A driver died on Thursday after his tractor-trailer was blown over the side of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia.
The man was spotted atop the vehicle’s cab at about 12:35 p.m. and was recovered by a Navy helicopter. He died while en route to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, WVEC.com reports.
The four lane, 23-mile span was experiencing winds in excess of 47 mph around the time of the accident, the facility said on Twitter.
The accident occurred in the southbound lanes of the Eastern Shore side at mile marker 15, WVEC.com reports.
NEW: Photo of the tractor-trailer that went over the side of Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnelhttps://t.co/W90fdejTAI
(Courtesy John Wray) pic.twitter.com/oyYnsgfjcJ
— The Virginian-Pilot (@virginianpilot) February 9, 2017
A Navy spokesman confirmed to The Virginian-Pilot that a Navy crew based in Norfolk was on a routine training flight when they spotted the wreck and later rescued the driver, who has yet to be identified.
The water temperature at the time was just 45.5 degrees, according to the newspaper, citing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data buoys.
All lanes on the bridge-tunnel have since reopened following the crash, Virginia Department of Transportation officials announced on their Twitter feed.
The facility, which first opened in 1964 with its northbound lanes, is surrounded by water up to 100 feet deep, according to its website, and features two mile-long tunnels, two bridges, four manmade islands and more than 5 miles of approach roadways.
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