On July 26, 2007, at about 12:30 a.m., a 200-ton ship engine fell off a flatbed trailer, landing on three parked vehicles. The giant engine smashed through the road and damaged water pipes, which flooded the area.

A woman, who was sleeping in a minivan while waiting for her husband to get out of work had minor injuries. One of the other cars was completely crushed (a 200-ton engine will do that).

The diesel-electric engine was being delivered to the NASSCO Ship Yard for installation in the Amelia Earhart, a Navy transport ship.

The driver was attempting to deliver the engine, but went to the wrong gate. When he tried to back up, he hit a curb, which caused an automatic leveling system on the truck to rock the trailer back and forth, eventually tipping it over and spilling the engine on the roadway.

Workers delayed the removal of the engine for a few days while they assessed how to remove it while still salvaging as much as possible. Three cranes were eventually needed to lift the engine, which was jammed into the street. It took nine hours to move the engine onto the street, then onto a truck.

Once the engine was removed, it left a 30-foot crater in the street. workers still had to remove the vehicles, repair the broken water pipe, then fill the crater and repair the roadway.

 

NBC San Diego