FORT WORTH, Texas --
A man was airlifted to a hospital Wednesday after rescuers freed him from a collapsed crane inside an industrial warehouse in southwest Fort Worth, NBC 5 reported.
The collapse happened at about 2:30 p.m. at Sabre Tubular Structures in the 2300 block of Risinger Road.
The several thousand-pound crane fell onto its side while Kevin Easton was inside. It missed John Wooddell, a field service technician, but trapped his co-worker Easton in the driver's control seat.
"He was mainly dealing with the pressure of the metal pressing against him and pinning him down (to) where he couldn't move," Wooddell said.
He said he tried making jokes to keep his friend and co-worker calm.
"He was scared at first," Wooddell said. "Then once we got him calmed down and relaxed, he did a lot better."
Firefighters freed Easton after nearly two and a half hours, and he was transported via CareFlite to Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth. Wooddell said firefighters had to slowly remove pieces of the cab and the controls out of the way.
His co-workers said Easton was conscious and coherent.
"It was a relief to know that he was free, he was still intact, and that he was still alive," Wooddell said.
Easton is in fair condition at the hospital.
Investigators do not know why the crane tipped over. OSHA investigators were at the scene late Wednesday evening.
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