Northrop Worker Dies After Collapsing on Job

A 24-year-old Manhattan Beach man collapsed and later died Wednesday while sandblasting airplane parts at a Northrop Grumman Corp. plant, officials said.

Christian Wiedemer was wearing a sandblasting suit with a respirator line when he collapsed about 7:30 a.m., said Dean Fryer, a spokesman for Cal/OSHA, the state’s occupational safety and health agency.

The district attorney’s environmental crimes unit is also investigating the incident.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Rodriguez said paramedics found Wiedemer unconscious and not breathing and took him to Beverly Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy was pending.

Wiedemer normally worked in Northrop’s El Segundo plant, Rodriguez said, but was given a temporary assignment in Pico Rivera. He said Wiedemer collapsed about half an hour after donning his sandblasting suit and breathing apparatus.

A company spokesman said Northrop Grumman is conducting its own investigation.