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David Monroe, director of San Antonio Museum of Science and Technology at Port San Antonio, was killed in a Sept. 19 accident at the Boeing Center while moving a jet engine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
San Antonio Express-News file photo<\/p>\n
An exterior of Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio.\u00a0<\/p>\n
San Antonio Express-News file photo<\/p>\n
The San Antonio Police Department cited a \u201crushed\u201d job and \u201cseveral apparent oversights\u201d as factors in a\u00a0September accident<\/a> at Port San Antonio that left a prolific inventor and entrepreneur dead.<\/p>\n David\u00a0Monroe, the founder and CEO of the San Antonio Museum of Science and Technology<\/a>, was killed when a jet engine that he and a colleague were unloading fell onto him at a loading dock at Boeing Center at Tech Port. The engine was to be used as an exhibit.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Police records released to the San Antonio Express-News give new details of the mishap that killed 72-year-old\u00a0Monroe<\/a> and left co-worker, Adam Ortiz, traumatized. A federal workplace safety probe into the accident is still ongoing.\u00a0<\/p>\n RELATED: OSHA investigating death of San Antonio inventor, museum founder at Boeing Center<\/a><\/p>\n The\u00a0SAPD concluded there was \u201cno criminal element,\u201d but the \u201cunloading seemed to be rushed\u201d and \u201cseveral apparent oversights occurred\u201d as the men moved the 5,000-pound jet engine that was on a dolly from a truck to the loading dock.<\/p>\n San Antonio Express News Logo<\/p>\n Make us a Preferred Source on Google to see more of us when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n According to Jason\u00a0Spraggins, SAPD homicide detective, the oversights included not confirming the brake on the dolly was set or the loading dock ramp was locked, moving the truck while the load remained on the dock ramp and not waiting for more help.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Surveillance footage showed the engine \u201csitting on the loading dock, still partially on the moveable steel ramp,\u201d Spraggins wrote. Monroe appeared \u201cto be struggling with the locking mechanism on the ramp as the truck pulls away.\u201d<\/p>\n When the truck moved away, the ramp was no longer supported and began to lower, according to the report. The unsecured dolly began to roll toward\u00a0Monroe who was at the front of the ramp nearest the truck.\u00a0<\/p>\n READ MORE: For San Antonio tech pioneer David Monroe, science was \u2018more exciting\u2019 than sci-fi<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cAlong with not waiting for the help that was reportedly forthcoming, this series of apparent mistakes resulted in the engine and dolly falling into an uncontrollable, rolling (descent) from which the victim was unable to escape,\u201d wrote Spraggins. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Monroe \u201cturns as it approaches and appears to grab onto it. He doesn\u2019t appear able to stop the engine or get out of its path before falling backwards from the platform behind the weight of the 2.5 ton object,\u201d the detective wrote. \u201cThe engine and dolly crash down on top of David\u00a0as he lands on his back. David is instantly motionless.\u201d<\/p>\n Ortiz, who regularly helped Monroe move heavy items, had \u201cpulled the truck away from the ramp, unaware that there were any issues\u201d until \u201che heard the loud crash,\u201d wrote Spraggins.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe then dismounted the truck to find his coworker and acquaintance of 5 years, (Monroe), underneath the fallen engine,\u201d the detective wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n READ NEXT: A prolific inventor was fatally crushed. His heirs are sorting out his estate in court.<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Glenn\u00a0Galindo, warehouse manager at the Boeing Center, told Spraggins he\u2019d seen the men unloading the engine and told them \u201cto stop and wait so he could get more help,\u201d according to the report. He\u00a0\u201cwent inside to get help and came back to find that the event had already occurred.\u201d<\/p>\n The Occupational Health and Safety Administration is past its six-month timeline for completing its investigation into the mishap and is expected to release its findings soon. Monroe\u2019s was the first work-related death at Port San Antonio<\/a> since the agency\u2019s online records began in 2011.<\/p>\n Monroe, a prolific inventor, is credited with creating the cellphone camera. He also held key roles at Datapoint, a San Antonio company that in the 1970s helped develop an early personal computer, and won more than 50 patents covering microcomputer processors, wireless networks and other electronics.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The museum he founded has several facilities on Port San Antonio in addition to its space in the Boeing Center, which is known as Area 21.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n