List of catastrophic collapses of broadcast masts and towers

This is a list of catastrophic collapses of masts and towers.

Masts and towers can collapse as a result of natural disasters, such as storms and fires; from engineering defects; and from accidents, sabotage and bendover.

List of collapses[]

Location	Date	Mode of construction	Height (meters)	Reason for collapse	Remarks
Nauen, Germany	March 30, 1912	Guyed steel lattice mast	200	Storm	The oldest continuously operating radio transmitting installation in the world.
Java, Netherlands East Indies (modern-day Indonesia)	1923	?	?	Lightning
Norddeich, Germany	November 25, 1925	Guyed steel lattice mast	?	Storm	Three towers collapsed
Place of Magdeburg Transmitter, Berlin, Germany	July 1926	Guyed mast on roof top	?	Guy cable rusted through
Western mast of Zeesen transmitter, Zeesen, Germany	1927	Guyed steel lattice mast	210	Collapse at construction
Munich-Stadelheim, Germany	November 23, 1930	Free standing wood lattice tower	75	Storm	Two towers snapped off 25 metres above ground
Langenberg, Germany	October 10, 1935	Free standing wood lattice tower	150	Tornado	Replaced by triangle antenna
Liechtenstein-Haberfeld transmitter	November 21, 1938			Storm
Utbremen Radio Tower, Bremen, Germany	1939	Free standing wood lattice tower	90	Lightning	Replaced by steel tower
Radio Normandie Transmitter, Tower West, Fécamp, France[1]	November 7, 1940	Free standing lattice tower	113	Storm
Langenberg, Germany	1949	Guyed steel tube mast	51	Storm	Two masts of a triangle aerial
, Schwerin, Germany	February 10, 1949	Guyed steel lattice mast	120	Storm
Hamburg-Billwerder, West Germany	December 1949	Guyed steel lattice mast	198	Storm	Partial destruction of a guyed mast under construction
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	March 11, 1955	Steel lattice mast		Windstorm	. The lower part of the tower is still visible and in use.
Augusta, Michigan	November 30, 1953	Guyed steel tube mast		Aircraft collision	Former Michigan Governor Kim Sigler, who was piloting the plane, and three passengers were killed.
Nicosia, Cyprus	1955			Sabotage	Destroyed by EOKA rebels
WOAI, Selma, Texas[2]	April 3, 1956[3]	Guyed steel lattice mast	100	Aircraft collision	Hit by a B-29.[3]
Ochsenkopf, West Germany	January 1958	Guyed steel tube mast	50	Icing	Replaced by concrete tower
KOBR-TV Tower, Caprock, New Mexico	1960	Guyed lattice steel mast	491	Storm	Replaced by new mast of same height
LORAN-C location transmitter, Carolina Beach, North Carolina, US	1961	Lattice Tower	191	Storm	Tower buckled at 2/3 of height. Tower carried radials (wires attached radially in a horizontal plane) on its top although it was not designed for them.
Villebon-sur-Yvette, France	December 10, 1961	Guyed steel lattice mast	?	Terrorism
LORAN-C transmitter Ejde, Ejde, Faroe Islands	1962	Guyed steel lattice mast	190	Material fault	Slip of guy
KGW Tower, Portland, Oregon, US	October 12, 1962	Guyed steel lattice mast	180	Storm	Columbus Day Storm
Angissq LORAN-C transmitter, Angissq, Greenland	July 27, 1964	Guyed steel lattice mast	411	Material fault	Replaced by a 214 m (704 ft)) tall mast radiator
, Yap Island, Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (modern-day Micronesia)	1964	Guyed steel lattice mast	305	Collapsed during construction
Iwo Jima LORAN-C transmitter, Japan	1965	Guyed steel lattice mast	411	Maintenance work	The collapsing mast also destroyed the transmitter building. Six persons were killed.
