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Bridgeport and State Police at the scene of a fatal construction accident at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford, Conn. on Thursday, June 25, 2015, Photo: /
JUNE 25, 2015
STRATFORD, CT
Police are investigating a fatal construction accident Thursday morning at Sikorsky Memorial Airport.
According to fire officials, a worker was in a trench using a gasoline-powered saw to cut a water main. The saw apparently kicked back and caused a fatal injury to the man’s neck.
The worker was pronounced dead at the scene. Bridgeport and Stratford police are investigating, and firefighters from Bridgeport and Stratford responded. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration also is on scene conducting an investigation.
The incident happened at about 8:30 a.m.
The airport was closed shortly after the accident, but resumed normal operations about two hours later. Meanwhile, OSHA inspectors remain on the scene, some inspecting the plywood-lined trench.
The airport is undergoing a major, $17 million construction project that includes improvements to a runway safety zone, the realignment of Route 113 (Main Street), an upgraded drainage system, removal of 14,000 cubic yards of hazardous waste and the rehabilitation of existing Runway 6-24. Work is expected to be completed in April 2016.
Terri Brown, the deputy chief administrator for the city of Bridgeport, confirmed that the worker was an employee of the contractor doing the airport improvement projects. She did not know what phase of the work was underway when the worker was fatally injured.
According the state Department of Transportation, the general contractor for the project is Manafort Brothers Inc., of Plainville. It’s uncertain whether the person killed worked for Manafort or a subcontractor.
An Aquarion Water Co, crew is also at the airport. The worker had been near a water main in the trench. Heavy construction equipment, including an excavator with its arm alongside the trench remained.
The runway improvements were sought for years following a crash that killed eight in April 1994. While the cause of the crash was pilot area, the National Transportation Safety Board said the airport’s design was flawed including a steel blast fence that blockied the end of the runway.
The impact of the plane hitting the fence, tore the plane's fuel tank, enveloping the craft in flames.
Part of the improvements include relocating utilities such as gas and water lines.
While located in Stratford, the airport is owned by the city of Bridgeport.
According to a history of the airport, prior to 1937 when the City of Bridgeport purchased the airport, it was known as Mollison Field.
This name came from Capt. James Mollison's crash landing in July 1933 during his attempt to fly across the Atlantic from Wales, England to New York. During the 1930s many now-famous aviators visited the field. Names such as Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, Howard Hughes, and Juan Trippe can be found in the airport logbooks documenting their arrivals.
Previously the airport was called Avon Field - originally a racetrack and favorite destination of aviators landing on the grass infield. On September 28, 1911 the country's first air show was held at this airport.
Source:http://www.ctpost.com