Abstract: At about 2:00 p.m. on May 4, 1994, Employee #1, who was a crane operator, and a coworker who was a tree feller, were topping a large cottonwood tree at a city park. The tree feller had already sawed past the center of the tree when his chain saw bound up. Employee #1 retracted the crane boom so that the faller, who was in the manbasket, could come down and get some wedges to remove the chain saw. At this time, the crane owner arrived at the site to check on the employees. Employee #1 asked the owner to operate the crane so he could go up and finish topping the tree. The designated tree faller remained on the ground. As Employee #1 drove the wedges into the tree, it started to fall and the top twisted around and fell toward the crane boom. The owner, who was at the crane controls, noticed the tree top coming down and immediately lowered the crane boom to get Employee #1 out of the way. However, the tree top fell on the crane boom and the whiplash action at the end of the boom caused the manbasket's pin to shear off completely. Employee #1 fell to his death.