Monday, June 4, 2018

52-year-old drill rig operator Melvin Self working for Case Foundations, died after he was trapped beneath his rig that fell into a foundation hole at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, Arizona











PHOENIX, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) -

Family and friends of a construction worker killed in an accident at Sky Harbor Airport are remembering him as "a hell of a good man."

Melvin "Wayne" Self, 52, was killed when a drilling rig toppled over Monday. Self was trapped beneath the collapsed rig.

It took several days for rescue crews to finally locate and recover Self's body Thursday afternoon.

The four-day wait was painful for his family.

Greg Self, Wayne's younger brother, doesn't want Wayne remembered as the "missing construction worker."

"He wasn't just a nobody," he said in a phone interview.

"He liked to hunt and fish. We’d go out to the wilderness out all the time," he continued. "Just an outgoing person all the time. Every weekend we go out buggying. He was just full of life."

"There's nothing I think my brother couldn’t do. He’s a fabricator, a welder, he taught me a lot…he’s an awesome guy," said Greg.

Greg Self also said he wanted to thank everyone for the support for the family his week.

"I want to thank everyone out there, all over the country, who supported my brother and the firefighters," said Greg.

Greg said his brother lived in Chino Valley and leaves behind five children, grandchildren, and a fiancée.

To make matters even more difficult, Greg is also coping with the death of his father, who died last month.

Jay Darrow is Self's best friend. The two had worked together for years and he described him as a good man.

"We miss him," said Darrow.

"Wayne never put himself in a predicament like that," continued Darrow. "If it wasn’t right, he wouldn’t have put himself in that spot."

According to the information on the GoFundMe account, Self's last action was an act of bravery as he yelled for coworkers to get away when the hole began to give way around his drill rig.


The accident happened while construction crews were working on the Sky Train guideway system at Sky Harbor International Airport. They were digging the holes for the concrete columns that will support the track connecting Terminal 3 with the rental car area.

According to the information on the GoFundMe account, Self's last action was a selfless act of bravery as he yelled for co-wokers to get away when the hole began to give collapse around his drill rig.

"It was just a freak accident, basically what happened," said Darrow.

A Go Fund Me account has been set up to help Self's family.

[The Wayne Self GoFundMe account]




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Police have identified the construction worker killed in a drill-rig collapse at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport as 52-year-old Melvin Self.

Phoenix police made the announcement one day after crews located and recovered his body.

Self was believed to be the operator of the drill who fell into a hole that was then blocked by heavy machinery, making a rescue mission much harder, according to the Phoenix Fire Department.

Rescue crews started the rescue mission on Monday, but that turned into a recovery mission by Tuesday, as officials cited the length of time Self would have been in the hole he excavated on Monday morning.

The drill tipped over as he was moving heavy equipment, per officials.

Recovery crews found Self's body on Thursday evening, and he was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Phoenix Fire Department Capt. Rob McDade.

Hensel Phelps, the company overseeing construction on the PHX Sky Train, issued a statement Friday morning to The Arizona Republic.

"All of us at Hensel Phelps and on the project team at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport are deeply saddened by the death of a team member who worked as a drill rig operator for Case Foundations, a subcontractor to Hensel Phelps at the airport.

"Hensel Phelps places the highest value on safety and this incident will be thoroughly investigated to understand exactly what happened," it said.

McDade said the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office and the Phoenix Police Department would be in charge of the investigation moving forward.