No Fault Found in Indiana Community College Teacher’s Fatal Fall

A state investigation found no safety violations in the fatal 65-foot fall of an Ivy Tech Community College instructor from a wind turbine training tower.

The Indiana Department of Labor report doesn’t give a reason for why 36-year-old Craig Porter fell Nov. 2 from the tower at the Lafayette campus. Agency spokesman Bob Dittmer tells the Journal & Courier that a thorough investigation found that training and safety standards were being followed.

Ivy Tech officials say Porter and the students were wearing full-body harnesses at the time.

Campus spokesman Tom McCool says the training tower will be used by instructors and students again this spring.

Porter was chairman of the energy technology program for Ivy Tech’s Lafayette region. The school is naming a renewable energy center in his honor.