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2006 January Slush
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Giving the fingers
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Janitor burns up plane
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2006 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

Janitor burns up plane

2006 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

There is a case in the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals wherein the Govt tried to hold an aircraft manufacturer liable for loss of a Govt owned aircraft based on stupidity...I mean negligence. Seems they hired a janitor with a known drinking problem. One night he was to swab the decks of the aircraft and used a drum of highly flamable solvent versus soapy water. OF COURSE at break time he slumped down and lit up a cig..and the plane burned up.I do not know his fate because the case only had to do with the level of negligence that could be attributed to the employer, which if sufficiently high, would make them liable for the losses under the terms of their contract.

Afraid of lawsuits I will only tell you this was a manufacturer that was quite well known and has been aborbed into another, but the case is public record in the ASBCA archive.

PS My daughter gave me your latest book for xmas and I just finished it today.

PSS A varient of the class instructor who fried himself showing safe practices is the story i heard at Long Beach Navy Base in 1981 that the Govt is always doing inventory. Anyway, aboard the ship the swabs were carefully instructed that this was a serious business of accounting for Govt property and evrything had to be accounted for on the ship since it was all owned by Uncle Sam. Each person was given an area to survey and a booklet of OFFICIAL SHIP INVENTORY stickers color coded. They were all advised to leave no item uncounted or else..with spot checks by the officers. Aye Aye Sir! Called back to the part of the ship where the power transformers are housed, the officer found a body next to the safety fence, with a ladder propped up. Apparantly electrocuted as he tried to inventory the transformer by climbing the ladder and palcing the sticker too close to the high voltage coil...ignoring all of the safety signs!

Submitted on 01/25/2006

Submitted by: Anonymous
Reference: Armed Services Board Contracts

Copyright © 2006 DarwinAwards.com

Great? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Awful?
Love it! Hate it!
>> Moderator Scores <<

James said:
Neutral: Personal Account
I definitely liked the second story much better than the first one! I wish we could find out what happened to the janitor who burned the plane...Thanks for submitting...!


Jack said:
Neutral: Personal Account
I'll go for a Personal Account.


Charles said:
Neutral: Personal Account
This would be better submitted as two stories; I prefer the latter as well. But I do rather wish we had some idea what happened to the janitor.


Greg said:
Neutral: Personal Account
I too like the Navy one more! :-)


Tracy said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
I like both these stories - the second is funnier! If you can find any verifiable information at all, there may be a DA here


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