[align=center]Driver rescued after rig plummets off turnpike near New Stanton
Paul Peirce
Tribune-Review
February 3, 2010[/align]
A Missouri truck driver was rescued Tuesday after his rig carrying about 20 tons of chocolate candy smashed through guardrails and plummeted 75 feet over an embankment off the Pennsylvania Turnpike near New Stanton. Driver Charles E. Breden Jr., 61, of Moscow-Mills suffered "severe" injuries in the 7:43 a.m. accident, according to state police at New Stanton. Police said he was flown by medical helicopter to UPMC Presbyterian hospital in Pittsburgh, but a hospital spokeswoman said his condition was not available.
"He's got a 6-inch tree to thank that he didn't fall the rest of the way down," said New Stanton Assistant Fire Chief Keith Todd. Todd was referring to a tree on the steep hillside where the truck finally came to rest, teetering above icy Jacks Run. Emergency crews from Kecksburg, New Stanton, Mt. Pleasant and Youngwood fire departments and Westmoreland County's Technical Rescue team used ropes and pulleys to lift Breden to safety at about 9:20 a.m.
The truck was hauling about 40,000 pounds of chocolate, including Hershey's and Kit Kat bars and Reese's Pieces, according to Youngwood Assistant Fire Chief Robert Coletta. The accident occurred less than a mile east of the New Stanton interchange along the westbound lanes. The truck plowed through 420 feet of guardrails on the north berm of the highway and plunged down the embankment, according to Trooper Brian Depue.
"The rescue took about one hour and 40 minutes," Coletta said. Depue said the driver indicated he lost control while rounding a curve. The accident is under investigation. Rescue workers had to rappel down the hillside, cut open the truck to extract the driver and then lift him up in a Stokes basket, Coletta said. The driver was placed in a safety harness during the rescue in case the rig became dislodged and tumbled toward the creek below.
Coletta said the truck trailer and its cargo practically "disintegrated" into small pieces before the tree stopped it. "We were all wearing safety harnesses while we were down there," said Rob Leuthold, a captain with the county rescue team and a paramedic from North Huntingdon. "Everyone worked pretty well together. He was already cut out when we arrived," Leuthold said.
Coletta and Todd said the truck driver was alert and conscious, talking with rescuers as they worked to free him. "He was actually in a standing position where he landed in the cab, with his left leg pinned between the seat and steering wheel," Todd said.
Westbound traffic was restricted to one lane around the accident scene during the rescue.
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I looked for the truck...wanted to help the driver of course.
Chocolate truck accident
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eefanincan
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Too bad it wasn't Cadbury's Creme Eggs 
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eefanincan
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