Tragic accident reported at W0ZUS

[k4kyv]

I heard about this last night on 160m.  Apparently after the auction, someone volunteered to take down Dewey's vertical. Not sure what kind of structure it was, but the story goes that it was 100 ft tall or more, and that the person had dismantled it down to the bottom 30 ft., then something about the guy wires failed, and the individual fell to his death.  Has anyone heard about this or know any more details?

[N0WEK]

I heard about this last night on 160m.  Apparently after the auction, someone volunteered to take down Dewey's vertical. Not sure what kind of structure it was, but the story goes that it was 100 ft tall or more, and that the person had dismantled it down to the bottom 30 ft., then something about the guy wires failed, and the individual fell to his death.  Has anyone heard about this or know any more details?

I believe that was Tim Anderson K0OR back on July 16th, I don't remember the details. Someone else got hurt too.

[w3jn]

I don't think that was at W0ZUS though.

[W2JTD]

http://www.arrl.org/news/one-ham-killed-another-seriously-injured-in-tower-accident

[ke7trp]

Very sad.  What a horrible accident.  I am only confused as to why anyone would do tower work with high winds. 

[k4kyv]

So, was it or was it not at the W0ZUS site? The gentleman who told me about the incident said it was, and he indicated that he had known Dewey personally.

In any case, I can't imagine being up on a tower while someone else was loosening the guy wires.  When I put mine up, I secured it with temporary guys, section at a time, up to each permanent guying point, then more temporary guys to the next one, etc. As I recall, I used two sets of temporary guys, so that each new section was temporarily guyed before the ones on the section below it were removed.

The most critical part was the first 30 ft, since the whole structure was held only with temporary guys until the 1st permanent guying point was completed.

Another reason to use a pier pin/base plate, with the tower always held in vertical position with temporary or permanent guy wires from the first section on, never the Hammy Hambone method of burying a few feet of bottom section in the concrete and hoping it will remain self-supporting up to the first guying point.

[K1JJ]

Tragic.

Unfortunately, there is a human tendency to lower our guards when we get lower to the ground or the job is near to finished.  It's a natural thing to get smug and start taking bigger risks as the job that went well is nearing completion.

Most tower and antenna accidents occur when taking them down - OR when climbing DOWN the tower rather than up.   I notice these same patterns with myself when doing tower work. When I have finished a job, I can't wait to get down the tower to the ground and tend to move more quickly.   When just starting the job, I climb slowly and very carefully.

In addition, taking down old hardware means more things get stuck and can "spring" out of control. Also, we are more apt to be sharper and more excited about putting up a new installation rather than the PIA of taking an old one down, thus taking bigger risks.  Gravity on the way down can sometimes be more out of control than a slow pull to the top.

Something to be aware of when we do tower work - especially when working with other people who may not be as experienced and aware of this tendency.

T

[KM1H]

When I have finished a job, I can't wait to get down the tower to the ground and tend to move more quickly.

Thats when my pants are starting to fall down

[W8ACR]

The report is true, although I only have 2nd hand details that I cannot verify. The accident occurred before the auction. It was a guyed tower that was almost completely dismantled. They were down to the bottom section when it fell. There were two men on the tower when it fell. I later heard that it was an insulated tower with glass insulators at the base that were obscured by tall grass. The relative weakness of these insulators may have contributed to the accident. I also heard that there was an unexpected gust of wind that may have also contributed.

Ron W8ACR

[k4kyv]

No rational reason to be fearful of heights.  You will be just as dead after you fall from 30 ft. as when you fall from 130 ft. The greatest danger from a high tower, besides increased likelihood of failure in the event of improper installation or work techniques, is fatigue from climbing a large number of sections as compared to just two or three.

[KB2WIG]

"No rational reason to be fearful of heights.  You will be just as dead after you fall from 30 ft..."

The only way i'm gonna get kiled by climing a tower is if someown falls on top me. Cowardness is sometimes a virtue.

klc

[Jim, W5JO]

It was Dewey's tower.  It is the one he used on 1.915 with the Bauer and the basics of the ARRL article are correct.  Like Don said, I don't understand why they would not use safety guys with 3 sections left.  That was a real error in judgement.  I just hope there isn't any legal fall out for Dewey's widow.