Spiral Exit
At the Vandenberg Operational Systems Test Facility, deep in the exploded hulk of the control center is this lonely spiral staircase. This is a rare design feature, according to my sources. Early in the missile program's history, spiral staircases were part of the plan, but there was apparently a fatality at one of the Colorado sites, and they were scrapped in place of ladders and traditional steel staircases.
from asuwlink.uwyo.edu/~jimkirk/titan1.html
"I know of three fatal accidents during construction of Lowry sites. In one, two workers were racing each other down the spiral staircase into the site; as one of them went through the 1500-pound revolving door, the other tripped on the last step, fell head-first, and was decapitated by the door. In a second accident, a worker started to "bleed" the hydraulic system for the silo lid doors before both doors had fully opened, causing one door to fall on several people, also killing an Air Force man on the surface. In a third accident, at the Elizabeth site, workers tried to jump a gap in work platforms at the top of a silo (with no safety net); one of them made it safely and turned around to see the second worker falling head-first 130 feet to his death. All of these astound me in the context of more modern safety awareness. These accidents were discussed in detail on the missile_talk mail list around February 18/19 2003."
Spiral Exit
At the Vandenberg Operational Systems Test Facility, deep in the exploded hulk of the control center is this lonely spiral staircase. This is a rare design feature, according to my sources. Early in the missile program's history, spiral staircases were part of the plan, but there was apparently a fatality at one of the Colorado sites, and they were scrapped in place of ladders and traditional steel staircases.
from asuwlink.uwyo.edu/~jimkirk/titan1.html
"I know of three fatal accidents during construction of Lowry sites. In one, two workers were racing each other down the spiral staircase into the site; as one of them went through the 1500-pound revolving door, the other tripped on the last step, fell head-first, and was decapitated by the door. In a second accident, a worker started to "bleed" the hydraulic system for the silo lid doors before both doors had fully opened, causing one door to fall on several people, also killing an Air Force man on the surface. In a third accident, at the Elizabeth site, workers tried to jump a gap in work platforms at the top of a silo (with no safety net); one of them made it safely and turned around to see the second worker falling head-first 130 feet to his death. All of these astound me in the context of more modern safety awareness. These accidents were discussed in detail on the missile_talk mail list around February 18/19 2003."