Man killed in Wichita tree-trimming accident was McConnell airman
The man who died Monday after he was accidentally shocked while trimming trees in west Wichita was an airman from McConnell Air Force Base’s 22nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, the base announced Tuesday.
Tech. Sgt. Thomas Gillan, 38, was electrocuted Monday afternoon in a neighborhood near Douglas and Meridian. He served as the flight chief for the Atlas Support Flight, “which manages and supplies equipment and tools for McConnell’s aircraft maintenance community,” the chief of public affairs for the base, John Van Winkle, said in an email.
Gillan arrived at McConnell Air Force Base in March 2017. He was originally from Southwick, Massachusetts, Van Winkle said.
His funeral services are pending.
“Tom was a valued and beloved member of our McConnell team,” Col. Joe Wall, commander of the 22nd Air Refueling Wing, said in a statement included in the email.
“Our hearts go out to the fiancé and family, and there are no words that can heal the pain that this sudden loss brings to all of us.”
Gillan was hospitalized Monday afternoon after a 911 caller reported seeing a tree trimmer unconscious in the aerial bucket of a 50-foot lift and a tree on fire around 1 p.m. in the area of Custer and Burton.
Winkle said initial indications from Wichita police are that Gillan was electrocuted after the bucket touched the power lines.
He was pronounced dead after emergency crews took him to the hospital.
This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 6:05 PM.