, Mount Burr, South Australia,	1965	Guyed steel lattice mast	200	Mast collapsed during guy wire tension testing
KXJB-TV mast, Galesburg, North Dakota	February 14, 1968	Guyed steel lattice mast	628	Helicopter collision
WLBT Tower, Raymond, Mississippi	March 3, 1966	Guyed steel lattice	487	F5 Tornado	Replaced with 609.3 m tower which collapsed in 1997
XHI-TV Tower, Ciudad Obregón, Mexico	September 28, 1966	?	200	Hurricane Kristen	Replaced with a temporary tower; station relocated to Yucuribampo Hill
Waltham mast, UK	November 17, 1966	Guyed tubular steel mast	290	Storm: high winds causing oscillations in the mast structure
WNBC-AM, WCBS-AM, at High Island, New York,[4]	August 27, 1967	Guyed lattice steel mast	161	Aircraft collision
KELO TV Tower, Rowena, South Dakota	June 24, 1968	Guyed steel lattice mast	609	Airplane collision during thunderstorm
WAEO Tower, Starks, Wisconsin	November 17, 1968	Guyed steel lattice mast	524	Collapse due to plane collision with guy wire
Marnach, Luxembourg	January 17, 1969		?	Plane crash	?
Emley Moor, Great Britain	March 19, 1969	Guyed tubular steel mast	385	Ice	Replaced by 330 m free-standing concrete tower
Orlunda, Sweden	July 12, 1970	Guyed steel lattice mast	250	Lightning (Destruction of basement insulator)
KOIN-TV Towers, Portland, Oregon	February 28, 1971	Guyed steel lattice mast	305 & 213	Icing	Two towers collapsed
KSTP-TV and WCCO-TV, Shoreview, Minnesota	September 7, 1971	Guyed steel lattice mast	411	Structural failure during construction	Seven technicians were killed while lifting the first of three large antenna sections into place at the top of the tower.
Königswusterhausen, East Germany	November 15, 1972	Lattice steel tower	243	Storm
Bithlo (near Orlando), Florida, US	June 8, 1973	Guyed Steel Tower	457	Collapsed because of removal of load-bearing diagonals during FM antenna installation.	Multi-station tower supporting antennas of TV stations WDBO-TV, WFTV, and WMFE-TV, and radio stations WDBO-FM and WDIZ-FM – two workers on tower killed
KCRG-TV Tower Walker, Iowa	October 4, 1973	Guyed Steel Tower	598	Collapsed during modifications to tower.	Tower being modified prior to installation of Iowa Public Television side-mounted antenna – five workers on tower site killed
TV Mast Brest - Roc'h Trédudon, France	February 1974	Guyed steel lattice mast	218	Terrorism	A slightly higher tower, 225m, has been built since.
KELO TV Tower, Rowena, South Dakota, US	1975	Guyed steel lattice mast	610	Blizzard
Sendemast SL3, Burg bei Magdeburg, East Germany	February 18, 1976	Guyed steel lattice mast	350	Material fault
Pic de Nore transmitter, Pic de Nore, France	December 2, 1976	Concrete tower	?	Storm	Storm tore pinnacle down
KSLA-TV Tower, Mooringsport, LA	October 8, 1977	Guyed steel lattice mast	521	Undetermined	1709 feet HAAT. Erected November 17, 1964. Had elevator, RCA Travelling Wave pylon antenna for Channel 12 (System M), land mobile antennas, all lost. RCA contractor for erection, Stainless subcontractor. No definitive cause ever found for collapse. Speculation of "galloping guy lines" (mechanical standing waves in one of the guys), causing stress-to-failure in the guys due to rapidly alternating strain.
