A hot-air balloon collided with and destroyed a 650-foot AM radio tower in New Mexico on Friday during the renowned Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
As Cumulus Albuquerque Vice President/Market Manager Jeff Berry told Radio Ink, “Friday morning at approximately 8:30am, a hot air balloon that was participating in the 52nd Annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta accidentally clipped a radio tower that transmits Cumulus Media’s NewsTalk KKOB-AM, causing the tower to collapse. Thankfully, no one was injured.”
The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the balloon, carrying three passengers, landed safely in a nearby field after hitting the tower.
“KKOB-AM is broadcast by two towers, neither of which are owned by Cumulus Media, and the second tower was not hit. The collision has impacted KKOB’s AM signal, but NewsTalk KKOB-FM’s broadcast was unaffected. The great news is that NewsRadio KKOB fans can continue to enjoy the legendary station at full power on the FM dial at 96.3.”
The Federal Aviation Administration is currently investigating the event. Earlier in the week, another balloon hit a power line, temporarily leaving 13,000 residents without electricity.
While it is the last, this isn’t the first time a balloon at the festival has struck that KKOB tower. During the 2004 fiesta, a balloon shaped like Smokey Bear became entangled in the tower, forcing the pilot and his 10 and 14-year-old passengers to climb down the structure to safety.
2024 has been a particularly bad year for high-profile tower takedowns. In February, an Alabama AM station owner reported that his entire 200-foot tower was stolen. A landscaping crew discovered the theft early in the morning when they found the tower’s guy wires cut and the entire structure removed. The site was also vandalized.
That incident followed the January collapse of Payne Media Group’s KITX tower on the Oklahoma/Texas border, where suspects Candice Logan and Matt Wilson allegedly severed a guy wire to steal copper, causing $500,000 in damages for copper worth only $100.
