2 Workers Dead in Trench Collapse, JFK Airport

JFK Airport, New York, was the site of a 30-foot trench collapse leading to the deaths of two construction workers, who became trapped under rubble.

The trench collapse at JFK Airport occurred outside a generator plant.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in a press release set the time of the workers’ deaths at 11:08 am, April 3, 2023, and issued a stop order for all work in that JFK International Airport area.

According to the Port Authority, the workers were “relocating utility lines in the vicinity of the cogeneration to support the increased needs of the JFK redevelopment project. The temporary safety standdown remains [in effect] until safety reviews have been conducted.”

Twelve units, approximately 60 firefighters of the fire department of New York City reported to the airport’s Terminal 7, as reported by the Associated Press. Emergency medical workers, the policemen from Port Authority, and the NYPD Emergency Service Unit were also on the scene.

The emergency workers used an excavator as well as ropes, pulleys, and chains to try to get the construction workers out, according to CBS News.

The Port Authority will conduct a full investigation of the accident.

Content sources: AP (Associated Press), Yahoo, ABC News, and YouTube/CBS News (CBS News, also photo source).

Opt into the best RCA training — TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis.

Sign up today for a 2-day or 5-day course, an Equifactor course, or an on-site course led by TapRooT® Instructors at your company. You may also browse all TapRooT® courses to ensure you will find the training to meet your needs.

TapRooT® RCA has been designed for investigating seemingly simple problems that could have been worse (precursor incidents) by using a simple 5-step process. TapRooT® RCA can also be used to investigate major accidents by using the complete 7-step process.

• The 2-Day TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis Course teaches the essential techniques for investigating precursor incidents and fixing them to prevent major accidents.
• The Equifactor® Training Course also teaches how to use the TapRooT® techniques and Equifactor® Troubleshooting Tables to stop equipment problems.
• The 5-Day TapRooT® Advanced Root Cause Analysis Team Leader Training teaches the complete 7-step TapRooT® process and techniques to investigate major accidents, serious environmental releases, fatalities, major plant upsets, and serious injuries, as well as simple incidents.

TapRooT® is global to meet your needs. If you need specific course times or locations, please see our full selection of courses.If you would like for us to teach a course at your workplace, please reach out to discuss what we can do for you, or call us at 865.539.2139.