ROBERTSDALE, Ala.—A rescue mission unfolded on the afternoon of Oct. 20 as three maintenance workers ended up trapped high up on a television tower in the Elsanor/Rosinton area. It unfortunately ended tragically, with the death of one of the workers, according to the Baldwin County Sheriff department.

According to WPMI, the local NBC affiliate, the workers had climbed the tower, which houses the antenna for WJTC television and a local radio station, to repair a guy cable as part of an ongoing maintenance project. Witnesses on the ground reported that at about 1,300 feet debris may have struck one of the individuals, with the other two locking in place.

Two of the workers were able to be rescued and sustained non-life-threatening injuries. The other worker unfortunately died before being brought down.

The maintenance workers were from a company in Texas. No names have been released.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is investigating the incident.

For more information, read coverage on myNBC15.com. 

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.—The family of Steve Lemay, who died as a result of a TV tower collapse in Fordland, Mo., in 2018, has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the owners of the tower, Missouri State University Board of Governors (MSU), and Tower Consultants Inc., who was contracted to retrofit the tower as part of the FCC repack.

Lemay and his crew were attempting to reinforce the 1,891-foot TV tower, which broadcasts KOZK Ozarks Public Television, on April 19, 2018. The lawsuit claims that the tower made a strange noise and shortly after collapsed, with Lemay within the tower frame at that time, killing him. No other employees were seriously injured.

The lawsuit is claiming that MSU is liable for maintaining a “dangerous condition” on its property that led to Lemay’s death and is seeking damages to compensate them for Lemay’s pain and suffering, as well as medical, funeral and burial expenses.

Doug Sampson, who the lawsuit says was the project manager, is also being sued.

The lawsuit is primarily relying upon the OHSA investigation report of the collapse, which had two key findings: 1) TCI’s suggested diagonal replacement procedure was flawed in that it compromised the effectiveness of the integrated surrounding braces and the load bearing capacity of the tower legs; and 2) the cause of the communication tower collapse was the weakening of the compressive strength of the tower legs by removing the bolts at the connection of the diagonals to the horizontal redundant.

However, the report also mentions other points that could be used by the defendants in the lawsuit, including that Lemay used an undersized come-a-long while removing the diagonal braces and that he failed to provide the design of the required temporary frame for diagonal replacement above or below a guy level.

More information on the lawsuit is available here. 

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas—Strong winds caused the collapse of a TV tower near Robstown, Texas, this week. 

KRIS-TV, a Scripps-owned NBC affiliate in Corpus Christi reported the incident to its viewers on Wednesday, causing OTA and satellite viewers to lose the signals for KRIS, The CW, KDF, Grit and Court TV for a few hours. There were no injuries.

There was also minimal damage to the KRIS 6 News building as well, the station said. 

“Broadcast engineers at KRIS 6 News and its parent company, the E.W. Scripps Company assessed technical options and worked quickly to resume broadcast to our Corpus Christi audience through the KZTV tower, which Scripps also operates,” the station reported on its website.

The National Association of Tower Erectors has designated Wednesday, May 9, as the second-annual Tower Technician Appreciation Day.

The event coincides with OSHA’s National Safety Stand-Down Week, and NATE encourages member companies and stakeholders to use this day to host events to pay tribute to the technicians they employ.

“NATE is ecstatic to declare Wednesday, May 9, 2018, as a day to honor our industry’s most precious resource, the tower technician workforce,” said NATE Chairman Jim Tracy of Burley, Wash. “Today’s skilled technicians are expected to possess the diverse skill set necessary to safely deploy and expand universal broadband, public safety communications and ubiquitous 5G coverage across North America, while repacking the broadcast spectrum. NATE is proud to highlight and salute these dedicated technicians who work tirelessly to meet both our present and future communications needs.”

[Read: Confessions Of A Tall-Tower Worker]

U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chair John Thune (R-SD) said, “They don’t have an easy job, but thanks to their dedication and unique skill set, the United States is continuing to expand its wireless broadband footprint, and we’re in a much stronger position in the race toward 5G.”