Davis-Monthan Air Force Base officials have added several safety features to a base road after a forklift driver struck a husband and wife in September, killing one of them.
The changes, including new crosswalks, speed bumps and vehicle barriers, were installed as the result of an Air Force investigation into the death of Master Sgt. Melvin Peele.
Peele, 38, was walking to his car with his wife, Master Sgt. Lisa Peele, 34, when they were struck near the base's high-tech warfare center.
The forklift driver, a master sergeant who is a member of a National Guard detachment based at D-M, didn't see the Peeles until they were struck, according to findings from an Air Force investigation released Friday.
The Peeles were walking along an access route near a T-intersection by the James H. Doolittle Combined Air Operations Center when they decided to cross the road without using a nearby crosswalk, according to a summary of the report provided by Air Force officials.
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One of the Peeles saw the forklift in the distance but did not perceive any danger, the summary said.
The forklift operator, who was driving 10 mph to 15 mph without a load, had raised the equipment's forks about a foot into the air, which caused the lifting mechanism to obscure his view, the summary said.
The Peeles did not notice how close the forklift was until just before they collided, according to the investigation.
Melvin Peele, a member of the 612th Air Communications Squadron, part of the 12th Air Force based at D-M, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Lisa Peele, a member of the 355th Mission Support Squad-ron, part of D-M's fighter wing, suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
The forklift operator, whom officials did not identify, is a member of the 162nd Fighter Wing, a National Guard unit based at the Tucson International Airport, said Capt. Gabe Johnson, a unit spokesman.
He works at D-M as part of a detachment that supports jets from cold-weather climates that train in Tucson during winter, commonly called Operation Snowbird.
The forklift operator was leaving the unit's main building on his way to pick up supplies from a commercial tractor-trailer that was waiting at a D-M gate, Johnson said.
Operating a forklift is part of the master sergeant's job, he said.
The summary cited several factors that contributed to the fatality, including the forklift operator's limited view, "complacency and inattention by the victims" and improper training documentation by supervisors.
No disciplinary action was taken, as the purpose of the investigation was to determine what happened in the incident.
Among the changes D-M has made are adding speed bumps that have vehicle barriers on their sides so vehicles can't drive around them.
Also, traffic headed to a nearby industrial area was re-routed to another entrance, said Tech. Sgt. Jim Fisher, a D-M spokesman.
The cost of the changes was not immediately available.
D-M leaders want to ensure every airmen and employee at the base is safe, Fisher said.
"We tend to take the maximum measures possible" to protect base personnel, he said. "It's a matter of taking care of our people."
The investigation's findings were made public after Air Force officials reviewed the report with members of Melvin Peele's family earlier this week.
