Accident Details
The pilot/owner had flown a round-trip between his base airport and another airport during the day. That evening, he flew another round-trip. On the return leg, the airplane struck the top of an unlighted tower that was 928 feet above mean sea level (MSL), located two miles from the destination airport.
The destination airport has a field elevation of 399 feet MSL. The recommended pattern altitude for the airport was 1,400 feet MSL.
Background
The tower lighting was listed as out of service by a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) issued 15 days before the accident. There was no record of the pilot receiving a weather briefing or any NOTAMs. No temporary repairs to restore the tower lighting had been initiated.
The 928-foot MSL tower was depicted on the VFR navigation chart using the symbol for group obstructions. Another tower, 775 feet MSL, was positioned on the same hill, about 2,100 feet east of the 928-foot MSL tower. The top of that tower was illuminated by a single flashing red light.
Regulatory Context
The Federal Aviation Administration did not have the authority to deny or approve construction of obstructions to air navigation, nor to mandate the marking and lighting of obstructions, nor the repair of lighting outages. The Federal Communications Commission did require marking and lighting of radio towers with licensed FCC transmitters, but did not publish a time limit within which a lighting outage had to be repaired.