The three had examined the pipe just outside the turbine pit, but didn't find any problems. Duck volunteered to go into the turbine pit area to look at the other end of the pipe for the leak. The remains of Richard Duck's shattered hard-hat indicate the force of the blow that it absorbed. He climbed a small, two-rung ladder at the entrance to get to the generator apron. Duck had to walk along this apron ledge to get to the pipes.
Duck stands six feet tall, and had to bend to walk along the ledge.
He got to the middle of the generator apron, then hit his hard-hat against one of the reinforcement ribs on the ceiling of the apron. The blow knocked his hard-hat over his eyes, and he became disoriented and lost his balance. I tried to grab hold of something, but I couldn't. Duck fell over the ledge and landed between the steel wicket gate arms 20 feet below. During the fall, Duck lost his hard-hat, but he kept it on long enough to prevent serious injury.