Met Mast dangers

A glider pilot failed to see a met mast at the site of the controversial Dorcas Lane wind farm plan as he came in to land near Stoke Hammond ,England

BP Met Mast Millens Bay Rd.
Cape Vincent,NY

 The incident – which gave the pilot a “scare when he realised” – involved a glider from the London Gliding Club, Dunstable. The pilot apparently did not realise the mast was on the site until he had actually landed his glider.[1]

Last year a crash involving a plane and a met tower resulted in a fatality.
 MARTINEZ -- The family of a pilot killed in a 2011 plane crash on a Delta island is suing those responsible for building the meteorological tower his airplane struck, saying it was purposely built to avoid federal regulations for making such structures more visible. Agricultural pilot Stephen Allen was killed on Webb Tract in Contra Costa County on Jan. 10, 2011, after his airplane struck a 198-foot tower that he likely did not see, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. [2]

NTSB Issues MET Tower Safety Alert in the Wake of Ag Pilot Fatality

On March 11, 2012, the National Transportation Safety Board issued a Safety Alert to warn pilots of low-flying aircraft about the dangers associated with unmarked towers built to record weather observations.

Many Meteorological Evaluation Towers (METs) fall just below the 200-foot Federal Aviation Administration threshold for obstruction markings and can be difficult to see from the air. That's a dangerous proposition for aircraft conducting low-flight operations, including aerial applicators, emergency medical helicopters, law enforcement, fire suppression and other low-altitude activities. The NTSB is urging pilots to maintain vigilance during low-altitude flights and asking them to encourage the markings of METs in their area.

Since 2003 the NTSB has investigated three fatal accidents involving in-flight collisions with METs, including, most recently, one in January 2011 when an AG pilot working on an island off the coast of San Francisco lost his life in a collision with an unmarked MET .

Including January's fatality, over the past 12 years there have been nine fatal agricultural aviation accidents involving collisions with towers.[3]

~~~

 Last spring I submitted a FOIL request for the met tower permit renewals,  strangely enough, none could be found.

[1]Continue reading Met Mast Danger  via this link

[2] Continue reading family of pilot in 2011 crash via this link

[3] National Agricultural Aviation Association

Below a permit extention permits from 2011 for Acciona and BP's met towers