Fargo, ND (near) Helicopter Hit Video Tower, Feb 1968

COPTER RAMS VIDEO TOWER; FOUR KILLED.

Fargo, N.D. -- (UPI) -- A Marine helicopter chopped into the 1,000-foot level of a 2,060-foot
television tower -- the second tallest structure in the nation -- Wednesday, toppling the tower and killing the four men who rode the aircraft.
The helicopter was on a training mission out of the Grand Forks, N.D., Air Force Base north of Fargo. Three bodies were found in or at the wreckage of the burned CH53A helicopter. The fourth was found nearby.
The victims were identified as:
Marine Maj. KARL V. ALBERT.
Navy Lt. GERALD T. SKIDGEL.
Marine Gunney Sgt. HARLEY L. BORINKAHOF.
JOHN E. BURDETTE, a civilian aerospace engineer.
No home towns were immediately available.
The helicopter, Air Force spokesmen said, had been assigned to the Patuxent Naval AIr Station, Md., but was flying out of the Grand Forks base on a training mission when it collided with the tower, owned by KXJB-TV.
The chopper drove halfway up into the huge tower, where the structure was 10 feet across. The craft plunged to the ground, burning, as the tower crashed to earth.

Independent Pasadena California 1968-02-15
__________________

Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!