Joe_W
Silver Member
The following is an article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper with excerpts from the report about the tractor explosion in Medina Ohio that killed 5 people.
The antique steam-powered tractor that exploded on the Medina County Fairgrounds was a ticking bomb in the hands of its self-taught owner, who died with his son and three friends, a sheriff's report concludes.
Sheriff Neil F. Hassinger allowed The Plain Dealer to review the 500-page report, which places most of the blame for the accident on Clifford Kovacic, 48, who learned about steam engines from retired farmers and other operators, not technical manuals or classes.
The report also says crucial parts inside the tractor's boiler were dangerously flawed by age and wear.
The report, which will not be available to the public until next month, warns of the danger posed by similar stress-worn antique machines that are operated at fairs without inspection.
Kovacic's coal-fired tractor, the centerpiece of an agricultural history display, blew up July 29 about two minutes after entering the northwest gate.
The explosion killed five and injured 47.
"He had no idea he was driving a bomb. This machine was going to explode some time, somewhere," Hassinger said. "Mr. Kovacic was a very caring individual and a very careful individual. Had he known of the conditions inside, he would have fixed them. I'm certain of that."
But the report, which includes interviews with many of the injured and reports from dozens of metal, steam and boiler experts, alleges that Kovacic failed to thoroughly inspect the boiler, overfired it and failed to understand safety devices and practices that may have prevented the blast.
It faults Kovacic for driving the 33,000-pound, smoke-belching machine more than a mile over concrete, asphalt and a railroad crossing, vibrating the insides and "further compromising [its] structural integrity"
Frank G. Mazgaj, a lawyer for the Kovacic family, and Lawrence "Tinker" Good, an employee and friend of Kovacic's, disputed the report's suggestions that Kovacic was reckless or careless.
"Based on what I have read and heard, Cliff Kovacic ran the thing the way they should be run," Mazgaj said. "I don't know what he didn't do that a reasonable person would do."
John D. Payton, director of certified boiler engineers in Pennsylvania, said the boiler would not have been allowed to operate in his state, which requires inspections of antique machines.
His report was part of the sheriff's investigation.
Ohio does not require inspections of antique steam-powered tractors, although State Rep. Charles Calvert of Medina has introduced legislation to change that in the wake of the explosion.
The report includes interviews with Medina police officers David Soika and Kristopher Conwill, who were critically injured by steam, hot water, molten metal and coal.
The officers had been following the tractor because its steel wheels were damaging the road.
Although they did not stop the tractor, the officers noticed that the crew aboard it - Kovacic, Dennis Jungbluth and Alan Kimble - appeared distracted by the cruiser's flashing lights.
Soika had wanted to know why the tractor wasn't on a trailer.
Detectives also interviewed Kovacic's widow, Delores "Jane," and daughter, Liz, both of whom were following the tractor in a minivan and both of whom also were injured.
Liz Kovacic, who had hopped out of her mother's car, told the officers the gargantuan machine was too big for a trailer. Good said Liz's father wanted to drive it to the fair.
"It was Clifford's choice," he said yesterday.
Detectives interviewed hobbyists Jonas Hershberger of Middlefield and John McDowell of Plainfield, Ohio, who were critical of Kovacic's operation of antique steam engines.
According to the report, Hershberger said Kovacic was told not to return to a steam show in Dover after a crowd became angry about how he was operating another antique steam engine.
Many of the injured were friends of Kovacic's who had come to watch him arrive proudly aboard the rare J. I. Case Co. machine, among the biggest steam-powered tractors ever made.
Lee Cortese of Litchfield, who lost an eye in the explosion and whose son, Tyler, 12, was critically burned, had hoped to capture the moments on film as a gift for his friends.
The final picture on his roll of film shows the machine about a tractor-length away from where it exploded, probably seconds before the blast, investigators concluded.
The plume leaving the smokestack is white - not black from coal - indicating steam is entering the firebox and escaping, "possibly due to the fact that one or more stay bolts have failed . . ."
Some bolts were literally hanging on by a thread.
Technical investigators who advised detectives believe the crown sheet - the protective covering over the firebox - overheated because the water level was too low in the boiler.
They also discovered that a steam-pressure gauge was inaccurate and the pressure-relief valve did not lift even under more than twice the normal pressure.
Another adviser called crown-sheet welds "an obvious indication" of problems.
"This boiler, in its pre-explosion condition, should not have been in operation," engineer Tim R. Flood said in his report, which noted the dangerously thin crown sheet metal.
The explosion killed Kovacic, Kimble and Kovacic's son William instantly. Dennis Jungbluth died a short time later.
Bryan Hammond died several days later, never regaining consciousness.
Kovacic, who bought the machine "as is" in 1997 from another collector, took it to Michigan to be inspected and repaired before he fired it up, his widow, Delores, told detectives.
Everything seemed perfect July 29 for her husband, son and friends. Jungbluth, she recalled, was feeding coal into the engine of the machine they had painted and prepared for the fair.
"He turned around and he grinned really wide. And he put his thumbs up for thumbs-up," she said.
