A motorcyclist was injured Sunday morning in an accident along Asheville Highway.

Timothy Castle, 47, Gate City, Va., was airlifted to Johnson City Medical Center at 10:07 a.m. Sunday by a WellmontOne helicopter from an emergency landing zone set up at South Greene High School.

Castle was listed in fair condition at the JCMC this morning, according to a nursing supervisor.

The accident is believed to have occurred between 8 and 9 a.m. Sunday on the mountain, in the 13000 block of Tennessee Rt. 70 (the Asheville Highway).

A 911 spokesman said a companion of the injured man rode his own motorcycle "a couple of miles" to a residence on the mountain, where 911 was called at 8:53 a.m.

Greene County Deputy Sheriff Mark Crum said in an interview Sunday that Castle had been riding with three friends from Kingsport.

Crum had not yet filed a report about the accident as of this morning.

Crum said that it had been raining and the highway was wet. Castle's motorcycle struck a patch of slick highway on a curve and plunged 30 or 40 feet down a ravine.

The deputy noted that steam was still rising from the rain-slickened highway when he reached the accident scene.

Emergency personnel responding to the scene included Deputy Crum, the Greene County-Greeneville Emergency Medical Services, and two units of the South Greene Volunteer Fire Department.

Two additional units of the Volunteer Fire department went to SGHS to help set up the emergency landing zone for the helicopter.