A 62-year-old miner with more than 17 years of experience was killed in a crash when a battery powered personnel carrier he was riding on, and that was carrying too many passengers, overturned.
Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) investigators determined that the mine operator didn’t maintain the vehicle in safe operating condition and failed to ensure that the number of miners traveling on a personnel carrier didn’t exceed the number of seats.
He sat on top after they picked up third passenger
At 6:30 a.m. on March 22, 2023, Cecil Barker began his shift at the Longview Mine in Barbour County, West Virginia.
Barker and another miner, William Allen Jr., looked over production reports from previous shifts and decided to set up surveying equipment in specific areas of the mine based on those reports.
Allen obtained the mine’s four-person Electric Mine Utility Vehicle (EMU) and drove them both to the first area. After setting up the equipment, they loaded their tools into a Stryker two-person personnel carrier to go into the next area of the mine that they had to survey. Allen conducted a visual exam of the Stryker and found no issues.
At 8:40 a.m., as they were traveling to the next location, they picked up an engineer who had been sent to assist them. Barker got out of the Stryker’s passenger seat to allow the engineer into the vehicle. Since there was no third seat, Barker sat on top of the Stryker with his feet down behind the vehicle’s two seats.
Vehicle rolls backward downhill for 210 feet before overturning
Allen continued to drive to the next area which required the Stryker to climb up a grade. As Allen drove the Stryker up the grade, the engineer accidentally pressed the vehicle’s emergency stop button, which was located between the seats on the center console. This shut off the Stryker’s power, causing it to stop and begin drifting backward downhill.
The engineer pulled the emergency stop button back out and restored power to the Stryker, but the electric vehicle’s controls and regenerative braking didn’t work. Allen applied the service foot brake and the hand-activated parking brake, but neither one functioned.
The Stryker started to pick up speed and Allen tried to keep it centered on the dirt roadway so it wouldn’t contact any entry ribs that could cause it to overturn. After traveling 210 feet downhill, the Stryker veered toward a rib on the passenger’s side where its rear tire travelled up the rib, causing the vehicle to overturn.
He was pinned under the personnel carrier
The Stryker landed on top of Barker and Allen with the engineer being thrown clear of the vehicle. Allen was able to crawl out from under the Stryker. He called out for Barker and the engineer but only got a response from the engineer.
Allen looked around and found Barker pinned under the passenger side of the Stryker. He checked Barker’s pulse, couldn’t find it and then started CPR. The engineer called for assistance in getting Barker out from under the Stryker and requested an ambulance. Several miners responded and helped get Barker free. One of the new arrivals took over CPR duties from Allen and another brought an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) and an emergency medical kit.
The AED didn’t advise any shocks initially. However, it called for shocks on two occasions as the miners transported Barker to the surface via EMU.
At 9:20 a.m., Barker was transported via ambulance to a local hospital. He was pronounced dead from his injuries at 9:50 a.m.
Brake cylinder had wrong fluid, parking brake out of adjustment
MSHA investigators found that the mine operator had a policy restricting miners from riding in equipment scoop buckets or on any equipment that doesn’t provide adequate seating, although that policy wasn’t adequately enforced.
The investigation also revealed that the reason the Stryker’s regenerative brakes and controls didn’t function after the emergency stop button was pulled out was because the vehicle was designed to come to a complete stop before doing so. This was done to prevent damage to the drive axle.
The service foot brake didn’t work because its master cylinder, which was designed to be used with mineral-based hydraulic oil, had been replaced with one that required use of regular brake fluid. However, mineral oil was in use, which caused the piston spring cup to swell and eventually fail over time.
To make matters worse, the hand-activated parking brake also didn’t work because it was out of adjustment.
MSHA regulations do not require pre-operational examinations of this type of equipment. The mine operator did provide miners with a checklist for examining Stryker two-seat personnel carriers, but it had no requirement to record these examinations. No pre-operational examination was conducted on the Stryker that Allen was using.
On the shift prior to the incident, a miner did report brake problems with the Stryker in question. A maintenance technician looked into it but found no issues likely because “she rarely used the foot brake due to the regenerative brakes.”
Written procedures regarding passengers were updated
MSHA found three root causes that led to the fatal crash, including the mine operator’s failure to:
- maintain the Stryker personnel carrier in safe operating condition
- conduct adequate pre-operational examinations, and
- ensure the number of miners traveling on a personnel carrier didn’t exceed the available number of seats on the vehicle.
To prevent a similar incident, the mine operator examined all of its personnel carriers to ensure they were maintained properly, with special attention paid to the braking systems. A second independent front brake system and tags identifying the type of brake fluid for each master cylinder was also installed on all rubber-tired personnel carriers at the mine. Miners were trained to identify which kind of oil was required for each type of master cylinder.
The mine operator also conducted task training with all miners on pre-operational examinations of all personnel carriers used at the mine. This training included procedures for removing equipment from service when safety defects were found.
Written procedures regarding passengers on personnel carriers were also updated and now require that all passengers do not exceed the number of designated seats available.
