Mast Accident

[FeedingFrenzy]

I've got some photos of a mast blowout I'd like to share. Crew from WPTV was inside editing. Nobody hurt, but the entire top came crashing down on the truck. Photos HERE

[photogguy]

Wait, the assembly holding the dish just sits on the top of the mast? There isn't a pin or something to keep the assembly in?

I guess I'm wondering what exactly happened to cause this.

[jfriedman]

there is a pin. on the 2nd pic down, it appears the pin is still there, but partially removed. Cant say if the pin is broken or if the pin was partially removed after the fall.
I am going to inspect all of our trucks right now.
Thanks for sharing and hope everyone is ok.

[Shootblue]

I've been there when a dish fell from the top of the mast. I heard a snap, looked up and then hopped back in the cab as fast as I could. This was at a mall, and it was pretty fortunate that no one was nearby at that moment. Engineering had gotten rid of the golden rods (anyone here even know what those are anymore?) because they wanted the extra push to get the all important live shot and put the dish on. Turns out, the dish weighed too much for the mounting bolts, and it eventually sheared off. We had told them for weeks that something wasn't right...but probably just trying to save their ass from the GM, they said it was ok. I remember calling the engineer after letting the newsroom know that we wouldn't have a shot because the dish fell off. He was PISSED...yet was one of the ones signing off on it all along. The dish basically just kind of bounced and wasn't really in too bad of condition afterwards. Had it hit someone though, it probably could have easily killed them...

[Shootblue]

I'm a bit confused...did it hit some other dish below or was all of that contraption on top of the mast?

[Focused]

Looks like the second arm in the photos was for a camera. I have seen a few set ups where a dome camera is mounted next to the dish so an overhead or aerial shot can be punched into the feed. Great for seeing over walls and getting a wider view of a developing scene.

Wonder how much added stress that puts on a system?

[photoguy603]

wow! glad everyone is ok!

[jfriedman]

In the 4th pic, the arm is a counterbalance for another p/t unit with a camera. The triangular wedges of fiberglass are used to hold the arm still when the mast is stowed during transport. Obviously the dish has splintered off either during the fall or some other reason. Was it windy at the time?
As I understand, the top section of the mast is sealed at the bottom and air does not flow through it. The tube that can be seen attached to the bracket rests on the top section and may have been loose or broken. The pin holds that part in place. Air may not have pushed this piece out but momentum from the top section rising could have...just speculation of course.

[upclose]

We had a live truck with a mast that would stick, then pop up. Engineering wasn't concerned. One day, it built up so much pressure, that the last segment of the mast launched out from the rest of the mast! It got as far as it could before the cable got taught, and the whole thing crashed to the ground. Luckily, no one was hurt. Fun times.

[The Thing on The Sticks]

Originally Posted by upclose

We had a live truck with a mast that would stick, then pop up. Engineering wasn't concerned. One day, it built up so much pressure, that the last segment of the mast launched out from the rest of the mast! It got as far as it could before the cable got taught, and the whole thing crashed to the ground. Luckily, no one was hurt. Fun times.

I might be willing to have paid to see that on a couple of the trucks I used to run. Not if I was standing at the switch raising the thing though. Serious business all around.

[canuckcam]

Originally Posted by upclose

We had a live truck with a mast that would stick, then pop up. Engineering wasn't concerned. One day, it built up so much pressure, that the last segment of the mast launched out from the rest of the mast! It got as far as it could before the cable got taught, and the whole thing crashed to the ground. Luckily, no one was hurt. Fun times.

Yikes... never thought about that one before.

Did have a live truck at another station that one night, I looked up and thought the mast looked to be leaning a bit too much. Sure enough, the mount at the base was coming off of the roof! ... we were right underneath it for our live shot, ironically at the coroner's office.

[TXPhotog]

"Can you guys still get a shot? We really need this shot from in front of a static background to make our newscast complete."

[JTFCM]

Thanks for posting. Going out to check my trucks right now.

Can you imagine if that hit somebody?

[Spenny!]

Glad to see everyone's safe. Also very curious to learn how this could happen. Wind? Air pressure? Who knows...

I'm going to forward the photo link to our crews and our engineers. We have a large live-truck fleet at our company.