A 52-year-old Angus farm worker was airlifted to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee with serious back injuries after an accident which left his tractor halfway down the sea cliffs south of Montrose.
Ian Murray was working with 17-year-old David Alston repairing fences at Buckie Mill Farm at the north end of Lunan Bay shortly after 4pm on Wednesday when their tractor started to slip on the grassy slope.
Mr Murray, who was outside the tractor, was crushed as it rolled over the upper half of his body.
Mr Alston jumped clear just before it plummeted over the edge of the cliff, rolling several times before coming to rest about 60 yards down the cliff.
Although injured, Mr Alston was able to raise the alarm.
Police, coastguard, ambulance and a trauma team from Ninewells were called to the scene.
The steep slope was inaccessible to the ambulance so the coastguard’s 4×4 took two paramedics to the scene.
The Scottish Ambulance Service scrambled its Helimed 5 helicopter from Glasgow and, less than half an hour later and guided by the coastguard’s flares, it landed near the cliff edge to airlift Mr Murray to Ninewells. Its own paramedics were accompanied by a doctor from the trauma team.
Mr Alston was taken to Ninewells by the ambulance, which had remained at the top of the field.
On Wednesday night Mr Murray’s condition was said to be serious but stable.
Mr Alston was in a stable and not life-threatening condition.
Police cordoned off the field and a crash investigation team were helped by the coastguard, who set up a line down to the crashed tractor.
Inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the incident are continuing and the Health and Safety Executive has been informed
David Alston senior, who farms Buckie Mill and was among the first on the scene, said his son and Mr Murray had been repairing the fencing round the field in readiness for cattle to be moved on to it for grazing.
Mr Alston said, “They had stopped the digger to sort part of the fence and put the handbrake on.
“Mr Murray was outside and David was still in the cab.”
He added, “There was such a slope that it began to skid. I believe Mr Murray was crushed by one of the wheels going over him.
“David was able to jump clear just before the digger went over the edge.”