Two workers die in fall at Plum Creek Wind Farm, Winside, Nebraska
Feb 2025Published 7 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor
- Where
- Plum Creek Wind Farm near Winside, Nebraska
- Operator
- Ørsted
- What
- Two maintenance technicians fell from a turbine
- Injuries
- Two maintenance technicians killed
- Cause
- Unspecified equipment failure
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Companies named in the reporting of this entry (being named is not a finding of fault): GE Vernova
What happened
Two wind turbine maintenance technicians fell to their deaths on Saturday 22 February 2025 while working at the Plum Creek Wind Farm near Winside, Wayne County, Nebraska. The local sheriff's office said the men, part of a wind turbine maintenance crew, had experienced an unspecified equipment failure which caused them to fall from a turbine. Both were pronounced dead at the scene. The 230MW site, which uses 82 turbines of 2.8MW each, is owned and operated by Ørsted and was completed in 2020.
The workers were employed by a specialist wind turbine maintenance contractor rather than the site owner. Ørsted and GE Vernova, the turbine manufacturer, both confirmed the incident and offered condolences. An investigation into the cause of the equipment failure was ongoing at the time of reporting, with no further technical details disclosed.
Contributing factors
Reported cause was an unspecified equipment failure during maintenance activity at height on a wind turbine; no further technical detail on the specific component or system involved has been disclosed publicly.
Lessons learned
- Wind turbine fall protection equipment must undergo rigorous inspection and failure mode analysis because failure at height leads to fatalities.
- Site owners must maintain auditable certification of equipment used by contracted maintenance crews independent of their own systems.
More lessons on electrical protection and isolation, maintenance, inspection and ageing assets, from every incident on the register.
Not yet known
- Specific component that failed
- Turbine model and age
- Cost of the incident
This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.
Source
Published 2026-09-07. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.
