Falling rock kills Germantown bicyclist in Western Pennsylvania The woman's husband was also flown to the hospital by helicopter

A Wisconsin woman died after being pinned by a falling rock while biking with her husband on the Great Allegheny Passage trail in Connellsville, Fayette County, officials said.

The man was able to free himself and was flown by medical helicopter to a hospital, while the woman was trapped underneath the rock and died at the scene.


Fayette County Coroner Dr. Bob Baker identified the woman as Gail Luck, 79, of Germantown, Wisconsin.

 Once we got there, we saw Mrs. Luck that was trapped underneath a very large rock at that time that had fallen onto the trail,  Baker said.

 We've never seen anything like this before,  he added.

New Haven Hose Company Fire Chief Jeffery Layton described the complex efforts to remove the rock debris and get to the couple.

 This required about every tool, the trade that we had on our heavy rescue,  Layton said.  We encountered lots of trees and brush that we had to cut away to get to the gentleman. Then we used airbags and cribbing and lifted one end of the rock to remove him so EMS could treat and transport. 

Luck's husband was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital. Crews then used multiple airbags to lift the rock entirely to reach Gail Luck, who did not survive.

Layton is urging the public to stay away from the slide zone.

 Please stay away from this area because it is very unstable. We had calls over the weekend where people were on those rocks crawling around, and that is very unstable. That rock face is still unstable. And we urge you please, to, stay away,  Layton said.

Baker, an avid cyclist, described the trail as typically very active, especially in the fall, and noted the rarity of the incident.

 It's far off the trail, so it just seems like such a rare incidence to see something like this. And the amount of volume of rock that fell was just unbelievable,  Baker said.

Officials react

A statement posted to the Great Allegheny Passage website said,  We are absolutely devastated. Our hearts are with the fam
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