28.02.2008

Men rescued from lift by helicopter

Two men working for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based utility company PECO were working on a pylon, from a truck mounted aerial lift some 30 to 40 metres up in Folcroft, Delaware County, Pennsylvania when the lift reportedly lost power.

It is not sure if it then drifted down or the two used auxiliary power to power the platform into the Pylon for additional stability after the wind began to pick up.
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The striken platform

For some reason the two then left the platform and clung on to the Pylon and its wires while they waited two and a half hours for the coastguard helicopter, from Atlantic City, New Jersey,to rescue them after local firefighters realised they had nothing high enough to reach.
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A close up of one of the men

We were unable to find any further details of the incident to add to what we were sen. It is entirely possible, listening to some reports, that the platform, which was set-up near a railway line, lost stability and tilted into the pylon? It would certainly explain why the men then left the basket.

We do have a link to raw video footage of the rescue. Click here to see the video