Driver killed in crash when his dump truck goes airborne on Indiana County highway
An Indiana County man was killed early Tuesday morning when the empty dump truck he was driving on Route 119 south of Indiana, Pa., went off the highway and flew through the air before landing on the road below, according to state police at the Indiana station.
The victim, Thomas Mears, 57, of Marion Center, was treated at Indiana Regional Medical Center before being flown by helicopter to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, where he was pronounced dead at 6:22 a.m. the Allegheny County Medical Examiner said.
Police said they did not know why Mears lost control of the southbound dump truck at about 4:30 a.m. in the area where Route 119 intersects Wayne Avenue, south of Indiana Borough.
The truck hit a median and a guardrail, then continued southbound, hitting the embankment, which resulted in the truck going airborne. It traveled through Route 119 at the overpass over Wayne Avenue, falling onto a concrete barrier on the avenue before stopping facing westbound. Mears was not wearing a seat belt, police said.
State police are conducting a multipronged investigation with a collision analysis team and reconstruction unit, as well as units focused on commercial vehicle enforcement and forensics services.
Three fire departments, an ambulance service and PennDOT assisted the police.
Joe Napsha is a TribLive reporter covering Irwin, North Huntingdon and the Norwin School District. He also writes about business issues. He grew up on Neville Island and has worked at the Trib since the early 1980s. He can be reached at jnapsha@triblive.com.
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