Construction company that collapsed hangar at Idaho airport ignored safety standards, OSHA says

BOISE, Idaho. (AP) — Federal safety inspectors on Monday charged a construction company in the deadly collapse of a hangar at an Idaho airport, saying the company showed a “blatant disregard” for federal safety standards.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed nearly $200,000 in fines for Big D Builders, Inc., KBOI-TV reported. The fines stem from one willful violation and three serious violations of federal safety regulations.

“Big D Builders’ blatant disregard for federal safety regulations cost three workers their lives and left at least eight others with painful injuries,” said OSHA Director David Kearns.

Big D Builders, based in Meridian, Idaho, said in an emailed statement Monday that the company would not comment on the report or its findings due to an ongoing lawsuit filed by the families of two of the construction workers who died.

Federal inspectors found that the company began building the hangar without adequate bracing or tensioned wires, and ignored numerous indications that the structure was unstable and could bend.

“The company’s irresponsible construction methods left the aircraft hangar structure extremely fragile,” Kearns said.

The private hangar at the Boise airport was still under construction when it collapsed on Jan. 31 due to high winds. The families of Mario Sontay and Mariano Coc have filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court against Big D Builders, Steel Building Systems, Inland Crane and Speck Steel, seeking unspecified damages.

Sontay, 32, and Coc, 24, had been working on the hangar for six days when the massive metal structure collapsed. They had been sent to the hangar from another construction site by Big D Builders because the building’s shell was supposed to be finished by the end of January, the lawsuit says. Craig Durrant, 59, co-owner of Big D Builders, also died when the structure collapsed.

OSHA had previously fined the company for violations related to fall hazards.

The federal agency also cost Inland Crane Inc. more than $10,000 to continue operating the hangar despite visible structural problems.

Inland Crane did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment from The Associated Press, but previously said in response to the lawsuit that the company and its employees were not at fault.