Safety Switch Bypassed With A Nail

A fixed-base operator at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport (YNG) has been cited for a bypass to a safety switch on a hangar door that killed one of its employees.

Winner Aviation Corp. was cited by the Occupation Health and Safety Administration for a bypass on a hangar door that allowed the door to close on Paul Wiscott, 71, of Youngstown.

The Trumbull County coroner ruled the death of Wiscott, who had worked at the airport 40-years, an accident, saying he died of head trauma according to Vindy.com.

The Western Reserve Port Authority operates the airport; Winner was leasing the hangar from the group.

Winner was fined $2,000. Rob Medlock, OSHA area director in Cleveland, OH, noted Winner didn't install the bypass on the safety switch. Medlock says that it can't be determined which previous tenant installed it, or when.

Winner Aviation general manager Mark Gisler declined to comment. Steve Bowser, airport's director of aviation, said the bypass has been fixed and declined to answer any other questions due to the possibility of litigation over the death.

According to Medlock, the 30-foot-high door closes in a cascade fashion. The door switch is designed to only operate the door when it is depressed. A large nail hanging next to the switch was used to hold it down, to bypass the safety feature.

"You can't bypass electrical equipment," Medlock said.

The bypass enabled Wiscott to reach between the door and the hangar wall and hold down the switch to open the door.

Wiscott apparently took his finger off the switch while going into the hangar, when the door closed on him.
 
Medlock could not remember seeing an accident like this in his 15 years as area director. "Most people use the main door to get into a hangar," he said.

FMI: www.yngairport.com, www.osha.gov