An Indiana man died after falling about 50 feet Wednesday from a cell phone tower he was painting off Culkin Road.

Jack Pellow, 48, of Dale, Ind., was pronounced dead at University Medical Center in Jackson at 2:56 p.m., said UMC spokesman Thyrie Bland.

Exact cause of death has not been determined, said Warren County Coroner John Thomason. An autopsy, required by state law for on-the-job deaths, is set to be performed today or Friday by state pathologist Steven Hayne at Mississippi Mortuary Services in Pearl.

The tower rises about 90 feet above a small building that once housed radio station WKYV in a small, private clearing at 21 Culkin Road. Pellow was subcontracted to paint the tower by National Tank and Tower of Evansville, Ind., said company president Sam Dorris.

Pellow’s partner, Dennis Dean, also of Indiana, was on the ground and saw the plunge and dialed 911 on a cell phone.

&#8220He was about halfway down (the tower) and I looked up and saw the knot on the second rope came loose and he fell about 50 feet,” Dean said. The two had been in Mississippi since the weekend and had resumed the paint job just a few hours before the fall after taking Monday and Tuesday off, he said.

Pellow was initially taken across U.S. 61 North to River Region Medical Center shortly after 11 a.m., then flown to Jackson by helicopter.

The paint job was part of routine maintenance mandated by federal regulations, Dorris said, but he would not be specific about the company’s safety requirements, pending an investigation by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The tower is owned by Global Signal Towers Inc., formerly Pinnacle, of Sarasota, Fla.