At approximately 2:50 a.m. PST, Nov. 29, the upper section of 500 foot transmitting tower used by Spokane, Wash. PBS member station KSPS-TV collapsed, taking that station and another station sharing tower space off the air.
According to station engineers, the new antenna being used for DTV transmissions apparently suffered a structural failure and pivoted over into guy lines and the top sections of the tower. Approximately 200 feet of the tower collapsed. The 300-foot stub is described as having been heavily damaged.
As the structural failure occurred overnight, no one was on site or near by. The station's transmitter building also escaped harm from the falling metal.
"It could have been a lot worse," KSPS-TV engineer Bob Wyatt said. "It could have taken the building out, someone could've been up there ... we are just extremely lucky it happened at nighttime when no one was there and it didn't take the building out."
Also affected was KXMN-LP, a MyNetwork TV affiliate station operating on Channel 11 and licensed to Spokane Television Inc.
KSPS-TV continues to operate with signals being delivered by cable systems and satellite transmission.
KSPS-TV operates in analog on Channel 7 and in digital on Channel 8.
