Man injured after basket on boom truck collapses near Stratosphere, launches him into air
A man was hospitalized Wednesday morning after the fully extended bucket truck he was working from quickly collapsed, jolting him downward about 30 feet then catapulting him up into the air, officials said.
The man was wearing a safety harness during the “catastrophic mechanical failure,” which happened about 7 a.m. while the man was working on a billboard in front of the Circle K at 2308 Las Vegas Blvd. South near the Stratosphere, said Tim Szymanski, Las Vegas Fire and Rescue spokesman.
“He rode the thing down,” Szymanski said, much like if a firefighter’s ladder were to snap down suddenly into its original position.
“When it hit the bottom, it wanted to throw him in the air in the opposite direction at the same speed,” Szymanski said, which caused the resulting launch. “If he didn’t have that harness on, it would’ve catapulted him into the air and he would’ve landed on the ground somewhere.”
Instead, the short harness hooked the man to the truck’s bucket, and when the truck went to launch him into the air after its collapse, the harness quickly yanked him back down toward the bucket, Szymanski said, adding it “probably saved his life.”
When firefighters arrived on scene, the man was unconscious and dangling from his harness, just a few feet from the floor and just outside of the bucket. He was taken to University Medical Center’s trauma unit in critical condition, where his family later met him.
Szymanski compared the man’s injuries to those that might occur when a fast car crashes into a wall — even if someone is wearing a seat belt, like the man’s harness, impact injuries are likely.
Las Vegas Fire and Rescue doesn’t investigate industrial or work-related accidents, but Szymanski said the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration office was notified of the incident.
The man was working for TradeMark Sign Co., an employee confirmed. It’s unclear if he was wearing a helmet.
Las Vegas Review-Journal writers Christian Bertolaccini and Raven Jackson contributed to this story. Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Find her on Twitter: @rachelacrosby
