The owner of New York Crane and Equipment Corp, and a former mechanic with the firm were both indicted in connection with a deadly New York construction crane collapse in May 2008.

article: Bearing failure causes crane collapse [animation]
The company's owner, James Looma, and Tibor Varganyi were both indicted on two counts of manslaughter, assault, criminally negligent homicide, and one count of reckless endangerment. Both men have pleaded innocent.

In May 2008, two construction workers died with an improperly repaired slewing ring bearing in the tall construction crane failed. When the bearing failed, the inner ad outer races separated; the crane sitting atop the bearing fell ten stories to the street below, killing the two men.

The investigation shows New York Crane had shopped the bearing around for repair after it had been hit by lightning while installed in another crane. The bearing had developed a two-foot crack.

During the investigation and indictment, prosecutors pointed out the profit motive for getting at least one crane back in service as soon as possible -- cranes are rented out to contractors on a per-job basis, at approximately $50,000 per month.

New York Crane rejected legitimate repair facilities in the U.S., such as Avon Bearing. Avon's bid was reportedly $128,000 with a 28-week lead time. Instead, the company sought out RTR Bearing, a company in Shanghai, China; they shipped it there to take advantage of RTR Bearing's $20,000 bid and 90-day turnaround offer.

However, numerous RTR emails reveal RTR was unsure it could properly repair the bearing right from the beginning. An RTR representative emailed New York Crane on June 7, 2007, saying: "And honest speaking we don't have confidence on this welding." Prosecutors also argued that New York Crane could not or did not give RTR enough information about the welding for RTR to do the job properly 5251R9N7.

However, a later email supplied by Mr. Varganyi reportedly provided welding instructions, and RTR replied: "Thank you for your drawing, we fully understand your meaning on this. We can do this."

The bearing was removed from the crane, shipped to China, repaired by RTR, and shipped back to New Jersey. There, it was assembled and additional repairs were made to the turntable assembly. Finally, the doomed crane's temporary bearing and turntable assembly was removed and the repaired assembly put in place.

The crane's repairs were approved by Michael Carbone, chief inspector of cranes and derricks for the City of New York. Mr. Carbone was a former employee of New York Crane and Equipment.

This was the second deadly collapse in 2-1/2 weeks by cranes owned by New York Crane and Equipment; safety inspections and installations approved by Mr. Carbone. The first crane collapse killed seven people. Mr. Carbone resigned in July 2008, a month after this second incident.

In addition to the failed slewing ring bearing and turntable welds, the possibility the crane was pressed into service beyond its service life has also become a question.

In a press conference, Mr. Vance said: “Greed and recklessness, motivated by profit, led to the tragic and unnecessary deaths of two men.”