Semi truck crashes on I-75, slips 100 yards down embankment

Above, investigators survey the spot on I-75 where a semi careened off the roadway and over an embankment.

Miraculously no one was seriously injured or killed when a tractor trailer when through the median, across the opposite lane of travel and nearly 100 yards down an embankment without flipping over on I-75 in Whitley County.

"I’ve seen a bunch of wrecks, but this one is kind of different. To take it that far and not turn over or not hurt the driver that was a little bit different. Someone was watching over him," said Kentucky State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Officer Dennis Jackson, who investigated the crash.

Mykhaylu Grytsyk, 39, of Raleigh, N.C., was going south on I-75 in a Volvo tractor trailer when the crash occurred shortly before 7 a.m. near the 17-mile marker.

"The driver told me that his left front tire blew. It just caused him to drift across the road, through the median and down over the embankment," Jackson said.

The vehicle, which was carrying Styrofoam coolers, traveled about 275 feet down the embankment and never flipped over.
Other than a small scratch to the head, Grytsyk wasn’t injured.

"He was real lucky," Jackson said.

No other vehicles were involved in the crash.

"There were a couple going northbound when he went across but they managed to stop in time so nobody else was involved. Nobody was hurt," Jackson noted.

The accident had the northbound traffic reduced to one lane for well over three hours.

Bolton’s Towing was tasked with getting the vehicle back up the embankment.

Because the semi was hauling a light cargo, officials didn’t have to unload it before bringing it back up the embankment.
The truck was headed to Marian, N.C.

The driver wasn’t charged in connection with the accident, but Jackson said there were some paperwork problems that Grytsyk would be cited for.

Goldbug Volunteer Fire Department assisted at the scene.