“Wind turbines and associated MET towers are encroaching on aviation air space, and safety concerns are growing worldwide.”
Editor’s note: This is the fifth (of six) in a series examining opportunities of the Trump Administration to correct harmful wind energy-related policies.
Last month, a single engine plane collided with a wind turbine in Germany killing the pilot and shattering the aircraft. The appalling tragedy was reported as a rare occurrence, but few realize that in the U.S. alone at least ten people have lost their lives in fatal aviation accidents involving collisions with U.S. sited wind turbines and meteorological (MET) towers.
The table below lists these accidents, six in all.
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U.S. Fatal Aviation Accidents |
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| Date | Location | Fatality | Activity | Information | |||||
| Dec 15, 2003 | Vansycle, OR | Yes, 2 | Transport (MET) | NTSB Accident ID SEA04LA027 | |||||
| May 19, 2005 | Ralls, TX | Yes, 1 | Ag Spray (MET) |
NTSB Accident ID DFW05LA126 | |||||
| Jan 10, 2011 | Oakley, CA | Yes, 1 | Ag Spray (MET) | NTSB Accident ID WPR11LA094 | |||||
| Aug 5, 2013 | Balko, OK | Yes, 1 | Ag Spray (MET) | NTSB Accident ID CEN13FA465 | |||||
| Apr 27, 2014 | Highmore, SD | Yes, 4 | Transport (Turbine) | NTSB Accident ID CEN14FA224 | |||||
| Aug 19, 2016 | Ruthton, MN | Yes, 1 | Ag Spray (MET) | NTSB Accident ID CEN16LA326 | |||||
Wind and Collisions
The most well-known incident occurred the night of April 27, 2014, just ten miles south of the airport in Highmore, South Dakota.…
[Editor Note: This essay, the fourth in a series aimed at correcting the most harmful wind energy-related policies of the Obama era, examines how the U.S. Department of Energy has set aside its scientific objectivity and, instead, has assumed the role of chief advocate for wind power in the federal government.]
Since 2008, the US Department of Energy (DOE) has touted the technical feasibility of using wind energy to meet 20 percent of the nation’s electricity demand by 2030. In 2015, the agency refined its plan with the release of its Wind Vision, which further qualified the opportunity and laid the groundwork for the US to achieve 10 percent wind power by 2020, 20 percent wind power by 2030, and 35 percent wind power by 2050.
DOE and the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) insist that the industry is on track to meet these goals, but even a casual look at DOE’s claims makes clear that the reports are more advocacy than reality.…
“By 2008, nearly 40 percent of U.S. long-range radar systems were already compromised by wind turbines. Today, with more than three-times the wind capacity installed, the problem of radar interference persists.”
“Proper siting of turbines, while politically cumbersome, is the only tried and true form of mitigation. But this means denying wind developers access to land areas covered by radar.”
[Editor Note: This essay, the third in a series aimed at correcting the most harmful wind energy-related policies of the Obama era, examines how pro-wind federal law enacted in 2011 compromised U.S. aviation safety.]
U.S. air space has been made less safe and our national security compromised because of a reckless policy of siting wind towers within 30–40 miles of radar installations. By 2008, nearly 40 percent of U.S.…