Weather-Tower Markings
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), citing three fatal accidents involving small airplanes that collided with meteorological evaluation towers (METs), is recommending that all such towers be registered, marked and, if possible, lighted.
The NTSB issued two safety recommendations to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), calling on the agency to require tower registration and marking and to establish a database for the required registrations.
METs — defined by the NTSB as temporary structures that measure wind speed and direction during development of wind energy conversion facilities — often are erected quickly and without notice to the aviation community. They typically are just under 200 ft above ground level (AGL), which is the threshold at which FAA notification is required, and they are unmarked and unlighted.
“Pilots have reported difficulty seeing METs from the air … which has led to accidents,” the NTSB sai…
