Maybe there *are* unknown forces at work...

SEATTLE - A window washer plunged eight stories down the side of a
building Thursday in downtown Seattle, but was stopped by a safety
rope just inches before hitting the ground, officials and witnesses
said.

Seattle Fire Department spokeswoman Dana Vander Houwen said the rope
saved the man's life by catching at the second story and softening the
impact when the man reached the pavement below. His only injury was a
broken little finger.

Eyewitnesses said they heard screams and looked up to see the man
plunging down the exterior of the Broadacres building in an alleyway
near Second Avenue and Pine Street.

Others saw the man fall as they looked out of their windows from
offices inside the building.

"He was going fast as he flew by when I saw him. And screaming. It was
horrifying," said Tiffany Young, executive creative director of
Smashing Ideas Inc., who works in an office inside the building.

Robert Kleppen, who works in an office on the building's seventh
floor, said he heard the man yelling and then he saw him falling.

Dangling ropes and smashed window-washing gear are all that remain in
the alleyway where a man fell eight stories from the side of a
downtown building Thursday.

Kleppen said a portion of the man's body smashed through a
seventh-floor window and then he bounced back outside the building as
he continued his free-fall.

"We saw a body come through the seventh-floor window, and then he
continued to fall, and then we heard his stuff hit the ground,"
Kleppen said. "We thought he was dead."

Kleppen said he and some co-workers ran outside to see if anyone else
was in trouble. That's when they saw the window washer suspended about
a foot above the brick pavement of the alleyway after his terrifying
fall.

"His hands and his legs actually hit the ground," Kleppen said, but
the man's torso did not impact the pavement at full velocity, saving
his life.

Young said it was a horrifying experience - not just for the window
washer who fell but for the people who saw it happen.

"Completely traumatized several of our employees," she said.

Vander Houwen says the 34-year-old man was conscious and talking to
paramedics who took him to the hospital Thursday with non-life
threatening injuries.

On Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:32:49 +0100, Stig Arne Bye
wrote:

jps wrote:

Why would it suddenly engage several feet from the ground?

Is it something he did at the last moment?


Without neither knowing the exact equipment in use nor how the equipment
were setup and/or used, it's difficult to tell exactly, but there are
several possibilities:
- Incorrect selection of equipment for the actual work situation.
- Incorrect setup and/or use of equipment.
- Damaged or worn out equipment (e.g. rope).
- Equipment failure.

Basically, a properly selected and used fall arrestor shall engage
almost instantly without any user intervention and stop the fall
instantly or within maximum a few metres (regulations in several
countries), so in this case there were definitely something wrong...



Stig Arne Bye

Do you find it surprising that after 7.9 stories something did engage?

I'm a believer in natural law. That's as close to God as I can
muster. When stuff like this happens, it makes me question what I
haven't accounted for...

I'm thinking spirit helpers at this point. How the hell does someone
fall that many feet only to be snapped taught in the last few inches
before splat? The odds seem pretty slim after 100+ ft.

On Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:59:56 -0800, jps wrote:



I'm thinking spirit helpers at this point. How the hell does someone
fall that many feet only to be snapped taught in the last few inches
before splat? The odds seem pretty slim after 100+ ft.

Safety ropes aren't long. Sounds like he didn't even have it latched.
Then it snagged something on the second story.
Maybe a ledge, a flagpole, a bracket, etc.
Who knows.
But, "Somebody Up There Likes Me."

--Vic

"Vic Smith" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:59:56 -0800, jps wrote:



I'm thinking spirit helpers at this point. How the hell does someone
fall that many feet only to be snapped taught in the last few inches
before splat? The odds seem pretty slim after 100+ ft.

Safety ropes aren't long. Sounds like he didn't even have it latched.
Then it snagged something on the second story.
Maybe a ledge, a flagpole, a bracket, etc.
Who knows.
But, "Somebody Up There Likes Me."

--Vic




Funny he didn't break his back, can you imagine the foot pounds of force at
work.
When I get up over a 2nd story window I wear my safety harness and tie the
rope off so I shouldn't fall more than 6-8 feet.

Maybe I'll breakdown and buy a proper safety lanyard with the webbing sewed
in a 'flaking' type arrangement so the threads give way gradually as you
fall.

On Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:41:34 -0400, "Don White"
wrote:


"Vic Smith" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:59:56 -0800, jps wrote:



I'm thinking spirit helpers at this point. How the hell does someone
fall that many feet only to be snapped taught in the last few inches
before splat? The odds seem pretty slim after 100+ ft.

Safety ropes aren't long. Sounds like he didn't even have it latched.
Then it snagged something on the second story.
Maybe a ledge, a flagpole, a bracket, etc.
Who knows.
But, "Somebody Up There Likes Me."

--Vic




Funny he didn't break his back, can you imagine the foot pounds of force at
work.
When I get up over a 2nd story window I wear my safety harness and tie the
rope off so I shouldn't fall more than 6-8 feet.

Maybe I'll breakdown and buy a proper safety lanyard with the webbing sewed
in a 'flaking' type arrangement so the threads give way gradually as you
fall.

I had a belt/lanyard when I did a lot of ladder work. Lanyard was
about 3' long. Good for moving 2 rungs before reattaching.
Think it cost about 30 bucks, but that was a long time ago.
No sense dropping more than a couple feet.
I bet most ladder accidents come from using cheap ladders and not
footing them correctly.
Used to be atop 40 footers leaning outside the rails painting.
Foolish maybe.
Then one day when I was about 40 years old I went up about 25 feet to
do some work on my windows and my knees were shaking so bad the ladder
was rattling.
That was it. Hired it done after that.

--Vic

Don White wrote:
"Vic wrote in message
...
On Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:59:56 -0800, wrote:



I'm thinking spirit helpers at this point. How the hell does someone
fall that many feet only to be snapped taught in the last few inches
before splat? The odds seem pretty slim after 100+ ft.

Safety ropes aren't long. Sounds like he didn't even have it latched.
Then it snagged something on the second story.
Maybe a ledge, a flagpole, a bracket, etc.
Who knows.
But, "Somebody Up There Likes Me."

--Vic




Funny he didn't break his back, can you imagine the foot pounds of force at
work.
When I get up over a 2nd story window I wear my safety harness and tie the
rope off so I shouldn't fall more than 6-8 feet.

Maybe I'll breakdown and buy a proper safety lanyard with the webbing sewed
in a 'flaking' type arrangement so the threads give way gradually as you
fall.



The neighbors will love that! Do you wear a football helmet, too?!?
Tell us when you and your "harness" are on U-Tube!

Rob