A digital flight information panel at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (BHM) in Alabama fell over, killing a 10-year-old boy and critically injuring his mother, as reported on Saturday, March 23, 2013 by ABC News, The Independent, The Topeka Capital-Journal, and other media dispatches.
The child, Luke Bresette, was rushed to Children's of Alabama Hospital, where he was pronounced dead as a result of massive trauma caused by the heavy flight arrivals and departure board. The boy's mother Heather, and his two brothers, Sam and Tyler, were also injured in the freak accident. Mrs. Bresette suffered a broken pelvis and two broken ankles. Those injured, all from Overland Park, Kan., are expected to eventually recover.
The family was on their way home after a Spring break holiday when the tragic incident happened on Friday afternoon, March 22. The airport terminal had just completed a $202 million dollar remodeling project and had reopened only a few weeks earlier.
Witnesses reported that it took 6 airport workers to lift the 8-foot by 10-foot video display unit estimated to weigh approximately 300 pounds.
The Mayor of Birmingham, William Bell, issued a statement on Friday saying, "I have asked our public safety staff to assist this family in their time of need in any way possible as they grapple with what has happened."
An airport spokesperson, Toni Herrera-Bast indicated that the incident was being investigated, saying "We're going to continue to look into the situation, but for now we have secured the site." The area around the accident site was cordoned off while the facility continued to operate.
Multiple airports around the United States are undergoing various renovation projects, including San Diego International Airport (SAN) which is in the midst of an almost 1 billion dollar expansion known as the "Green Build" which will double the gate capacity of Terminal 2, provide for retail space expansion, and offer other site improvements.
Whenever public facilities undergo design changes, it is usual for building inspectors to approve each of the project stages before certificates of completion are issued. It is not yet known what exactly happened to cause the Birmingham accident. Observers reported that there were no brackets securing the free standing unit to the wall, which pulled itself loose from electrical cables when it toppled over.
The ribbon cutting ceremony for the new terminal took place on February 26, 2013 and the terminal was open to the public on March 13, 2013. A.G. Gaston Construction was in charge of project management, Brasfield & Gorrie and BLOC Global Services Group was in charge of construction management, while KPS Group and KHAFRA were the architects and engineers.
The busy airport is served by Delta Air Lines, US Airways, American Airlines, United Airlines, and Southwest Airlines. According to public records, Southwest Airlines carried the most passengers through BHM in 2011, a total of 1.31 million passengers, 45% of total BHM passengers. Delta carried 807,000 passengers as the second largest carrier.
We offer our sincere condolences to the Bresette family and their friends for this tragic loss.
Tell us your thoughts. Please leave comments below or by email and subscribe to get future updates. There is also expanded coverage of other recent news articles. You may also wish to follow our dispatches as the News Analysis Examiner.
Comments