Alert 15-08 Disabled and Non-Functional Safety Devices Leads to Destruction of Derrick Board
WHAT HAPPENED:
Recently a directional driller was having trouble keeping a tool face and told the driller to work the pipe all the way up and back down again. The stand had been drilled almost all the way down and the elevators had been kicked out over the mousehole. The driller picked up off bottom and hit the link tilt joy stick with his hand in an attempt to float the elevators in, but did not notice that the elevators did not float. The light attached to the top drive console that flashes when the link tilt is not in float was not working at this time. The driller worked the drill string up to the maximum height and then started slacking off. On the way down the elevators sat down on the diving board bending it down. The Tac II or Anti-collision system mounted in the top house that functions as an electronic crown-o-matic would have shut down the rig when the link tilt was extended above a certain height, but it had been manually turned off.