hillbillyfunk
Member
Luckiest accident ever.
Just worked the last show of our season, the show was added late so our call steward, master carpenter, and sound crew leaders were all on vacation or doing other contracts, (we haven't had a TD since the last one died in January and he sucked anyway). Since I've been around a while I was acting lead carpenter and given a crew of newbies and temps (substitute crack heads for temps)
The lead carpenter on the road crew was either really green or really mean, either way he wasn't making any calls, instead he was pointing and grunting and going out of his way to be a serious dick (some road crew called him on it).
Line set 15 is our 2nd electric, the road crew brought pre-hung trusses for electric so we hung a 18' tall traveling flat on the second weighing in at 575lbs. On load out we have 8 people on bow lines and 4 on disassembly, when the traveler comes off the road carpenter points and grunts at line set 16 and pulls the bowlines of 15.
The flyman never made the call to unload 15 while we had people on it at deck level and when the call is made to unload it at the weight bridge, the loaders pull one 25 lb brick off and cannot reach anymore, they call and ask to get the arbor higher. The flyman has a bad habit of moving **** before called, not stopping on “HOLD” and popping off when one calls him on a safety issue, this genius grabs both ropes and unlocks the opera lock.
I am standing 6' to his right placing a stage weight under line set 21 when I hear “RUNAWAY” from the weight bridge. I took one step back from the fly rail and looked left in time to see my flyman launch in the air hanging on to both ropes, he soars up to the pin rail, smacks his face on the air conditioning duct under the pin and thats when the arbor hits him coming down.
I watched his body wrap around the underside of the arbor and knew he was about to take a “gut splat” in the fly rail, I ran/dove upstage into the hall way and after not hearing screams and more crashing Hollered “Clear the stage” and had to go outside to puke. I found our 1st responder team outside loading merch and sent them in with instructions to clear the deck and administer 1st aid (I don't do well with blood).
That lucky mother****er lived, walked out of the hospital the next day. Because it was an electric the cable pick on stage left sits 15' higher than the pipe, when the arbor came thought the stop on stage right the cable pick went through the well and into the stage left headblock, the 3/8” cable stretched and snapped but decelerated the arbor long enough for the flyman to swing his legs under him, he basically rode the arbor down and landed in the line set 14 slot.
A busted face, 2nd degree burns on his hands, bruises and shaken up. Possibly the safest flyman in the industry if he ever comes back to work.
Lineset 9 through 19 have been condemmed, the theater is dark for 11 days before the summer education programs start, lots of work for me.
Just worked the last show of our season, the show was added late so our call steward, master carpenter, and sound crew leaders were all on vacation or doing other contracts, (we haven't had a TD since the last one died in January and he sucked anyway). Since I've been around a while I was acting lead carpenter and given a crew of newbies and temps (substitute crack heads for temps)
The lead carpenter on the road crew was either really green or really mean, either way he wasn't making any calls, instead he was pointing and grunting and going out of his way to be a serious dick (some road crew called him on it).
Line set 15 is our 2nd electric, the road crew brought pre-hung trusses for electric so we hung a 18' tall traveling flat on the second weighing in at 575lbs. On load out we have 8 people on bow lines and 4 on disassembly, when the traveler comes off the road carpenter points and grunts at line set 16 and pulls the bowlines of 15.
The flyman never made the call to unload 15 while we had people on it at deck level and when the call is made to unload it at the weight bridge, the loaders pull one 25 lb brick off and cannot reach anymore, they call and ask to get the arbor higher. The flyman has a bad habit of moving **** before called, not stopping on “HOLD” and popping off when one calls him on a safety issue, this genius grabs both ropes and unlocks the opera lock.
I am standing 6' to his right placing a stage weight under line set 21 when I hear “RUNAWAY” from the weight bridge. I took one step back from the fly rail and looked left in time to see my flyman launch in the air hanging on to both ropes, he soars up to the pin rail, smacks his face on the air conditioning duct under the pin and thats when the arbor hits him coming down.
I watched his body wrap around the underside of the arbor and knew he was about to take a “gut splat” in the fly rail, I ran/dove upstage into the hall way and after not hearing screams and more crashing Hollered “Clear the stage” and had to go outside to puke. I found our 1st responder team outside loading merch and sent them in with instructions to clear the deck and administer 1st aid (I don't do well with blood).
That lucky mother****er lived, walked out of the hospital the next day. Because it was an electric the cable pick on stage left sits 15' higher than the pipe, when the arbor came thought the stop on stage right the cable pick went through the well and into the stage left headblock, the 3/8” cable stretched and snapped but decelerated the arbor long enough for the flyman to swing his legs under him, he basically rode the arbor down and landed in the line set 14 slot.
A busted face, 2nd degree burns on his hands, bruises and shaken up. Possibly the safest flyman in the industry if he ever comes back to work.
Lineset 9 through 19 have been condemmed, the theater is dark for 11 days before the summer education programs start, lots of work for me.
Last edited by a moderator: