Abstract: At 9:30 a.m. on March 4, 2002, Employee #1 and his coworker, while inside the assembly shop for C-17 aircraft but away from their respective departments, were discussing some technical improvements carried out in another C-17 aircraft out of the state. Employee #1 wanted to show the coworker the changes made in the aircraft, as he saw during his recent trip out of the state. In his effort to show the coworker the changes made inside the specified aircraft, they proceeded to the nearby Ship Number 92, being assembled on the assembly line. They boarded the semi-finished aircraft and reached the upper aft section of the aircraft and found the recirculation, axial flow fan with part number 17B2N4013-501. The diameter of the fan was 11 inches. The fan, enclosed by casing and ducting, was mounted at a height of 5.5 foot from the floor or deck below it. There were eight fan blades, with aerofoil sections, mounted radially on a hub or boss of 4 inches in diameter. In front of the fan the nearest other components were located 9 inches in front of the fan. The blades were located 5.5 inches inside the extended fan casing. The fan had a capacity of 1600 CFM and at that particular moment when the two employees discovered it, the fan was in a running condition. Initially the employer said the fan was running because it was being tested by another employee. When the compliance officer wanted to interview the Test Engineer, the employer changed their initial version. The employer this time said somebody switched on the fan and it was not known who did it. There was no other person in the immediate vicinity at that time. In order to demonstrate to the coworker the changes and improvements which Employee #1 saw, Employee #1 used the empty drinking water bottle in his left hand. As he raised the bottle up, to bring it approximately to the level of the axis of the fan, the bottle was sucked by the fan inside the extended duct towards the fan blades. Instantly Employee #1 used his right hand to extricate the bottle and in that process four fingers of the right hand came in contact with the moving blades. Employee #1 suffered mangling injuries of his index, ring and little fingertips with bone, nail bed and pulp injury. Employee #1 was removed to Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and was hospitalized.