WJJY TV Mast, Bluffs, IL	March 26, 1978	Guyed steel lattice mast	491	Ice. The strain snapped 2-inch coupling bolts (24 of them) that joined the second and third sections.	In August 1969. This tower was one of the three tallest structures in the Northern Hemisphere and transmitter radiated the most powerful UHF-TV signal in the world. TV channel 14 (470-476 MHz). Collapsed Easter Sunday. 39°45′31″N 90°31′8″W / 39.75861°N 90.51889°W / 39.75861; -90.51889 (WJPT)
WAND TV Tower, Decatur	March 26, 1978	Guyed steel lattice mast	400	Ice. Same ice storm that toppled WJJY. Upper section of antenna broke loose and fell through the guy wires.	WAND and WJJY used the same RCA UHF antennas, mfg in 1969. TV channel 17 (488-494 MHz) Collapsed Easter Sunday.
, Angora	February 1978	Guyed steel lattice mast	457	Ice
Zehlendorf bei Oranienburg, East Germany	May 21, 1978	Guyed steel lattice mast	352	Aircraft collision
CKVR Television Tower, Barrie, Ontario, Canada	September 7, 1977	Guyed steel lattice mast	305	Aircraft collision
Vysílač Krašov, Bezvěrov, Czechoslovakia	1979	Guyed mast of lattice steel	305	Icing	Mast was predamaged
Blåbärskullen transmitter, Sunne, Sweden	December 27, 1979	Guyed mast of lattice steel	323	Icing	Pinnacle with broadcasting antennas fell down, height afterwards 274 metres
LORAN-C transmitter Jan Mayen, Jan Mayen, Norway	October 8, 1980	Guyed mast of lattice steel	190	Icing	Guy supports were improperly installed
Delimora Transmitter, Malta		Guyed mast of lattice steel	88	The guy support was made of polymer, which melted as a result of a high electric field strength storm, at the same time made mast collapse
Dudelange Radio Tower, Luxembourg	July 31, 1981	Lattice steel tower	285	Aircraft collision	Debris of the tower killed a couple in a house near the tower.
WCIQ Tower, Mount Cheaha, Alabama	January 1982	Guyed steel lattice mast	?	Ice storm
Senior Road Tower, Missouri City, Texas, US	December 7, 1982	Guyed steel lattice mast	569	Guy support wire severed	Total collapse during installation of 6-ton FM antenna on new 1800 ft. tower. Five technicians killed, Two on the hoist riding the FM antenna up and three on the tower. Determined insufficient sized bolts on the makeshift lifting lug extension failed. The falling debris severed one of the tower's guy wires which caused the tower to whip back and forth and collapse.
KANU tower, Lawrence, KS	December 11, 1982	Guyed steel lattice mast	184	Sabotage. Guy wires severed
CKX-TV Craig Television Tower, Canada	1983	Guyed mast	412	Icing
TV mast Wavre, Belgium	October 13, 1983	Guyed mast	?	Storm
KWWL, Rowley, Iowa	November 28, 1983	Guyed steel lattice mast	610	Ice
Bielstein, West Germany	January 15, 1985	Guyed steel tube mast	298	Ice
San Francisco, CA, US - Candlestick Hill	February 14, 1986	Self-supporting tower	137	High wind.	KYA transmitter placed in service in 1937. Failure may have resulted from tower leg insulator replacement where all-thread rod was not long enough to fully engage securing nut.
Caroline 558 and Radio Monique mast, aboard MV Ross Revenge, off English coast	November 25, 1987	Lattice steel tower	92	Force 8 storm	Tallest ever mast aboard any ship. It was replaced by horizontal wire antenna between two shorter masts.
KTUL Tower Coweta, OK	December 26, 1987	Lattice steel guyed tower	582	Ice storm	Listed at 1909 feet
KTVO-TV Tower, Colony, Missouri	June 2, 1988	Guyed steel lattice mast	610	During repairs	Crew was replacing cross support beams at the 200 meter level. The mast broke at that spot, the bottom 200 meters fell to the south, the top fell straight down. All three workers on the mast were killed.
KGO (AM) towers Newark, California	October 17, 1989	?	91	Earthquake	Three towers damaged
WRAL-TV & WPTF-TV towers, Auburn	December 1989	Two guyed steel tube framework masts	609	Ice	Unusually heavy ice concentrated at top predominantly on one side of towers caused asymmetrical load. Dislodged essentially as one piece during rapid warming; sudden unloading caused dynamic failure.
