HARTSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Three skydivers — Gio Masters, Josh Morris, and Austin Shaw — were detained in Trousdale County this week after jumping from a plane into a shutdown cooling tower at the old Hartsville nuclear plant.
While there is no radioactivity there, the act was illegal, according to Sheriff Ray Russell. Deputies and the Tennessee Valley Authority detained the suspects, who told authorities they didn't realize the former tower was off-limits. The reactor was never used by TVA and was part of a canceled plant in the 1980s.
Watch them dive into the tower in the player above.
"We started climbing the ladder and started hearing the sirens, and thought, 'what is going on man?'" Morris said.
The three, known as extreme athletes, usually post their gallivants and stunts.
The sheriff ways the cooling towers are a magnet for thrill seekers from across the country.
After a few tense moments, the responding law enforcement reacted with a sense of humor.
"He even was like, 'If I had known you were gonna climb the tower we would have given you two bulbs! We have to pay a guy to do that!'"
The three now have earned a court date, along with a little humility.
Both Trousdale County Sheriffs Deputies and Tennessee Valley Authority Police responded to the old reactor this week.
They remind everyone that property is off limits.
For people of my generation, in our younger days we spent part of our weekends watching music shows like American Bandstand and Soul Train. That was before the age of music videos. Several years before Soul Train was syndicated out of Chicago, another syndicated R&B show was taped in Nashville at NewsChannel 5. Night Train aired in the 60s and included what may have been the first TV appearance for legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Forrest Sanders has another great look back at station history.
-Lelan Statom
