Three Hertz rental cars were damaged after a ceiling partially collapsed at a Tampa International Airport long-term parking garage, according to the Tampa Tribune. Engineers were expected to continue stabilizing the ceiling after the collapse, which took place the morning of Jan. 26. The incident did not compromise the safety of the nine-story garage, and not one was injured, airport officials said.

One of the Hertz rental cars was crushed when the concrete and steel ceiling collapsed where rental cars are parked after they are serviced for use.

About one-third of the ceiling, a section about 50 feet wide and 150 feet long, fell. A Hertz employee heard the crash and reported it.

The garage opened in 1991, and the ceiling was added in 2002 to provide cover for a handful of cars. Airport director Louis Miller said the ceiling was built as a canopy to cover the ground floor portion of an atrium-like section of the garage. It was connected with bolts to columns, but the ceiling was not designed to provide support to the garage. Visitors park on the top seven floors of the nine-story structure, and the first two floors are used for rental car operations. Attendants wash, fuel and store rental cars on the ground floor. People using the airport should notice no changes in rental vehicle operations, which are handled on the second floor, officials said.

0 Comments