"And we smiled back and put our thumbs up. They were just having a good time."
Joe W.
The antique steam-powered tractor that exploded on the Medina County Fairgrounds was a ticking bomb in the hands of its self-taught owner, who died with his son and three friends, a sheriff's report concludes.
Sheriff Neil F. Hassinger allowed The Plain Dealer to review the 500-page report, which places most of the blame for the accident on Clifford Kovacic, 48, who learned about steam engines from retired farmers and other operators, not technical manuals or classes.
The report also says crucial parts inside the tractor's boiler were dangerously flawed by age and wear.
The report, which will not be available to the public until next month, warns of the danger posed by similar stress-worn antique machines that are operated at fairs without inspection.
Kovacic's coal-fired tractor, the centerpiece of an agricultural history display, blew up July 29 about two minutes after entering the northwest gate.
The explosion killed five and injured 47.
"He had no idea he was driving a bomb. This machine was going to explode some time, somewhere," Hassinger said. "Mr. Kovacic was a very caring individual and a very careful individual. Had he known of the conditions inside, he would have fixed them. I'm certain of that."
But the report, which includes interviews with many of the injured and reports from dozens of metal, steam and boiler experts, alleges that Kovacic failed to thoroughly inspect the boiler, overfired it and failed to understand safety devices and practices that may have prevented the blast.
It faults Kovacic for driving the 33,000-pound, smoke-belching machine more than a mile over concrete, asphalt and a railroad crossing, vibrating the insides and "further compromising [its] structural integrity"
Frank G. Mazgaj, a lawyer for the Kovacic family, and Lawrence "Tinker" Good, an employee and friend of Kovacic's, disputed the report's suggestions that Kovacic was reckless or careless.
"Based on what I have read and heard, Cliff Kovacic ran the thing the way they should be run," Mazgaj said. "I don't know what he didn't do that a reasonable person would do."
John D. Payton, director of certified boiler engineers in Pennsylvania, said the boiler would not have been allowed to operate in his state, which requires inspections of antique machines.
His report was part of the sheriff's investigation.
Ohio does not require inspections of antique steam-powered tractors, although State Rep. Charles Calvert of Medina has introduced legislation to change that in the wake of the explosion.
The report includes interviews with Medina police officers David Soika and Kristopher Conwill, who were critically injured by steam, hot water, molten metal and coal.
The officers had been following the tractor because its steel wheels were damaging the road.
Although they did not stop the tractor, the officers noticed that the crew aboard it - Kovacic, Dennis Jungbluth and Alan Kimble - appeared distracted by the cruiser's flashing lights.
Soika had wanted to know why the tractor wasn't on a trailer.
Detectives also interviewed Kovacic's widow, Delores "Jane," and daughter, Liz, both of whom were following the tractor in a minivan and both of whom also were injured.
Liz Kovacic, who had hopped out of her mother's car, told the officers the gargantuan machine was too big for a trailer. Good said Liz's father wanted to drive it to the fair.
"It was Clifford's choice," he said yesterday.
Detectives interviewed hobbyists Jonas Hershberger of Middlefield and John McDowell of Plainfield, Ohio, who were critical of Kovacic's operation of antique steam engines.
According to the report, Hershberger said Kovacic was told not to return to a steam show in Dover after a crowd became angry about how he was operating another antique steam engine.
Many of the injured were friends of Kovacic's who had come to watch him arrive proudly aboard the rare J. I. Case Co. machine, among the biggest steam-powered tractors ever made.
Lee Cortese of Litchfield, who lost an eye in the explosion and whose son, Tyler, 12, was critically burned, had hoped to capture the moments on film as a gift for his friends.
The final picture on his roll of film shows the machine about a tractor-length away from where it exploded, probably seconds before the blast, investigators concluded.
The plume leaving the smokestack is white - not black from coal - indicating steam is entering the firebox and escaping, "possibly due to the fact that one or more stay bolts have failed . . ."
Some bolts were literally hanging on by a thread.
Technical investigators who advised detectives believe the crown sheet - the protective covering over the firebox - overheated because the water level was too low in the boiler.
They also discovered that a steam-pressure gauge was inaccurate and the pressure-relief valve did not lift even under more than twice the normal pressure.
Another adviser called crown-sheet welds "an obvious indication" of problems.
"This boiler, in its pre-explosion condition, should not have been in operation," engineer Tim R. Flood said in his report, which noted the dangerously thin crown sheet metal.
The explosion killed Kovacic, Kimble and Kovacic's son William instantly. Dennis Jungbluth died a short time later.
Bryan Hammond died several days later, never regaining consciousness.
Kovacic, who bought the machine "as is" in 1997 from another collector, took it to Michigan to be inspected and repaired before he fired it up, his widow, Delores, told detectives.
Everything seemed perfect July 29 for her husband, son and friends. Jungbluth, she recalled, was feeding coal into the engine of the machine they had painted and prepared for the fair.
"He turned around and he grinned really wide. And he put his thumbs up for thumbs-up," she said.
"And we smiled back and put our thumbs up. They were just having a good time."
Joe W.
