Los Angeles radio tower crash kills 2

The problem with these damn 700 feet towers is that they are not tall
enough to require strobes (1000 ft) but are still tall enough to be very
dangerous to light planes. I have one in my area that is 980 ft. Although,
the owners of that tower put strobes on it anyway. I have to believe that
often the exact height of a tower is chosen due to marking requirements
(i.e. JUST less than 1000 feet).

-Frank

"Paul Hirose" wrote in message
...
Yesterday morning a Cessna 182 hit the 760 foot (AGL) tower of 50
kilowatt AM radio station KFI in La Mirada, Calif. The married couple
aboard the 182 were killed, and the tower came down. KFI was off the
air about an hour.

According to media reports, the plane took off from El Monte and was
landing at Fullerton Airport to pick up two people. An FAA official
said they were on base leg at the time of the crash.

If I have this figured right, the 182 was coming from the north (El
Monte is 13 nm away at 350 degrees true) and on right base for Runway
6. The radio tower is 1.5 nm from the threshold on my topo, bearing
290 true. I measure it 33 degrees off the extended centerline, offset
to the north.

Has anyone flown into Fullerton? How big a problem is the tower?
Channel 7's story on the 11 a.m. news today had an interview with a
pilot who said the tower is very hard to see from the air. On the
other hand, the other guy they put on the air pointed out the tower is
on the charts and has coexested with the airport since 1947.

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/news/122...ane_crash.html

--

Paul Hirose
To reply by email delete INVALID from address.

"PJ Hunt" writes:

"Steven P. McNicoll" roncachamp@ wrote

Was the tower built too close to the airport, or was the airport built too
close to the tower?

Well I can't answer that question with 100% certainty but I do know the
Fullerton Airport was founded in the late 20's, and an educated guess would
be that KFI wasn't around at that time.

Anyone here know when the tower was erected?

I can't speak for when the tower was first erected or whether it is
in the same location as the station's original antenna, but KFI was
first licensed on 16 April 1922 (on 833 KHz).

Joe Morris

"Frankster" wrote:
The problem with these damn 700 feet towers is that they are not
tall
enough to require strobes (1000 ft) but are still tall enough to be
very
dangerous to light planes. I have one in my area that is 980 ft.
Although, the owners of that tower put strobes on it anyway.

You might want to check Part 77 Regs and the Advisory Circulars.
Lighting may be required for obstructions as low as 150 feet in
height.

FF

On Tue, 21 Dec 2004 11:31:23 GMT, James Robinson
wrote in ::

PJ Hunt wrote:

Well I can't answer that question with 100% certainty but I do know the
Fullerton Airport was founded in the late 20's, and an educated guess would
be that KFI wasn't around at that time.

Anyone here know when the tower was erected?

1948

The story of the installation of the tower is he
http://www.oldradio.com/archives/sta...20C.%20ANTHONY

And no one spoke to the value of VFR pilots flying tighter patterns. I see
single engine planes flying patterns like they are 707s. Tight patterns work
for airplanes just like they do for sailplanes. If a pilot needs more time to
think then maybe he should think about golf or fishing! When I learned to fly,
back in 62 we flew the pattern in close. I still do, be it an airplane or
sailplane. A tower a mile off the airport would leave me at least a 1/2 mile
clear of it. No problem. When doing my tailwheel training the CFI took me to
a private strip that required you to fly "around" a tower on final. It's all
see and avoid. Mac

Try flying a tight pattern when you're #7 following a Learjet. At a very
busy field you often have no choice. Up here in Boston you'll often find
yourself on extended downwind for Rwy 29 at Bedford, which means you need to
stay down low in order to remain under Logan's Class B. No big towers at
pattern altitude, though.

"Mackfly" wrote in message
...
And no one spoke to the value of VFR pilots flying tighter patterns. I
see
single engine planes flying patterns like they are 707s. Tight patterns
work
for airplanes just like they do for sailplanes. If a pilot needs more
time to
think then maybe he should think about golf or fishing! When I learned to
fly,
back in 62 we flew the pattern in close. I still do, be it an airplane or
sailplane. A tower a mile off the airport would leave me at least a 1/2
mile
clear of it. No problem. When doing my tailwheel training the CFI took
me to
a private strip that required you to fly "around" a tower on final. It's
all
see and avoid. Mac

"Mackfly" wrote in message
...
And no one spoke to the value of VFR pilots flying tighter patterns. I
see
single engine planes flying patterns like they are 707s.

Right, but the penalty for flying a pattern a bit too big should not be
death.
--
Jim in NC

On Tue, 21 Dec 2004 14:18:55 GMT, Larry Dighera
wrote in ::

On Tue, 21 Dec 2004 11:31:23 GMT, James Robinson
wrote in ::

PJ Hunt wrote:

Well I can't answer that question with 100% certainty but I do know the
Fullerton Airport was founded in the late 20's, and an educated guess would
be that KFI wasn't around at that time.

Anyone here know when the tower was erected?

1948

The story of the installation of the tower is he
http://www.oldradio.com/archives/sta...20C.%20ANTHONY


Photograph of KFI transmitter towers he
http://www.fybush.com/site-020320.html
Another tower photo he
http://img.groundspeak.com/benchmark/lg/74545_200.jpg


City of Fullerton Airport Advisory Committee request to KFI that
strobe lights be placed on the tower March 22, 2001:
http://www.ci.fullerton.ca.us/airpor...tes032201.html

MANAGER'S AIRPORT UPDATE
Rod called the engineer at KFI regarding adding strobe lights to
the KFI tower. The strobe lights were taken out of their budget. They
will paint the Tower and replace the guy wires. Rod suggested this
Committee approve a resolution and send it to KFI, emphasizing the
reduction in liability to KFI with the addition of strobe lights. This
will be an item on the next agenda.

On Tue, 21 Dec 2004 05:34:40 GMT, "Steven P. McNicoll"
wrote in
et::

Was the tower built too close to the airport, or was the airport built too
close to the tower?


The KFI transmitter tower was erected in Spring 1947 and the Fullerton
airport substantially earlier, officially 1927:

The story of the installation of the tower is he
http://www.oldradio.com/archives/sta...20C.%20ANTHONY

http://www.ci.fullerton.ca.us/city_m...s/airport.html
The last strictly general aviation airfield still operating in Orange
County, Fullerton Municipal Airport can trace its origins back as
early as 1913 when barnstormers and crop dusters used the then vacant
site as a makeshift landing strip. The airport’s “official” birthday
is 1927: That’s the year the Fullerton City Council signed Ordinance
514, which formally established the airport.


http://www.ci.fullerton.ca.us/city_m...es/airday.html
The airport was the brainchild of brothers William and Robert Dowling,
who enlisted the aid of H. A. Krause and the Fullerton Chamber of
Commerce in petitioning the council for permission to turn the then
vacant sewer farm into a landing field. The council leased the land to
the chamber for five years, at a fee of $1 per year, and the chamber,
in turn, subleased operations to William Dowling and friend Willard
Morris of Yorba Linda.


The complete Fullerton Airport history is he
http://www.calpilots.org/www.calpilo...eatureApt.html

"PJ Hunt" wrote in message
...

Well I can't answer that question with 100% certainty but I do know the
Fullerton Airport was founded in the late 20's, and an educated guess
would be that KFI wasn't around at that time.


I think it's just the opposite. Commercial radio broadcasting began in the
early '20s and many of the oldest stations were assigned three-letter
identifiers and still use them. If Fullerton goes back to just the late
twenties it's entirely possible that the radio station was there first.