Crane experts are watching William Rapetti’s trial closely. Many believe that regardless of the outcome, more stringent safety and certification codes for crane operations are on the way. Related Links: Engineer Rejects N.Y. State’s ‘Sling Theory’ in Rigger Trial “A catastrophic loss like this is always a shot heard around the world,” says Edward Shapiro, president of Heavy Equipment Services Co., Niantic, Conn., referring to the industry’s response to the 200-ft tower-crane collapse on March 15, 2008. “It’s too bad it takes a catastrophic loss to focus in on [safety] issues.” After a crane plummeted 16 stories in San Francisco’s

Attorneys on July 12 began presenting their case in defense of William Rapetti, the Long Island, N.Y., crane rigger on trial for manslaughter. Photo By AP/WIDEWORLD Attorneys for rigger William Rapetti (center) began calling witnesses on July 12. Related Links: ‘A Shot Heard Around the World’ Prosecutors allege that Rapetti, who is accused of causing the midtown Manhattan accident that killed six construction workers and one civilian on March 15, 2008, used just four nylon slings—rather than eight, as the manufacturer suggested—to hold the crane’s six-ton collar to its mast during a “jumping,” or extending, operation on the site of

Prosecutors unsuccessfully moved to treat their own mentally and physically disabled witness as hostile when his testimony unexpectedly bolstered the defense of his friend and co-worker, William Rapetti, the master rigger on trial for manslaughterand negligent homicide in a 2008 Manhattan crane collapse that killed seven. Related Links: Trial Begins For Rigger in Deadly 2008 Crane Collapse Victim “Buried Alive” in 2008 Crane Collapse Testifies in Manslaughter Trial for Crane Rigger Supervisor May Have Been Off-Site At Time of Crane Collapse Faulty Sling Argument Takes a Hit in Rigger�s Manslaughter Trial Doomed Crane Had History of Malfunctions John Della Porta,

The site supervisor for the lead contractor at the site of the 2008 midtown Manhattan crane crash testified today in the manslaughter trial of master rigger William Rapetti and revealed that the doomed crane had experienced a spate of problems starting three months before the accident. Related Links: Trial Begins For Rigger in Deadly 2008 Crane Collapse Victim “Buried Alive” in 2008 Crane Collapse Testifies in Manslaughter Trial for Crane Rigger Supervisor May Have Been Off-Site At Time of Crane Collapse Faulty Sling Argument Takes a Hit in Rigger�s Manslaughter Trial Prosecutors Contest Own Witness in Crane Collapse Case Matthew

The manslaughter trial began on June 22 for a New York City crane rigger accused of causing a 2008 crane collapse in midtown Manhattan that killed seven, including the entire rigging crew and a civilian. The Manhattan district attorney has maintained that William Rapetti and his company, Rapetti Rigging Ser-vices, Massapequa Park, N.Y., are responsible for the March 15, 2008, collapse. But the defense team continually has pushed to prove other causes, claiming Rapetti did not do “anything wrong” in preparing the 200-ft tower crane to be “jumped,” or extended, from the 18th floor of a rising condo on East

The only person to be criminally prosecuted for the deadly collapse of a 200-ft tower crane in Manhattan on March 15, 2008 was acquitted last week of all charges against him. Related Links: Trial Begins For Rigger in Deadly 2008 Crane Collapse Supervisor May Have Been Off-Site At Time of Crane Collapse Faulty Sling Argument Takes a Hit in Rigger�s Manslaughter Trial Doomed Crane Had History of Malfunctions Prosecutors Contest Own Witness in Crane Collapse Case New York Supreme Court Judge Roger Hayes’ tersely-worded verdict declared master rigger William Rapetti not guilty on a multitude of charges that included manslaughter

The prosecution’s argument against master rigger William Rapetti suffered a couple of blows Monday as a worker who was on site the day of the deadly 2008 crane collapse said he saw nothing wrong with the four nylon slings used to secure the crane’s six-ton steel collar to its mast. Related Links: Trial Begins For Rigger in Deadly 2008 Crane Collapse Victim “Buried Alive” in 2008 Crane Collapse Testifies in Manslaughter Trial for Crane Rigger Supervisor May Have Been Off-Site At Time of Crane Collapse Doomed Crane Had History of Malfunctions Prosecutors Contest Own Witness in Crane Collapse Case Rappeti

Attorneys for master rigger William Rapetti alleged in court Thursday that the supervisor for the lead contractor on the site of the deadly 2008 crane collapse in Midtown Manhattan was seen with St. Patrick’s Day “revelers” – who were on a “bar crawl” – at the time of the accident. Related Links: Trial Begins For Rigger in Deadly 2008 Crane Collapse Victim “Buried Alive” in 2008 Crane Collapse Testifies in Manslaughter Trial for Crane Rigger Faulty Sling Argument Takes a Hit in Rigger�s Manslaughter Trial Doomed Crane Had History of Malfunctions Prosecutors Contest Own Witness in Crane Collapse Case Rapetti

The first witnesses in the trial of William Rapetti, the master rigger of a 200-ft-high tower crane that had a deadly collapsed off a rising Manhattan condo in 2008, were a firefighter and a man he found “buried alive” in the rubble. Related Links: Trial Begins For Rigger in Deadly 2008 Crane Collapse Supervisor May Have Been Off-Site At Time of Crane Collapse Faulty Sling Argument Takes a Hit in Rigger�s Manslaughter Trial Doomed Crane Had History of Malfunctions Prosecutors Contest Own Witness in Crane Collapse Case Prosecutors accuse Rapetti of causing the accident that killed seven and brought both

The attorney for the embattled crane rigger accused of causing the deadly 2008 crane collapse in Midtown Manhattan said that “incompetence at the highest levels of city government” killed seven in the tragedy, rather than the “recklessness” prosecutors alleged against his client. Photo: AP/Louis Lanzano Crane rigger William Rapetti faces 27 years in prison. Related Links: Victim �Buried Alive� in 2008 Crane Collapse Testifies in Manslaughter Trial for Crane Rigger Supervisor May Have Been Off-Site At Time of Crane Collapse Faulty Sling Argument Takes a Hit in Rigger�s Manslaughter Trial Doomed Crane Had History of Malfunctions Prosecutors Contest Own Witness