Posted on 02/08/2006 4:49:00 AM PST by Mikey_1962
Gusty winds were blamed for a bizarre accident that killed the son of a local TV weatherman who was parasailing behind a tractor, a family friend said Monday.
The tragedy happened about 12:15 p.m. Sunday at the Robinson residence of Don Greene, a meteorologist for local television station KXXV. He and his son, 24-year-old James Greene, of Austin, were enjoying the day together when they decided the weather was right to go parasailing.
Normally, parasailing is done over water with a boat pulling someone hitched to a parachute-like canopy. The idea is for the rider to fly into the air, assisted by the parachute.
But there is also a form of the sport known as terrestrial parasailing in which the rider is pulled over land by a motor vehicle. In the case of Greene and his son, they used a farm tractor, family friend Rob Sellers said.
The way it is supposed to work, Sellers said, is that someone drives the tractor until the rider is picked up by the wind. Tethered to the vehicle by a rope, the rider then flies until the tractor stops.
But on Sunday, as Don Greene was driving the tractor with his son in back, the wind proved so strong it picked the tractor up off the ground, Sellers said. That caused the rope holding James Greene to break and he went free-flying into the air, he said.
Initially, Greene hit the ground, Sellers said. But then the wind picked up his parasail again, and he was thrown over a fence and into a tree about 500 feet away. The impact injured him severely, Sellers said, noting that Greene landed in the branches of the tree and had to be removed.
A family member called 9-1-1 as soon as the accident happened, Sellers said. Within about a minute, a fire truck was at Greene's house on East Rocket Road. The Robinson Volunteer Fire Department happened to be putting out a grass fire a couple of houses down and was able to respond immediately.
Once Greene's injuries were assessed, he was loaded into a helicopter for transport to Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center, Sellers said. He died shortly thereafter.
"It's just a tragic accident," Sellers said. "This isn't the first time they had ever done this."
One of the things that comforts the family, Sellers said, is that James Greene had been enjoying what was a perfect day for him. He had seen his best friend, worked on cars, done some target shooting and eaten great food, he said.
"He got to do everything he wanted to do," Sellers said, adding that Greene was married and worked at an Austin company called Data Movers.
According to the National Weather Service, the average wind speed Sunday was 14 miles per hour, with gusts of up to 37 miles per hour.
Lt. Tracy O'Connor of the Robinson Police Department said officials are not investigating the incident and that no charges are being considered against Don Greene, who is also a professor at Baylor University.
"It was just an unfortunate accident," O'Connor said. "I've never heard of anyone parasailing behind a tractor, but it's not against the law."
Google, :)
IF he was using the maximum-diameter chute, and IF the tractor weighed no more than 1,500 pounds (which is pretty light for anything but a small orchard tractor), then I guess a gust could have caused a problem. But it would have to be a freak set of circumstances, I would think.
That's like comparing a soldier who gets killed in a jeep during training excercises to somebody who drives their jeep too fast and hits a tree. Even if they were doing the EXACT same thing....the soldiers "had a purpose".
In addition, those navy skydivers did NOT make the call themselves. They were ordered by a commanding officer.
The guy on the tractor CHOSE to tie himself to the tractor.
No matter how you slice it - tractor guy was stupid. Outcome pretty much proves it.
Then so was the sailor.
When you push the envelope over the edge of intelligence into the abyss of rank stupidity, it's no accident.
Leni
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