BOISE, Idaho — The families of two victims who died in the January 2024 hangar collapse at the Jackson Jet Center next to the Boise Airport have reached a settlement with two defendants in a wrongful death case — Big D Builders and Walker Structural Engineering.
The hangar structure collapsed on the evening of Jan. 31, 2024, killing three people: 32-year-old Mario Sontay Tzi, 24-year-old Mariano “Alex” Coc Och, and 59-year-old Craig Durrant.
The Ada County Coroner reported at the time that all three died from blunt force trauma. Durrant was a co-founder of Meridian-based Big D Builders, while Tzi and Coc Och worked for the company as construction workers. Tzi and Coc Och, originally from Guatemala, lived in Nampa.
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Several others were injured in the incident, and other lawsuits remain ongoing.
Attorney Enrique Serna confirmed to Idaho News 6 that the wrongful death claims against Big D Builders and Walker Structural Engineering have been resolved, resulting in the dismissal of the federal case against them. The lawsuit was originally filed by Serna and Boise attorney Jane Gordon of Jane Gordon Law.
Details of the settlement, including whether the companies admitted fault, remain sealed under a confidentiality agreement. Serna told Idaho News 6, "[The] families were satisfied with the settlement amount and accepted the terms."
The families of the two deceased construction workers are still pursuing a case against Boise-based Inland Crane.
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Despite OSHA delivering a scathing report on both Inland Crane and Big D Building for their roles in the collapse, the OSHA case against Inland Crane was dismissed in the spring of 2025. At the time, Inland Crane Vice President Jeremy Haener said in a statement:
“Inland Crane is proud of our employees for their safe and effective work. We continue to mourn our colleagues and friends lost in the incident and offer our deepest condolences to their families and loved ones. We are pleased that OSHA agrees that neither our employees nor our equipment contributed to the tragic hangar collapse in January 2024.”
Serna, however, contends that Inland Crane was the only operator that could have prevented the collapse. He claims the company ignored warning signs and failed to follow OSHA training requirements.
Serna says he expects the wrongful death case against Inland Crane to go to trial in April.
According to Serna, the insurance company for Steel Building Systems, Atlantic Casualty, has filed a declaratory judgment stating that they will not honor their insurance contract with Steel Building Systems. The plaintiffs are seeking intervention to obtain compensation from the insurance company.
Big D Builders was previously fined $200,000 by OSHA for one willful violation of standards and three serious violations of federal safety regulations.
Watch Idaho News 6's coverage from the day after the hangar collapse —
