On 21 Dec 2004 20:18:16 GMT, (JohnMcGrew) wrote in
::

Pictures of the downed tower can be seen at:

http://sakrison.com/radio/KFItowercollapse.html

The Los Angeles Times had this story this morning:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,1403810.story

December 21, 2004

Tower in Deadly Crash Was a Menace to Incoming Fullerton Flights,
Pilots Say

By Sara Lin, Times Staff Writer


Flying a small plane into Fullerton Municipal Airport for the first
time two years ago, Felix Porras carefully searched the skies for the
760-foot radio tower he had heard about.

Having seen it on his aviation charts positioned a mere 1 1/2 miles
from the landing strip, he pulled the nose of his plane a little
higher just to be cautious. Still, he said he didn't see the tower
until he was practically on top of it.

"It was pretty scary. The only thing that kept me from hitting it was
the altitude information I had," said Porras, a flight instructor at
Rainbow Air Academy in Long Beach.

So after a Temple City couple's single-engine Cessna crashed into the
1940s-era KFI-AM tower Sunday morning, local pilots could only shake
their heads. The accident underscores what they claim they've been
saying for years: The orange-and-white tower is a menace to
approaching pilots.

"It can reach up and grab you," said Rod Propst, manager of Fullerton
Municipal Airport. "I can't think of any airport that I know of that
has a 760-foot antenna that close to it."

Jim and Mary Ghosoph, both 51, had been cleared to land their rented
single-engine Cessna C-182 when it struck the tower about 9:45 a.m.
They had taken off from El Monte Airport less than 20 minutes earlier,
said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Josie Woolum. The plane
crumpled the tower and then crashed in a warehouse parking lot.

[...]

"When I was flying out of Long Beach, one of the first things the
instructor said was: 'Remember that tower!' " said Jim Bunck, past
president of the Fullerton Airport Pilots Assn.

"It's in the charts, but it doesn't look as big of a deal as it is,"
said Porras, 21. "You see it when you're about to hit it."

Propst, who has been airport manager for almost nine years, said local
pilots have long wished the owners would add strobe lights to the
tower, in addition to the flashing red bulb on the structure.

After both of Fullerton's airport advisory committees passed
resolutions in 2001 asking the radio station managers to add strobes,
pilots quit asking.

Greg Ashlock, general manager of KFI-AM, said the tower has all of the
lighting required by the FAA and Federal Communications Commission.
KFI is owned by Clear Channel Communications, which bought the tower
four years ago from Cox Enterprises.

Ashlock said he was not aware of specific complaints levied by local
pilots.

The crash knocked the radio station off the air for about an hour. The
station has not decided whether the tower will be rebuilt.