Errant skydiving student rescued after landing in tree
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Posted 11:27PM on Saturday, July 20, 2002
ROME - A student skydiver on a jump went astray Saturday night and ended up in a 75-foot pine tree, according to the co-owner of the parachuting school. <br>
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The man, who was not injured or identified, was attempting an assisted jump about 7:30 p.m. when he went off course and landed a densely wooded area, said Sandor Vali, co-owner of Atlanta Air Sportz at Richard B. Russell Regional Airport. <br>
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``He actually did a good job performing a hazardous landing procedure,'' Vali said. <br>
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Rescue workers arrived from the Rome Fire Dept. and Floyd County Police to find the jumper dangling about 40 feet from the ground. <br>
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Two firefighters climbed an extension ladder and lowered the man down with ropes and pulleys almost two hours after his jump. <br>
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``We just nicknamed him 'Hang Man,''' said fellow jumper Steve Andrews, 31, of Marietta, who has about 12 jumps behind him.