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As the Notre Dame football team drilled on its practice field, Declan Sullivan stood high above the turf in a hydraulic lift, videotaping the session so players could get an aerial view of their performance.

Suddenly, the wind, already whipping so much that Sullivan tweeted that it was “terrifying,” surged as high as 51 mph.

The lift toppled over, crashing through a fence before coming to rest in a street just behind a goal post.

“Things started flying by me that had been stationary for all of practice — Gatorade containers, towels,” athletic director Jack Swarbrick recalled Thursday. “I noticed the netting by the goal post start to bend dramatically, and I heard a crash.”

Sullivan, a junior film student from the Chicago suburb of Long Grove, Ill., was taken to a hospital, but Swarbrick said he received a call from the ambulance before it arrived saying that the 20-year-old was not breathing. The young man was soon pronounced dead.

Most such lifts extend to about 40 feet, but Swarbrick said he did not know how high Sullivan was when the machine fell over, and it was unclear who authorized Sullivan to go up in it.

As a student worker, Sullivan reported to a video coordinator associated with the football team. Swarbrick said the decision to practice outdoors is left up to individual athletic programs.

A workplace safety expert said the lift should never have been used in such blustery conditions.

The university pledged to review its policy for using the lifts.

“We’re going to look at how it was done this day,” Swarbrick said, adding that at least one other student was in a lift at the same time as Sullivan.

Sullivan indicated via his Twitter account that he was in a dangerous predicament. According to media reports, Sullivan posted the following tweet at 3:22 p.m. ET, just as practice was beginning: “Gusts of wind up to 60 mph. Well today will be fun at work. I guess I’ve lived long enough.”

Then, at 4:06 p.m. according to reports, Sullivan posted another tweet: “Holy [blank]. Holy [blank]. This is terrifying.”

The accident occurred at 4:50 p.m. ET, according to media reports.