A moment of silence, please.

[guest]

Remeber when "planes crash" was a good reason to go BASE jump instead?
Now buildings and antennas crash too, the irony is that a plane is to blame!
It's a dangerous world out there people, don't pull 'til ya hafta!

[base570]

A moment of silence for our fallen sister.

She was a good tower and will be missed.

Plane hits TV tower; 1 dead

- A Durham man was killed Thursday when a plane he was flying struck an 1,800-foot steel TV tower in a wooded area near the County line, County Sheriff Larry Knott said.

David C. Dollar, 27, was flying from Greenville to Concord for Raleigh-based RAM Air Freight when, witnesses said, they saw his Piper single-engine plane hit the top of the tower about 4:30 p.m., Knott said.

A spokeswoman at RAM headquarters at RDU said the company would not comment about the crash.

Overnight, investigators from 30 law enforcement and fire rescue agencies, the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were trying to determine what led to the crash. Investigators plan to resume their work this morning, aided by cranes and other heavy equipment.

They know this much: The air-mail carrier departed Raleigh-Durham International Airport early Thursday and followed a routine flight plan to New Bern and then Greenville, Knott said. Dollar had completed 80 percent of his trip at the time of the crash.

"I think he just flew too close to the tower," Knott said.

A Sanford native and 1996 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, Dollar majored in biology, but his father said he dreamed of becoming a pilot. Donald Dollar told Knott his son had been flying for four years. The pilot's family -- his father, mother and two siblings -- arrived at the crash scene late Thursday from Sanford.

Spokesmen at *** County Airport and Harnett County Airport said staff reported no unusual radio calls or activity during the day.

At the time of the crash, residents in the 3000 block of nearby ***Road were drawn out of their houses by a loud explosion.

Twelve-year-old Carson Hunt was watching television and said his house shook.

"It felt like a bomb hit," he said.

He ran outside in time to see the tower falling, toppling piece by piece in a matter of seconds until it crumpled to the ground. A thick cloud of black smoke engulfed the ruins.

"It looked like it was in slow motion. It didn't seem real. That's when I got scared and ran back inside and got my dad," Hunt said.

Melvina Shackleton was covered in soot after inspecting the damage near Road.

"Mail was everywhere," she said.

There were cancelled checks, deposit slips, deeds, titles and power-of-attorney paperwork from Wachovia banks in Aurora, Buxton, Harker's Island, New Bern and Winterville.

The wreckage covered a 700-yard circle around the base of the tower, reaching into neighboring County from County.

The crash interrupted service from WKFT (Channel 40) to 873,000 households in 22 Triangle-area counties, said Robert Salat, company vice president and general manager. Salat said the Fayetteville-based station leases the tower, built in 1986, from Capital Broadcasting, which owns WRAL.

Workers restored service to 489,000 households overnight through satellite wiring and plan to have the entire operation up and running today.

Truly a sad day
:'( :'( :'(
Donations may be sent to help the grieving BASE jumpers deal with this tragedy.
BASE 570
PO Box 98041
Raleigh, NC 27624

Thanks.:P