Unlit Tower Draws $8,000 Fine(2)

The commission knocked $2,000 off a fine against Mortenson Broadcasting, licensee of WSCW(AM), West Charleston, W. Va., for a grand total of $8,000 for a nighttime tower lighting failure. A field agent notified the FAA that the tower light was not working and said the station manager seemed unaware the light was out. Mortenson said the light was only out for a day, and the violation was not willfull because the outage was the result of an equipment malfunction in the tower alarm system.
The FCC reduced the penalty because of the licensee’s past good record, but stated in its order that Mortenson should have notified the FAA right away the light was out and the potential hazard to airplanes due to an unlit tower justifies the fine.