward shortly before the accident, “but we will certainly be looking at the autopsy report” for any evidence of a heart attack.

Meanwhile, San Francisco Dist. Atty. Arlo Smith said his office had dispatched an investigator to check for possible criminal violations and to monitor the state probe.

Swinerton & Walberg, the building’s prime contractor, was involved in two earlier fatal high-rise construction accidents in Los Angeles: a 1981 crane collapse at Bunker Hill that killed two and a 1985 accident at 1000 Wilshire Blvd. that killed three.

“You’re clearly not doing a very good job of orchestrating your subcontractors when things like this happen every few years,” charged Mike Guarino, a deputy city attorney in Los Angeles.

In a civil action, Swinerton was penalized $400 by Cal/OSHA in connection with the 1981 accident.

Swinerton on Wednesday defended its safety practices and said it had even been commended by Cal/OSHA in recent months for “high safety standards and innovative safety programs.” Fairburn, however, when shown a copy of the company’s statement, said: “I don’t know what they are referring to.”

The Erection Co., which operated the crane as Swinerton’s subcontractor, also has a history of accidents. The Kirkland, Wash., firm “has a poor history of providing a safe workplace,” charged John Akin, a spokesman for the Washington Department of Labor and Industries. He cited “serious willful repeat violations.”

The firm did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Cal/OSHA’s Fairburn said the agency has assigned five investigators to the probe.