Drilling rig top drive crashes down - GIF

[Jon]

Drilling rig top drive crashes down.




More: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_drive

Previously:

Oil drilling rig walking - GIF
Drilling rig derrick installation - photo
Giant geotechnical drilling rig on treads - photo

[jdurand]

That's going to leave a mark.

[hemmjo]

That was close. He is a lucky man, needs to go buy a lottery ticket. Unless that incident used up all of his luck.

[Duke_of_URL]

The third time my brother was almost killed working on the drilling rigs he decided it was time to use his college degree for other employment. It's not so much the machinery that's dangerous, as the morons they hire to work with you.

[jdurand]

I sent a friend the link, here's his reply...

Jerry - Such things happen on occasion. You can tell these guys have never had that happen to them, because they pay absolutely no attention to what is going on above their heads. In the first 20 odd years I worked on and around the rigs, I was present on location when this - or something similar - happened at least 4 times. Even when I became a supevisor, I never cross the rig floor without stopping to look up to see what was above me. Drilling lines can break, and the brakes on the drawworks can fail, and I have seen clamps pop off the drum when there were not enough wraps on the drum to hold it friction wise. I have seen hooks unlatch when the jars at the bottom of the string fired while working pipe that was stuck in the hole, throwing the equipment which is latched in the blocks to drop. Things can fall off the equipment that is up there - I knew of a roughneck that was decapitated when a heavy piece of iron fell off the blocks when bolts vibrated off.

We had a saying about roughnecks: the quick and the dead. Those who were quick stayed around, those who "were dead" of any awareness above them never lasted: they couldn't seem to pick up on the rhythm of working around moving equipment.

Merry Christmas!

Jim

[Frank S]

I sent a friend the link, here's his reply...

Jerry - Such things happen on occasion. You can tell these guys have never had that happen to them, because they pay absolutely no attention to what is going on above their heads. In the first 20 odd years I worked on and around the rigs, I was present on location when this - or something similar - happened at least 4 times. Even when I became a supevisor, I never cross the rig floor without stopping to look up to see what was above me. Drilling lines can break, and the brakes on the drawworks can fail, and I have seen clamps pop off the drum when there were not enough wraps on the drum to hold it friction wise. I have seen hooks unlatch when the jars at the bottom of the string fired while working pipe that was stuck in the hole, throwing the equipment which is latched in the blocks to drop. Things can fall off the equipment that is up there - I knew of a roughneck that was decapitated when a heavy piece of iron fell off the blocks when bolts vibrated off.

We had a saying about roughnecks: the quick and the dead. Those who were quick stayed around, those who "were dead" of any awareness above them never lasted: they couldn't seem to pick up on the rhythm of working around moving equipment.

Merry Christmas!

Jim

Yes and things can go south faster than superman can change from Clark Kent.
you can tell when a company is about to have problems though when they bring in a bean counter to be a tool pusher instead of promoting the day light driller who has years of experience on rigs. If you happen to be on a drilling crew and see that happen it is time to wobble then look for another company to work for.

[DannyW]

I sent a friend the link, here's his reply...

Jerry - Such things happen on occasion. You can tell these guys have never had that happen to them, because they pay absolutely no attention to what is going on above their heads. In the first 20 odd years I worked on and around the rigs, I was present on location when this - or something similar - happened at least 4 times. Even when I became a supevisor, I never cross the rig floor without stopping to look up to see what was above me. Drilling lines can break, and the brakes on the drawworks can fail, and I have seen clamps pop off the drum when there were not enough wraps on the drum to hold it friction wise. I have seen hooks unlatch when the jars at the bottom of the string fired while working pipe that was stuck in the hole, throwing the equipment which is latched in the blocks to drop. Things can fall off the equipment that is up there - I knew of a roughneck that was decapitated when a heavy piece of iron fell off the blocks when bolts vibrated off.

We had a saying about roughnecks: the quick and the dead. Those who were quick stayed around, those who "were dead" of any awareness above them never lasted: they couldn't seem to pick up on the rhythm of working around moving equipment.

Merry Christmas!

Jim

Your friend sounds very knowledgeable on the subject of drilling rigs. I was born and raised on and around drilling rigs and worked on them for many years in my early career. I also saw many accidents and deaths. I had a pipe fall on my back and was told I would never walk again but thank God I recovered. It used to be a tough and cruel world in the oil field. My Dad used to tell me the only two can'ts in the oil field is "If you can't get it you can't stay!!!"

[Crusty]

Saw a bumper sticker in La. "Please don't tell my mama I'm workin' in the oil patch - she thinks I'm a piano player in a whore house."

[mcthistle007]

I worked on Land Rigs for 35+years and have seen all of this.Unless you have a Inbuilt survival system an Respect and Understand whats going on around you,Above you and underneath you and Act appriately your Chances of $Spending your paycheck are Slim Pickens.There are Very Harsh Realities on Oil-Rigs with Horrible unforgiveing consequences.You can train up a Good Guydoes'nt matter what colour creed or race etc but you can't teach or influence a Morons that know everything.Back in the 1970s an old retire Toolpusher would interview and scrutinize the new recruits and think and judge if they were suitable.Now companies have girls in miniskirts with HSE credentials who would rather hire a Justin Bieber lookalike.Whatever caused that incident I don't know but everything is done correctly they rarely happen.Something was done Wrong for that to happen.After the crew racked back the stand of pipe did the driller engage the clutch and keep going to the crown?I'd like to know.After retireing for 7 years and looking back it was a Great Career and Working Life! I now look @ my fingers and feet and toes etc and still have everything.I use to tell my crews "You Can't Rewind The Video!" If I do get another Next Life I would Never do it again thats for sure.Way Too Many Close Calls.Thanks for shareing.

[mcthistle007]

Yes and things can go south faster than superman can change from Clark Kent.
you can tell when a company is about to have problems though when they bring in a bean counter to be a tool pusher instead of promoting the day light driller who has years of experience on rigs. If you happen to be on a drilling crew and see that happen it is time to wobble then look for another company to work for.

Yes Frank S is Correct. When The BeanCounters come in Its Time to Evacuate.The Oil-Field of years ago was a Dead - Set True Blue Make it Safe and Do It Right. BeanCounter Companies have reduced the High Standards the Industry once had by employing bare minimum running costs and hireing the Morons who've been Sacked from everywhere else. Also what someone else said " The Quick and The Dead" and You have to constantly look up to see what's going on above all the time! Like a habit of every 20-30 seconds otherwise you'll get some Nasty Surprises.I would Never work on Oil-Rigs again after 37 years with the Modern New Breed of Google Heads on them and I would advise younger people not to if they wanted to live a Long Healthy Life.