This is the War Stories Section of
The Broadcast Archive

Maintained by:
Barry Mishkind - The Eclectic Engineer

Pictures of the KFI - 640 tower that fell

La Mirada (Los Angeles), CA December 19, 2004

On 12/19/04, a small private plane rammed into the KFI tower, apparently about ten feet below the top.

Just over seven months since the tower was refurbished, it was a total loss.

These photos are courtesy of Brian Hamm, who works in the complex where the tower was located.

Alerted because the studio was unable to get back on the air after an interruption, The engineer arrived
in La Mirada to discover, to his horror, the 750 foot tower was on the ground. Service was restored with a shorter
(200 foot) auxiliary tower. 

    

Helicopter photos showing the collapse, with most of the tower falling inside the fence.

At ground level, you can see how the tower parts that escaped the
enclosure, still missed the buildings ... just 20 or 30 yards away!

It is almost amazing way the tower managed to
fall without hitting anyone, nor the buildings. (Some slight damage was
sustained by one roof, due to a guy wire whipping through.)

From the other side of the tower enclosure.

Another view of the tower section, as it lay on the ground.

A demonstration of the "abrupt vibration" method of paint removal.
Not exactly where and how you want your tower to sit!

 

Interesting places to go from here:

The KFI tower site (before the crash) is located here.

Back to the "Towers Down!" War Story section.

More KFI History

Newcomb Weisenberger's KFI Stories

Main index

Some other sites with post-crash pictures:
http://www.earthsignals.com/images/kfi/
http://sakrison.com/radio/KFItowercollapse.html

 

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We have used many sources, including FCC files, university lecturers, historical publications and more, and have tried to be as accurate as possible, not repeating many of the myths of the industry (such as the Uncle Don Story) nor histories "manufactured" by promotion departments. However, I am not perfect, and may well have overlooked something. If you do see an error or omission, please let me know.

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