This report addresses five separate incidents in which fire department aerial ladders collapsed.  The most serious of these incidents occurred in New York City, where one man died and his wife, two young children and two firefighters were injured when an aerial ladder collapsed during a rescue attempt.  Two of the other incidents also resulted in serious injuries to firefighters.

Each of these incidents involved the collapse of an aerial ladder due to structural failure.  Four of the five ladders were being used in situations at fires that involved extending the ladder at a low angle of elevation.  The fifth incident occurred during a high angle rescue training session where the ladder was being used to support rappelling personnel.  Several similar incidents have occurred in recent years, including a number that resulted in deaths or serious injuries.

These incidents indicate a significant potential problem with existing aerial ladders that were not designed to provide the structural capabilities of ladders that are currently in production.  Hundreds of similar aerial ladders are currently in service in United States fire departments.  This emphasizes the need for aerial ladder operators to be properly trained and thoroughly familiar with the capabilities and limitations of their particular units, so that they will be able to recognize situations that are beyond the safe operating limits of their equipment.

Training materials and operating manuals are very important sources of information and should always be available to the operator of an aerial device.  Many aerial ladder operators do not have access to the manuals and other technical information that were provided (or should have been provided) when the units were delivered.  In some cases the information that was provided may be inadequate or difficult to interpret and additional research may be needed to determine the operating limits of an aerial device.

It is also very important to regularly have aerial devices tested and certified, to ensure that they are in proper operating condition and do not have any hidden damage or defects.