The large piece of metal debris that fell from the roof of AT&T Stadium and landed on the field was just the beginning, as it turns out.
Via Lisa Salters of ESPN, another piece of metal feel, landing on a catwalk. The NFL wasn’t going to allow the Texans-Cowboys game to be played without the loose metal being prevented from falling during the game. The NFL said the metal had to be moved, removed, or secured.
The debris was manually bolted to a beam, to ensure that it wouldn’t fall during the game.
Everything about the situation is bizarre, and it speaks to serious engineering issues at the venue. Someone could have been seriously injured, or worse. And the metal never, ever would have come free without some serious design or operational flaw.
Engineering problems aren’t new to Jerry Jones. In 2009, a storm caused the team’s indoor practice facility to collapse — with people in it. Less than two years later, large pieces of ice cascaded from the exterior roof onto the ground below, injuring six people. It happened two days before the area would have been teeming with people attending the Super Bowl.
It’s good that nothing bad happened tonight. But it raises this question. What else is wrong with the place that they don’t know about?