RÚV long wave radio mast, Vatnsendahæð, Reykjavik, Iceland	February 3, 1991	Guyed steel lattice mast		Storm
WDIO-TV Duluth, Minnesota, US	March 23, 1991	Guyed steel triangular tower	259	Ice and high wind	Freezing rain, accompanied at time with thunder, coated the city of Duluth with as much as six inches of ice. The 850-foot WDIO-TV tower was toppled as winds gusted to 40 mph, buffeting the heavily ice-covered tower. The tower fell onto a nearby utility line which provided power to the remainder of Duluth's television and FM radio stations, and all but one AM radio station. Telephone and power lines snapped leaving Duluth and many northeastern Minnesota communities without utility services for 24 hours. The DNR reported that four million pine trees were damaged or destroyed. - NOAA NWS Duluth, MN
Warsaw radio mast, Konstantynów, Poland	August 8, 1991	Guyed steel tube framework mast	648	Maintenance	Replacement by facility in Solec Kujawski
WCIX TV Tower Homestead, Florida	August 25, 1992	Guyed steel tower	549	Hurricane Andrew	Rebuilt by LeBlanc Tower of Canada
COMMSTA Miami	1992	Guyed mast (insulated)	91	Hurricane Andrew	Collapse of 2 masts
Cape Race LORAN-C transmitter, Cape Race, Canada	February 2, 1993	Guyed steel lattice mast	411	Material fault	Fatigue failure of the eyebolt head in a compression cone insulator on structural guy caused swing-in damage, which resulted in structural collapse
LORAN-C transmitter Kargaburan, Kargaburan, Turkey	February 25, 1993	Guyed steel lattice mast	191	Snowstorm	Tower had construction faults
WCOV-TV Tower, Montgomery, Alabama, US	March 6, 1996	?	242	Tornado
Langenberg, Germany	September 2, 1996	Guyed steel lattice mast	160	Maintenance
KXTX-TV Tower Cedar Hill, Texas	October 12, 1996	Guyed steel tower	468	Maintenance for DTV install	Three died when tower collapsed after a gin pole ran off its track and snapped a guy wire
Grigoriopol transmitter, Moldova	1997	Guyed steel lattice mast	350	Icing	Two masts collapsed
			250
KXJB-TV mast, North Dakota, US	April 6, 1997	Guyed steel lattice mast	628	Ice
KNOE-TV Tower, Columbia, Louisiana	March 20, 1997	Guyed steel lattice mast	606	Maintenance	One killed, two injured when workers failed to install temporary braces
WLBT Tower, Raymond, Mississippi	October 23, 1997	Guyed steel lattice	609	Maintenance	Three killed - temporary braces failed during HDTV antenna upgrade
WKY-AM-TV Tower, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US	June 13, 1998	Guyed mast	293	Tornado
TV Tower Avala, Serbia	April 30, 1999	Concrete tower (with observation deck)	203	Air raid (NATO bombardment, Kosovo war)
, St. Petersburg, Florida, US	April 25, 2000	Guyed steel lattice mast	198	Helicopter crash	Three died when a medical helicopter hit a guy wire in clear weather and crashed
WNWI 1080-Towers, Oak Lawn (Chicago), Illinois, US[citation needed]	July 9, 2000	Guyed steel lattice mast	61	Sabotage	Two towers collapsed
, Mexico, MO, US	August 23, 2000	Guyed steel lattice mast	123	Storm	ml
CBC Tower, Shawinigan, QC, Canada	April 27, 2001	Guyed steel lattice mast	331.5 (307.1 + 24.4 (structure + antenna))	Controlled implosion after aircraft crash caused serious damage 5 days earlier i.e. April 22, 2001	Rebuilt in 2003, the new tower has almost the same height, i.e. 326.8m (307.1m for the structure, but the antenna is shorter (19.7m)).
