Inspection Detail

Inspection: 120319561 - Aircraft Service International Group

Inspection Information - Office: Van Nuys District Office

Investigation Summary

On August 5, 2004, Employee #1 and a coworker were reinstalling a transfer case on a Wilco jet fuel tanker truck, assigned number 5045 and weighing 33, 000 lbs. They were located in a designated mechanical repair area and had initially moved the transfer case over to the truck in preparation for its re-installation under the truck. They discovered the case would not fit, due to insufficient space between the frame of the truck and the pavement. While Employee #1 positioned himself under the truck parallel to its length, lying on a mechanic's creeper board, and the coworker was next to the truck. Employee #1 decided to use an air floor jack, located under the truck, to raise the truck a few inches in order for the transfer case to clear the frame. As Employee #1 touched the button on the air jack, the truck started to move sideways off the jack stands. He immediately pushed himself on the creeper board in the opposite direction to try and get out from under the truck, and rolled himself off the creeper board to the ground. The wheels of the truck landed on the ground and the frame bounced, hitting Employee #1's right thigh. Employee #1 was hospitalized at St. Joseph's Hospital, Burbank, and treated for a fractured right leg. The employee later underwent physical therapy and surgery on his right knee. During the accident investigation, Employee #1 indicated that the cause of the accident was probably because the truck had been raised with its back end sitting on the jack stands, for over two days and it shifted. Also, the jacks were placed on warm and soft asphalt that sloped three to five degrees allowing for the lowering and shifting of the load.

Keywords: TANK TRUCK, FRACTURE, REPAIR, WORK RULES, LOAD SHIFT, MECHANIC, STRUCK BY, MOTOR VEHICLE, WORK SURFACE, LEG