I wasn't suggesting that there would be a reason to cut down a tree in a survival situation, i was merely recasting the problem in another light to make the point that we don't know very much about this guy, his level of training, or his state of mind at the time.
Besides, i'm sure some of us have had fantasies about buying a little land with a cabin on it in the woods for vacations and/or retirement, and cutting wood for the stove. If i was lucky enough to have this happen, i think i would go ask a 'dumb logger' for some training first.
FWIW, lumberjacking ranks as the riskiest job, more dangerous than coal mining and deep sea fishing if memory serves.

Yup. You either get that skill, or you can't take it. Could be at least partially why my old agency has had nine suicides in the last year...

I'm still trying to figure out how he got pinned under a tree as he cut it. I have felled a few trees in my time, starting with 12" or so pines when I was too small to swing an axe, I cut 'em down with an old rig axe (or half hatchet as some call them). I can see getting smacked in the face with the butt of the tree as it kicks back, but not pinned under. Maybe the thing was down and he was limbing it. It could then roll and get you, if you were silly enough to be on the downhill side...

I think it is easier done than said.

1) He may not have understood the mechanics of it. If so, the tree is as likely to fall on you as away from you.

2) Even if he knew what he was doing, there can be endless variables. The tree might not be straight making it difficult to understand how it will fall, there might be wind, the branches could be intertwined with other branches, the tree could be rotted making it break unpredictably, it could bounce when it hits, etc.

-john

"...it's the small every day stuff and the red tape that add up to the most stress..."

I think you hit the nail on the head. I always said that the stress in law enforcement (and many other jobs I am sure) comes from the people you work for, not the job itself. I pretty much learned to ignore them...