, Northern Mast, Angara, Russia	June 6, 2001	Guyed steel lattice mast carrying a T-antenna	205	Bad condition of support guys
World Trade Center North Tower, New York City, NY	September 11, 2001	Truses and Axis	526.8 (417 + 109.8 (roof + antenna))	Terrorist attack	Tower was destroyed as a result of the September 11 attacks in which a commercial airliner flew into the side of the building causing it and the broadcast tower to collapse under its own weight.
Krasny Bor transmitter, Russia	November 5, 2001	Guyed steel lattice mast	258	Helicopter collision
WKFT, North Carolina, US	March 14, 2002	Guyed steel tower	503	Airplane crash
KDUH-TV Mast, Hemingford, Nebraska, US	September 24, 2002	Guyed steel lattice mast	599	Maintenance	Two workers killed, three injured on ground
WVAH-TV Tower, West Virginia, US	February 19, 2003	Guyed steel lattice mast	473	Ice
WPAY-Tower, Portsmouth, Ohio, US	February 19, 2003	Guyed steel lattice mast	200	Ice
WTNV-FM Tower, Jackson, Tennessee, US	May 4, 2003	Free-standing steel lattice tower	176	Tornado
WMBD Tower, Peoria, Illinois, US	May 10, 2003	Free-standing steel lattice tower	?	Tornado	Collapse of thee towers
KETV TV Tower	July 2003	Guyed steel lattice mast	415	Reconstruction work
WIFR TV tower	July 5, 2003	Guyed steel lattice mast	222	Storm (derecho)
WAAY-TV - TV Mast, Huntsville, Alabama, US	September 4, 2003	Guyed steel lattice mast	305	unknown	Three workers killed
Utrecht, Netherlands	September 8, 2003	Guyed steel lattice mast	45	B
	September 16, 2004	Guyed steel lattice mast	131	Hurricane Ivan	Replacement tower constructed shortly thereafter. Also knocked Clarke County, AL, Sheriff's Office off the air (KWO611)
, Robertsdale, Alabama, US	September 16, 2004	Guyed steel lattice mast	518	Storm	Hurricane Ivan
Peterborough, Great Britain	October 30, 2004	Guyed steel lattice mast	163	Fire (suspected vandalism)	Temporary replacement mast constructed shortly thereafter. New permanent mast entered full service in February 2006.
KFI Mast, La Mirada, CA, US	December 19, 2004	Guyed steel lattice mast	195	Aircraft collision
(formerly WSWS-TV Transmitter Tower), Cusseta, Georgia, US	February 27, 2005	Guyed steel lattice mast	538		Replacement tower completed September 15, 2005.
Nebraska Education Tower Atlanta, Atlanta, Nebraska, US	November 25, 2005	Guyed steel lattice mast	325	Aircraft collision	All three aircraft occupants killed
KLTV-TV Mast, Tyler, TX (Red Springs, TX)	February 3, 2006	Guyed steel lattice mast	329	Undetermined	1078 feet HAAT. Erected in 1981. No definitive cause ever found for collapse. Speculation was that the collapse was directly or indirectly related to the recent installation of their digital television antenna. The collapse destroyed the tower, KLTV's analog and digital antennas, KLTV's digital transmitter, and FM station KVNE's antenna. The analog transmitter was undamaged, and within a few days was moved to KLTV's backup tower in east Tyler. The collapse occurred the day after Raycom Media officially took ownership of the station.
Torre VIP de Rádio & TV, São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil	August 23, 2006	Guyed steel lattice mast	174	Maintenance	One person was killed
WACS-TV tower	March 1, 2007	Guyed steel lattice mast	329	EF3 tornado	Americus, Georgia, was struck by the tornado a few minutes later
WSKY-DT Tower, Camden County, NC, US	March 2, 2007	Guyed steel lattice mast	230	Guy wire anchor failure	Under construction. Also destroyed transmitter building. Was planned for a height of 1,036 ft (315.77 m).[5]
WCFE-DT, , US	April 18, 2007	Guyed steel tower	136	Structural failure	400-foot transmitter tower located on Averil Peak, NY completely collapsed as a result of accumulation of ice and snow from the April 2007 Nor'easter. Partially damaged the transmitter building at the base. New tower erected and back in service Oct, 9 2007.
