By Cindy V. Culp Tribune-Herald staff writer

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

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."

cculp@wacotrib.com

757-5744

Submitted on 02/08/2006

Submitted by: john trotter
Reference: wacotrib.com 2/8/6

Copyright © 2006 DarwinAwards.com

James said:
Definitely Toss: Not Amusing
There is something unfunny and tragic about this particular story. I'm not getting any indication that there was any Darwinian stupidity involved. As such, I will have to vote to toss. Thanks for submitting, however, we DO appreciate it! :-)

Jack said:
Definitely Keep: For Darwin's Eyes
More information to support my original decision that Darwin grade stupidity was involved - the guy driving the tractor was a meteorologist for the local TV station and should have known that the winds were too high to safely parasail.

Jorge said:
Definitely Toss: Repeat

Tracy said:
Definitely Keep: For Darwin's Eyes
I'm with Jack - the guy was a meteorologist and should have known the strength of the winds! And how strong would they have been to lift a tractor?

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