Man falls to his death from Oil Drilling Rig in Tom Green County

There was drilling accident that killed a derrick man this afternoon at the Turner Ranch in the northwest side of Tom Green County. According to Sheriff David Jones, “This was a sad, sad accident. We haven’t had a drilling accident death in the county in years.” Jones said that the name of the victim is not released, pending notification of the next-of-kin.

According to our source who was at the rig, “A derrick hand was tripping pipe out for logging. He was about 50-55 feet up on the derrick itself and almost done. He fell and hit the rig floor.”

Tom Green County Dispatch called for Airmed 1, the ambulance helicopter, to come to the scene. Shortly thereafter, another call was heard asking for the justice of the peace.

The accident occurred on a Heartland Drilling rig located on the Turner Ranch. To gain access, emergency vehicles turned at a road near the Turner Pit and traveled to the location north of the pit. We provide the picture to give the reader a general proximity of the accident location. The rig is several miles down a private road and not visible from any public road.

It is unknown if the derrick man was wearing a safety harness.

Attempts to reach Heartland Drilling were unsuccessful.

Update 1:41 a.m. July 4, 2014

The victim's name is Roy Michael Jaynes, according to the Tom Green County Sheriff's Office. He was pronounced dead at the accident scene by Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace Eddie Howard at around 2 p.m. Thursday. An eyewitness at the scene said that Jaynes was relatively new working on the derrick.