News from April 12, 2007 issue

Local News
The Crittenden Press (3 pages) PDF
(Selected pages 1A, 8A, 4B)
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Ferry hands rescue man from
truck that went into Ohio River
Brad Prior made personal safety secondary March 30 when he jumped into the Ohio River to save a man whose vehicle plunged into the murky water at the Cave In Rock Ferry landing.
As a deckhand on the ferry, it's one of Prior's responsibilities to scan the river as the ferry makes its routine trips back and forth between the Kentucky and Illinois shores. But on this day he encountered something he really never expected.
The ferry boat was in the middle of the river and heading north toward the Illinois shore with a load of vehicles at around 10:30 a.m. Prior and pilot Rick Turner were on board the ferry when they saw a truck driven by J.T. Blair of Shawneetown exit the ferry ramp in Cave In Rock and plunge into the swiftly moving Ohio River. The scene set into motion a heroic recovery by the ferry workers.
As the ferry approached the Illinois shore, Prior and Turner saw Blair sitting in the truck with windows rolled down and his safety belt on. They hollered at him to undo his seatbelt so he could get out of the truck window. The pickup, by that time, was floating away from the shoreline, about 40 feet out into the river. 
Turner, the pilot, held the ferry boat at an angle to block the truck, while Prior jumped in and swam to the vehicle. The man inside seemed to be in some kind of shock or trauma, doing little to facilitate his own rescue, Prior explained. Unable to unclasp the seat belt, Prior cut it with his knife. 
Two Crittenden County men, Burnie Bradford and Darrell Penn, were in traffic behind the truck when the man suddenly drove off the loading ramp into the river. When the ferry got close enough to the ramp the two men jumped onto the deck to help if needed. 
While Turner kept the ferry in a position as close to the truck as possible, Bradford threw a rope to Prior, who tied it onto the truck’s door frame, before freeing Blair from the vehicle. Prior used the rope to pull himself and the rescued man back to the ferry. He and Blair were assisted onto the deck by Bradford and Penn.
Shirley and Lonnie Lewis, owners of the Cave In Rock Ferry, assisted with the removal of the truck from the river with the use of their backhoe.
Thee men who operate the ferry are well trained and experienced in their jobs, the Lewises explained.
Prospective pilots must work three years on the deck and undergo pilot training that includes learning to chart a course, draw a map of the river, learn the names and formations of clouds to watch for upcoming weather, have radar training, know how to load vehicles for the safest location, and many other things.