• For all anyone knew, it was just another day. The sun was rising and appeared to be sunny, with average temperatures warming to 75 degrees by midafternoon, with a light wind from the south. That was the weather forecast everyone heard to start the day, as it echoed from speakers in the downtown square broadcasting from the local radio station KBAD. Topping the news from KBAD included a report concerning a house fire, two auto accidents, and a lost dog report. The station did not broadcast national news because the management felt it included more divisive material for the community and the station’s audience. KBAD’s motto promoted the station and its fans as * Kindhearted * Brilliant * Ambitious and * Devoted! It had a unique frequency on the AM Dial at 1000.0khz AM and 100.0mhz FM. The frequency identifier permitted those who wish to find it an easy way to remember its location on the radio dial. Operating by remote control authorization from the Federal Communications Commission, KBAD’s radio tower stood in two separate locations. The FM Broadcast Transmitter and Antenna broadcast on the same tower as many of the local television stations’ antenna services towers near the edge of town. The AM Broadcast Transmitter was with three directional towers west of the city on a hill that permitted the station to fluctuate power between sunrise – sunset – sunrise hours. The AM station reduced power during the daytime, and the signal with increased power would reach a different area than at night. The night signal could reach several states.

       The day was unfolding as usual, with one of our regular radio programs in full swing. Suddenly, in the midst of a phone-in segment, a caller made a startling revelation –––

“Do you people know that there is a guy hanging from your radio tower west of town? He is just dangling there.”

The Host was surprised by the caller comment and replied

 Sir, this is a live show. Please, this is not a time for pranks.

The caller shot back. – The caller’s voice was urgent, his words cutting through the airwaves.

‘This is not a joke,’ he insisted. ‘There’s a man, about three-fourths of the way up your middle tower, hanging upside down. You need to get him help.’

The Host, with urgency in his voice, told listeners

We take this seriously; our station manager and engineer are coming to the tower, and emergency responders are responding.

The Host then suggested that the caller should have notified 911 before calling the radio station first.

The man hanging upside down had been hired as a contractor to change the red blinking lights once a year to make sure that it met FCC requirements. On his way up, he experienced a fatal heart attack. He was tied off and had his safety gear on, which prevented him from falling when he could not continue climbing or descent. Due to how high he was, a specialized team of climbers had to be dispatched from over three hundred miles away to go to the scene and create a plan to lower him. It took over 24 hours to get the man to the ground safely.