It happened on September 15, 1961. James Toner, age 24, Wallace Kumpula, 42, and 33-year-old Homer Fields, all carpenters, were inside the core of the east tower, going up on a scaffold with wooden forms for concrete. When the cable hoisting the scaffold slipped off its hook, they fell 43 stories.

A witness who was five feet above the men said he heard a loud noise and turned around. “The bodies bounced crazily,” said Mike Einsele, quoted in the Chicago Daily Tribune the next day, “hitting one obstruction after another, until they hit the bottom.” When the scaffold fell, it hit a ladder on which a carpenter foreman was standing. Ed Schreck said, “I grabbed a beam right there and hung on. I thought I was a goner, for sure, but I wasn't going to let go.” An iron worker grabbed Schreck by his back and dragged him to safety.

The scaffold probably would have hit Will Bridges had he not stepped out of the way moments earlier to get a drink of water. According to Bridges, “Every one inside the core heard them fall.”

Workmen dug through the debris at the bottom of the core to recover the bodies.

James McHugh speculated the heavy wooden forms may have jammed against the inner wall of the core, putting tension on the hook and causing it to bend enough for the cable to slip off.

After work was called off for the rest of the day, one man who could not find his brother went to Henrotin Hospital (since closed) and mistakenly identified one of the victims as his brother. A few minutes later, the man’s brother was found safe back at the construction site.

The next day, investigators dug through the debris at the bottom of the east tower core.

The first lawsuit was filed on December 29 by Marilyn Fields, seeking damages of $400,000 in the death of her husband, Homer. They had three children. Defendants were Bertrand Goldberg, Marina City Building Corporation, James McHugh Construction Company, and Brighton Construction Company – which did general work on the project. The complaint claimed that scaffolding was unsafe and violated the Illinois Structural Work act, which dealt with workers injured in falls from scaffolding.

The second lawsuit was filed eight months later on August 30, 1962. Rosemary Toner sought $350,000 from the same defendants, on behalf of her and her daughter, Carrie Ann.

Then on September 13, the widow of Wallace Kumpula filed her lawsuit. Martha Kumpula sued for $450,000 on behalf of her and her sons, Glenn, age 15, and Gary, age 9.

Four years later, following a two-week trial before Judge Daniel J. McNamara, settlements totalling $425,000 ($2.7 million in 2007 dollars) were announced on October 5, 1966. The family of Homer Fields was awarded $193,800. Toner’s family got $129,200. Kumpula’s family received $102,000. The two attorneys for the families, John J. Sullivan and William J. Harte, argued there had been no safety lines in use as required by state law.