Abstract: At approximately 3:00 p.m. on September 24, 2002, Employee #1, a logger, was limbing and topping trees at a clear-cut logging operation. The feller-buncher cut a sweetgum tree which became lodged in the fork of a hackberry tree. He was unable to pull the tree loose and he pointed it out to one of the skidder operators before moving on to another area. At approximately 3:15 p.m., the skidder operator lifted the sweetgum tree to clear it. When the tree was raised, the hackberry tree split in half and the 96-foot long side fell, striking Employee #1 on the head and shoulders. He was killed. At the time of the accident, Employee #1 was working 86 feet from the standing tree, which was closer than the required two tree lengths from skidder operations.