F train riders in Queens got a huge scare this week when a 10-inch wide drill bit nearly went through the packed train car. The train was headed to Jamaica, Queens at around 11:45 a.m. Thursday when the drill hit the train car as it left the 21st Street-Queensbridge station.
There was some confusion and questions over what caused the incident, but wonder no more: it was human error. "At this point in the investigation, the incident appears to have been caused by human error and doesn’t involve equipment malfunction," MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz told the Daily News.
It seems that the drill’s operator, who works for Griffin Dewatering New England Inc.—a subcontractor on the MTA’s East Side Access project—broke ground about seven feet from where he was supposed to be. Ortiz added that the operator was "fully qualified to perform his function."
Either way, drilling into a train filled with people would be a huge breach of subway etiquette: worse than wide stances and about even with feet on the seats, although maybe not quite as bad as tying your used condom to the pole.