Browns Summit Crown Castle Broadcasting Tower, , US	May 29, 2007	Guyed steel lattice mast	244	Restoration work
WNEP-TV Tower, Penobscot Knob Pennsylvania	December 16, 2007	Guyed steel lattice mast	244	Ice	Also damaged transmitter building and doppler radar.[6]
WVIA-TV Tower, Penobscot Knob	December 16, 2007	Guyed steel lattice mast	510	Ice	300 ft. section lost from top of tower [7]
KATV-TV Tower, Redfield, Jefferson County, US	January 11, 2008	Guyed steel lattice mast	609	Maintenance	Restringing guy wires [8]
Emmis Television Wichita Tower	March 28, 2009	Guyed steel lattice mast	326	Ice
2QN Tower, Deniliquin, New South Wales, Australia	June 30, 2009	Guyed steel lattice mast	102	Storm	Wind gust reportedly caused the mast to collapse during a severe storm
KRKO Radio Towers	September 4, 2009	Guyed steel lattice mast	?	Terrorism	Two masts
WLHR-FM Radio Tower Lavonia, GA, US	January 30, 2010	Guyed steel lattice mast	86	Sabotage	Guyed wires cut
WEAU TV/Radio Tower Fairchild, WI, US	March 22, 2011	Guyed steel lattice mast	609	Rare event of all day Icing with high winds	Weather-related
Zendstation Smilde, TV/Radio Tower, Hoogersmilde, The Netherlands	July 15, 2011	Guyed steel tube mast on concrete tower	303	Fire	Tubular steel superstructure collapsed, new steel lattice superstructure constructed (2012) on top of existing concrete base tower
Longwave transmitter Europe 1, 280 metres mast, Felsberg-Berus, Germany	August 8, 2012	Guyed steel lattice mast	280	Ragged guy wire	Pinnacle and upper sections fell down
Boll Relay Transmitter, Oberndorf-Boll, Germany	November 2, 2012	Lattice tower	30	Collision with truck [9]
Houston public safety radio tower	September 20, 2013	Guyed	152	Unknown	km
CRTV Mast, Logbessou, Douala, Cameroon	September 24, 2014	Guyed	200	Corrosion	Mast collapsed during replacement of corroded leg at 160m. Four riggers killed.[10]
Rekowo Radio Mast, Rekowo, Poland	January 2, 2015	Guyed	60	Storm
Häglared transmitter, Borås, Sweden	May 15, 2016	Guyed mast of lattice steel	332	Sabotage	Roughly half of the mast fell after guy wires had been sabotaged.
KOZK Ozarks Public Television, Fordland, MO	April 19, 2018	Guyed	597	Maintenance	Six workers were performing routine maintenance at 105 ft on the tower when it collapsed, one worker was killed.
LRL312 Mega 98.3, LR5 Pop Radio 101.5and LRL317 FM Federal	October 1, 2011	Guyed	210	Fire	Fire started in a leftover deposit close to one of the guy wire anchors.[2][3][4]
Karachun TV Tower, Sloviansk, Ukraine	July 1, 2014	Guyed steel lattice mast	222	Artillery shelling	During the final days of the siege of Sloviansk Ukrainian Government forces positioned on the Mount Karachun were shelled by the Russian proxies. As a result, the guyed wires failed and tower collapsed.[11] The new tower 50 m shorter was opened on December 5, 2016 in place of the destroyed one.[12]
SPR TV tower, Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico	August 9, 2017	?	?	High winds[13]
KOLN Tower, Beaver Crossing, Nebraska, USA	January 18, 2020	Guyed	500.4	Ice	Collapsed during an ice storm.[5]

References[]