Truck Accidents 360 Newswire

NEW STANTON, PA – A tractor trailer truck loaded with candy plunged off the Pennsylvania Turnpike Tuesday morning in Westmoreland County. The truck accident happened near New Stanton, PA, which is in the southwest section of the state 35 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, PA and 272 miles west of Philadelphia, PA

The cab of the 18 wheeler was completely destroyed in the truck accident

At around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, 61 year old Charles E. Breden of Moscow Mills, Missouri was driving a truck loaded with about 40,000 pounds of Hershey candy bars. He was headed westbound on the Pennsylvania Turnpike about one mile east of the New Stanton interchange when the truck accident occurred…

The truck driver lost control of the tractor trailer as he was rounding a curve. He crashed through about 420 feet of guardrail and then pitched over the embankment on the north side of the turnpike.

The tractor truck plunged about seventy feet down the steep hill before being stopped by a tree. The 18 wheeler dangled about 300 feet over the cold waters of the Jacks Run, held back by a six-inch tree. The truck accident trapped the truck driver in the cab. He ended up in a standing position, his left leg pinned between his seat and the steering wheel.

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Emergency workers from Westmoreland County, Kecksburg, Mt. Pleasant, Youngwood, and the New Stanton Fire Department responded to the truck accident scene. A rope rescue team from the Westmoreland County Technical Rescue was brought in to free the truck driver.

Rescuers rappelled down the steep embankment to the truck, and then had to cut open the truck cab to reach the driver. The truck driver was conscious and alert, and rescuers covered him with a blanket to warm him up. They then put a safety harness on him and placed him in a Stokes basket.

The rescuers next used ropes and pulleys to pull the truck driver up the steep embankment. The entire rescue took almost one and half hours, and the truck driver reached safety at about 9:20 a.m. A medical helicopter airlifted Mr. Breden to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh. He broke an arm in the truck accident but his injuries are not life threatening and he is expected to recover.

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The PA Turnpike was impacted in the area surrounding the truck accident, and westbound traffic was limited to the left lane. The right lane would remain closed until crews finished pulling the wreckage of the tractor trailer up the embankment and towing it away.

The cab of the 18 wheeler was completely destroyed in the truck accident and the load of candy bars was strewn all over the embankment. It took crews hours to clean up the mess.

Officials investigating the accident report that the truck driver could not remember what happened before he lost control of the tractor trailer. He was hauling the candy for an Illinois company and was headed to St. Louis, MO.

No charges have been made at this time and the truck accident remains under investigation.

For more information about Pennsylvania trucking laws, truck injury causes and victims rights, contact a nationwide truck accident attorney for the best advise possible. For a free initial consultation, contact a PA truck accident lawyer.