An approximately 40,000-sq-ft corporate hangar under construction at New Jersey’s Morristown Municipal Airport collapsed Friday morning, injuring two workers, one seriously. According to an airport spokeswoman, the collapse of the new structure, which was being built on the site of a previously demolished hangar near Taxiway Lima, prompted the airport to shut off power to some areas as a precautionary measure because a steel girder was leaning against electrical equipment.
However, the incident did not interrupt operations at the general aviation airport. A statement released by the hangar owner, SL Aviation, noted, “The hangar was designed and fabricated by Varco Pruden and an approved steel erector was hired for on-site erection. We want to thank the local emergency-response agencies for their expedited response. The cause of the collapse is unknown at this juncture and is under investigation.”
Comments
artpenjr
January 19, 2015 - 4:22pm
I was at MMU last month and saw this project getting started. It was literally two guys using a small lift with a scissor-jack trying to erect this thing! I thought then it was an accident waiting to happen. They didn't seem to have any idea what they were doing. There were large gaps in the steel beam sections they were assembling. It looked like a joke! I guess it was....