On January 7, 1981, four carpenters – Donald Davis, Gunther Couvreux, Brian Stevenson and Yrjo Mitrunen – were killed while constructing Bentall Four. They were preparing a platform known as a 'fly form' (see
formwork) for the last concrete pour on the roof, when it broke free. Without warning the fly form; known as 'fly form E', fell over the edge and carried the four men to their deaths. The news of this horrific accident shocked people across Canada and around the world. On February 23, 1981, the Coroner's Inquest was held in Vancouver. It would be referred to as a marathon inquest, since it went into the eighth day with 30 witnesses being called upon to testify. Anthes Equipment Ltd was the company that designed and supplied the fly forms to the contractor building the tower. Anthes Equipment Ltd of Toronto was not registered to be working in BC at the time of the accident; leaving them liable to civil action. The equipment they supplied was also non-compliant with the specifications required in BC at the time. One of the widows; Carol Davis, individually filed a writ on February 19, 1982, in the Supreme Court in an unprecedented action against Anthes Equipment Ltd. The other families elected to allow the Workers Compensation Board to sue on their behalf. On February 23, 1984; the fourth day into the trial, Carol Davis accepted an out-of-court settlement from Anthes Equipment Ltd. ==See also==