The WKTV tower after the accident Monday
/ photo: Grant DeBruin via Facebook
DEERFIELD, ONEIDA CO. -- Authorities say two men are recovering from injuries suffered when they fell about 25 feet while working on a Utica television station's antenna tower.
State police say three employees of Alpha Antenna Services of Manlius were being hoisted up WKTV's 350-foot tower on Smith Hill Road in Deerfield late Monday morning when the top of the tower buckled. Troopers say buckling of the tower formed a slack in the cable, causing the workers to fall 20 to 30 feet to the ground.
The crew was hired by WCNY-TV in Liverpool to perform repair work on the tower. Police say they were wearing full body harnesses at the time of the incident.
Police say 49-year-old William Fox suffered severe facial injuries and 30-year-old Kelly Dougherty suffered a foot injury. Both were treated at a St. Elizabeth's Medical Center. A third worker, 44-year-old Gregory Campbell, was evaluated at the hospital and released.
The station's staff evacuated the building while the top of the broken antenna was secured.
Information from the Associated Press and New York State Police was used in this report.
Original Story:
A Central New York television station was knocked off the air Monday morning after three workers fell from a tower on the station's property.
WKTV-TV in Utica is reporting on its website that around 11:30 a.m. three men performing maintenance on their broadcast antenna fell off of the structure. Deerfield Fire Chief Mike Catera tell CNY Central that the department received a 911 call around 11:45 reporting the incident. Catera says two of the workers fell to the ground - one suffered a foot injury and the other complained of back and neck trouble. Both men were taken to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
A third man also fell off of the tower, but was caught by a guide cable and did not hit the ground. He was also taken to the hospital for treatment.
Catera says State Police are investigating the accident.
WKTV reports that their studio facility was evacuated and their primary NBC programming was off the air Monday afternoon as a result of the incident.
