While working with two other construction employees in a crane basket at a refinery, our pipe fitter client was injured when the crane operator allowed the basket to free-fall between 50 and 100 feet. Although the basket was stopped before it hit the ground, the force was enough to throw the occupants violently to the floor of the basket. Our client suffered myofascial pain syndrome and a mechanical back problem, as well as degenerative disc disease. We hired a crane expert with experience in training crane operators how to properly operate the equipment, who expressed the opinion that the operator was negligent. The case was successfully settled prior to trial.