Federal investigators are looking into the death last week of a trucker killed when a section of electrical conduit fell through his windshield.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission said Monday the National Transportation Safety Board expects to finish its inspection Wednesday and may issue a preliminary report within about a month.
State police say the truck driver was killed Feb. 21 when the section of conduit struck him in the head while he was driving through the turnpike's Lehigh Tunnel near Slatington. A coroner described the conduit as a large pipe.
Southbound tunnel just reopened. @NBCPhiladelphia pic.twitter.com/R8YpcVfxEh
— Steven Fisher (@Steven_Fisher10) February 22, 2018
The driver, identified as Howard Sexton of Mickleton, New Jersey, continued through the tunnel, despite being struck in the head, before pulling over on the shoulder of the roadway, Pennsylvania State Police said.
Several other vehicles sustained minor damaged by the debris left by the wreck, police said. The southbound lanes of the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike's tunnel were shut down shortly afterward.
![Lehigh Tunnel Pa Turnpike Northeast Extension Howard Sexton](https://media.nbcphiladelphia.com/2019/09/Taking__Family_Pictures_.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=218%2C123)
During their investigation, troopers found the 70-year-old big rig driver dead behind the wheel, police said.
The truck apparently had coasted to a stop after riding along the guardrail, Sexton's wife of 25 years, Michelle, and other family members told NBC10. The coroner told the family it appeared Sexton died instantly.
Officials say the Lehigh Tunnel's southbound side is the only tunnel in the turnpike system that has electrical conduit directly above drivers, rather than in a parallel tunnel.
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