TELEVISION ANTENNA KNOCKED OFF POLE DURING APCH LNDG PROC OF GLIDER TOW ACFT.

Narrative

SOMETIME ON AUG/SUN/92 A TELEVISION ANTENNA SITTING ON TOP OF A TELEPHONE POLE STRUCTURE IN THE YARD OF A HOUSE OWNED BY MR. X OF BELGRADE; MT; WAS HIT BY AN UNKNOWN OBJECT AND THROWN AT THE ARPT BOUNDARY FENCE APPROX 100 FT AWAY. I KNOW OF NO WITNESSES TO THE EVENT; NOR DOES MR. X WITH WHOM I SUBSEQUENTLY DISCUSSED THE EVENT -- BUT IT IS HIS ASSUMPTION THAT THE ANTENNA MUST HAVE BEEN HIT BY A GLIDER TOW ROPE. THE ONLY APPARENT DAMAGE TO ANYTHING WAS TO THE ANTENNA. MR. X CONTACTED THE GALLATIN FIELD (BZN) ARPT MGR AND WAS INSTRUCTED TO CONTACT THE SHERIFF'S DEPT AND FILL OUT A RPT; WHICH HE DID. THE INCIDENT WAS SUBSEQUENTLY RPTED IN THE LCL NEWSPAPER. I WORK AS A SOMETIMES GLIDER TOW PLT AT GALLATIN AND OTHER ARPTS IN THE VICINITY OF BOZEMAN. ON SUN; I WAS TOWING GLIDERS FROM GALLATIN FIELD. THE ROUTINE WAS TO TKOF USING RWY 3; CIRCLE THE FIELD ONCE TO GAIN ALT; THEN DEPART TO THE BRIDGER MOUNTAINS APPROX 10 MI TO THE NE AND; AFTER RELEASE OF THE GLIDER; TO RETURN TO THE FIELD FOR LNDG ON RWY 21 (TFC PERMITTING); AND TO TAXI TO THE BEGINNING OF RWY 3 AND PREPARE TO TOW ANOTHER GLIDER. I WAS THE PLT AND ONLY OCCUPANT OF SMA USED BY ME ON SUN TO TOW GLIDERS. THERE ARE OTHER TOW PLANES OPERATING FROM GALLATIN FIELD; USING A SIMILAR PROTOCOL. DURING MY GLIDER TOWING OPS ON SUN; I FOLLOWED THE ABOVE GENERAL PLAN AND SINCE THE MAJORITY OF TFC WAS USING RWY 30 FOR THEIR NON-GLIDER ACTIVITIES; I WOULD ENTER A L BASE PATTERN FOR RWY 21; ANNOUNCING MY POS TO BZN RADIO AND TURN ONTO A SHORT FINAL FOR RWY 21 AND LAND. DURING 1 OF THE 4 APCHS TO LNDG ON SUN; I DO RECALL THE VERY SLIGHT SENSATION OF A TUG ON THE TOW ROPE; BUT THOUGHT ONLY THAT THE ROPE HAD TOUCHED THE ARPT FENCE OR RWY 21 DURING THE APCH; AND MADE NOTHING FURTHER OF THE MATTER. I ROUTINELY PERSONALLY CHK MY TOW ROPE AFTER EACH TOW FOR THE INTEGRITY OF THE WEAK LINKS ON EACH END; AND FOR ANY POSSIBLE ROPE DAMAGE SUSTAINED DURING THE PRECEDING TOW; AND AT NO TIME ON SUN DID I EVER FIND ANY SIGN OF ROPE OR WEAK LINK DAMAGE. I RETURNED TO GALLATIN FIELD ON AUG/TUE/92 AND WAS EVENTUALLY INFORMED OF THE TELEVISION ANTENNA EVENT AND OF THE NEWSPAPER ARTICLE AND THAT THE FAA WAS ON THE FIELD FOR AN UNRELATED MATTER (NOT EXPLAINED TO ME); BUT THAT THEY WERE ALSO LOOKING INTO THIS EVENT WITH ARPT PERSONNEL. IT WAS THEN AND ONLY THEN THAT I BECAME AWARE THAT THE SLIGHT TUG THAT I APPRECIATED DURING ONE OF MY LNDGS ON RWY 21 MIGHT HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH THE ANTENNA DAMAGE. I DISCUSSED THE SITUATION WITH OTHER PLTS WHOM I RESPECT; AND CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT I WOULD GO SEE MR. X; EXPLAIN THE ABOVE SITUATION; AND TRY TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT WITH HIM. ACCORDINGLY AT ABOUT XY00 PM ON TUE; I DROVE MY CAR TO MR X'S RESIDENCE; MET WITH HIM AND HIS WIFE. HE DEMONSTRATED THE DAMAGE TO ME; EXPLAINED HIS THEORY AS TO WHAT HAD HAPPENED. I INDICATED THAT I WAS ONE OF THE WORKING TOW PLTS ON SUN AND THAT I HAD BEEN LNDG ON RWY 21; AND THAT ALTHOUGH I DID NOT KNOW FOR CERTAIN THAT I WAS INVOLVED IN HIS ANTENNA DAMAGE; THAT I WAS WILLING TO APOLOGIZE ON BEHALF OF THE TOW PLTS AND I PERSONALLY OFFERED HIM MONEY FOR HIS DAMAGES. WE AGREED ON AN AMOUNT OF $100.00; SHOOK HANDS; AND HE EXPRESSED JOY AT MEETING AN HONEST MAN; AND THAT HIS SON HAD ALWAYS WANTED TO LEARN TO FLY A GLIDER; AND THAT HE LOVED LIVING SO CLOSE TO THE ARPT WITH ALL ITS VARIOUS KINDS OF AVIATION ACTIVITY -- WHICH INCLUDES: RADIO-CTLED MODEL AIRPLANES; SKYDIVERS; PWRED HANG GLIDERS; HOT AIR BALLOONS; ANTIQUE AIRPLANES; AGRICULTURAL OPS; STUDENT ACTIVITY; COMMERCIAL OPS; GLIDER OPS; AND SCHEDULED JET CARRIERS.