FATAL FALL FROM HISTORIC SHIP'S MAST

Woman, 58, falls 35ft to her death from the mast of a historic tall ship Elissa at a Texas seaport museum after her safety harness became unclipped

 

Daily Mail 

February 7, 2022

 

The masts of the 1877 tall ship Elissa berthed at Galveston's seaport museum 

 

 

A female volunteer working on a historic tall ship docked at a Texas museum died after plummeted 35 feet from the mast when her safety harness somehow became unclipped as horrified tourists witnessed the tragedy.

The woman who fell from the ship's mast has been identified as Jill Hickman Victor, 58, of Nassau Bay, who was climbing the mast of the 145-year-old Elissa, which is berthed at Galveston's seaport museum on Pier 21, when she fell to her death around noon on Saturday.

 

Pictured: Jill Hickman-Victor, 58, the woman who was killed over the weekend in a terrible accident on the historic tall ship Elissa in Galveston

 

'She was wearing her fall-protection harness and on those harnesses you're supposed to have two points of contact as you're moving from one place to the other,' Port of Galveston Police Chief Kenneth Brown said.

The clips are connected to the harness on one end and then climbers unhook the the buckles at the other ends. It's not clear why the woman was not tethered by at least one of the clips as she made her way up the mast. 

'You always keep one connected. You disconnect one and then you connect it elsewhere before you unhook the other one so you can move,' Brown said. 

'We're not sure exactly what happened that she wasn't double-clipped in,' he added. 'When she went to move from one location to another, she apparently slipped and fell.'

 

           The ship hires volunteers Workers were doing maintenance work on board the Elissa while tourists were visiting the ship, making them witnesses of the tragedy

Workers are obliged to wear harnesses and have two points of contact as they are moving from one place to the other. Pictured: A volunteer working on one of the Elissa's masts

 

 

'We believe she died doing what she loved the best - volunteering on the Elissa,' said a friend of Victor's, described as a Dallas woman named Susie told KHOU.

'She absolutely loved it and loved that crew. I know they’re going to miss her dearly.' 

Victor's friend added that she had an adventurous spirit, and had been a part of an Elissa training class while looking forward to her first sail on the ship in April.  

'We want to give a shout to the Elissa crew for teaching her and allowing her to climb and fulfil that dream,' Victor's friend said. 

On the Sailing School Vessel website, the foundation states that all volunteers are 'trained extensively,' however authorities say Victor's tragic death is still under investigation by the Port of Galveston police and the Galveston Historical Foundation, which manages the historic ship.

 

A spokesman for the Galveston Historical Foundation, which operates the ship and the museum, confirmed the death but declined to provide further details. 

No alcohol or drugs were suspected to be factors in the accident, police said.  

The historical foundation brought the Elissa, which was built in 1877, from a scrapyard in Greece in 1978, according to the foundation. After restoration work, the ship opened as a floating museum and now has more than 40,000 visitors each year. 

Among the tourists who witnessed the tragedy were Jeff Rickman, 59, and Jimmie Boyett, 50, a couple from Louisiana. They were staying in Galveston for a romantic weekend getaway with their 15-year-old son John, who is a huge fan of history, and wanted to visit the Elissa.

While the teen was touring the interior of the boat, his parents watched maintenance workers from outside.

'That's so high up, what if they fall?' Boyett recalled saying, while she was observing the workers on ropes.

'They're not going to fall. They have harnesses anyway,' Rickman told her.

They watched in disbelief as the woman fell and heard screams the entire way down, Boyett said.

'I had nightmares about it later that night,' Boyett told the Houston Chronicle.

Preliminary reports from Brown said the woman fell about 60 feet, but in a release sent out Sunday, the Port of Galveston corrected it to 35. 

The Elissa was named a National Historic Landmark in 1990 and the official Tall Ship of Texas in 2005.  The historical foundation is a tenant of the port, and leases space at Pier 21 to operate the ship and the museum.

UPDATE: KTRK reports 'the U.S. Coast Guard is now investigating the death of a volunteer who fell more than 35 feet on the historic Tall Ship Elissa in the Port of Galveston, after police declared her death as an accident.'