Tower Industry Suffers Fatality in Mississippi

November 19, 2019

Scene of the Accident. Courtesy Starkville Daily News.

In Starkville, Mississippi, a worker died in fall from a cell tower last Saturday, according newstation WTVA. Oktibbeha County Coroner Michael Hunt identified victim as 43-year-old John Wayne Womack from Arkansas.

Crews were working to build a new cell tower in the Longview community, west of Starkville near Highway 12, when Womack fell 80 to 90 feet. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The 348-foot self-supporting tower was being built for Flinn Broadcasting of Memphis, Tennessee, which owns approximately 60 towers throughout the country, according to Wireless Estimator, which also noted this is the eighth tower fatality of 2019.

OSHA and the Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Office are investigating.