The AM Forum

https://qrznow.com/one-dead-after-tower-collapse-in-susquehanna-county/?fbclid=IwAR0MUr0T31VmZ9LYoLxNrPN0r7HsaZ_JbL_QNtD-1zgLmhgPFU8vA3ENORQ

Not positive of the date, but....  Sad regardless.


--Shane
KD6VXI

Looks like a windy day. Shoulda stood in bed. :(

34 hams in that zip code ... (Gibson County) 18847

His name has been released.

My condolences to those who knew him..  Sounds like he was fairly popular.


Well-known northeastern Pennsylvania radio amateur Leland L. “Lee”
Parsons III, N3LPJ, lost his life on June 14 during a ham tower installation project when a tower section he was working on collapsed off State Route 2069 in Gibson Township. Authorities said Parsons, 62, was apparently attempting to attach a guy wire to the bottom tower
section when it went over. An ARRL member, Parsons was the president of the Susquehanna County Amateur Radio Club.


--Shane
KD6VXI

Too bad.

Having a lot of experience with this part of the installation, let me speculate on what might have happened so that maybe someone else can avoid the same fate...

The most dangerous part of putting up a Rohn 45 tower (guess) on a pier pin is installing the lower sections since there are no steel guy wires yet holding them.  The first guy level can be as high as 30' or more, so it is quite a fall... especially when the tower comes down around you.

The proper way is to use strong temporary rope guys that are secured in three places enabling us to climb the lower tower  safely and attach the main steel guy wires at the first guy level. Or attach the three guys while still on the ground and "tilt-over method" the tower up and attach the guys to the anchors without climbing the tower at all.  Evidently maybe someone was trying to hold the tower in place and slipped or maybe the rope temp guys failed or maybe there were no temp guys and he tried to attach the steel guys by climbing an unguyed tower.  
Remember that the base of a pier pin tower is not secure as a tower sitting in concrete would be.

As an outside guess, a very weak and frail tower like an aluminum tower may buckle if the guy wires are more than 40' apart, etc. That would be an engineering installation defect.

Another guess: The tower was already installed and he took one guy off for repair. The tower buckled because of the missing guy when he climbed it. All three guys must be released together  when doing this sort of work.


Whatever the case, the bottom line is we never want to climb an unguyed or weakened tower.  Sh*t happens.

Again, sorry to hear this.

T

I don't know if this gentleman asked any friends to help him with the tower work that day. If not, he probably has some friends that wish they had been asked, or wish they had offered to help him.

Please don't work alone on your tower.
Please ask for help when you do tower work... even if you think don't need it.

Please PM me if you're nearby and plan on doing tower work.


Don
Waterford, NY