This comes off the PVDXSN packet cluster network...
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Msg #1261 From: K1CC Date: 13-Aug 0232Z Subj: Tower accident
Just spoke to WB9YWQ who was helping a friend take down a Rohn 45 tower
which was guyed at 30' and 60'. Unknown to him, his friend had
disconnected one of the 30' guy wires to do some work and forgot to
connect it.
When WB9YWQ got there, he started climbing the tower and at the 30' mark
it started to lean over and topple. He managed to climb down to 15 ft at
which point he was forced to jump off the tower. When he hit the ground
and looked up, he saw the tower coming down at him and was able to roll
over. The tower missed him by 14 inches.
He suffered a severely broken leg which had to be pinned and screwed in
multiple places.
Fortunately, no one else got hurt nor did it fall on anything else. The
tower was actually a tiltover Rohn 45 which was quite old and no longer
tilted over. The hinge at the tower base (which was rusted) broke and the
tower actually fell AWAY from the hinge.
Lessons learned:
1. Always a good idea to check guy wires for proper installation
BEFORE climbing a tower, ESPECIALLY if climbing someone else's
tower for the first time.
2. Before disconnecting anything on a tower, ALWAYS inform everyone
working on the tower what has been done and what the procedure
for the tower work is going to be, so everyone knows what to
expect.
Fortunately no one got killed, but it was as close as it gets!
-- Rich K1CC
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