Woman falls to death from mast of historic ship in Texas

A volunteer has died after falling from a mast of a historic ship at a Texas seaport museum.

The volunteer, identified as Jill Marie Hickman Victor, from Texas, was working aboard the tall ship Elissa at the Port of Galveston when she fell on Saturday February 5, the Port of Galveston Police Department said.

Jill Victor was about 35 feet up the mast and wearing a safety harness, but it somehow became unclipped. She fell and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police have ruled her death as accidental.

“Elissa is a crew of dedicated men and women who operate the ship with passion and dedication,” a spokesperson for the Galveston Historical Foundation, which operates the museum, said in a statement.

“We extend our condolences to the crew member’s family and friends.”

The Elissa, one of the last remaining tall ships that still sails, was built in 1877 and brought to Galveston from a scrapyard in Greece in 1978. The restored vessel now attracts more than 40,000 visitors as a floating museum and is used as a sailing school.