The Crash of the Cars 108 Tower! “The Day The Music Died” In Flint! [AUDIO]

It was seventeen years ago today, May 14th, 1995, Mothers Day. I was awakened about 3am by a call from our station engineer telling me that Cars 108 was off the air. After going to the tower site to check the transmitter, he found that the Cars'108 broadcast tower was down. Not just "down" as in not functioning, it was "down", laying on the ground. Somewhere in the course of the night it had crashed to the ground. George McIntyre and I headed to the tower site with flashlight in hand, and were stunned to see the 340 foot tower no longer standing. It lay across an open field with it's tower peak slammed into the ground. It was a sight seldom seen in the world of radio.

An investigation discovered that the wires that help support the tower had been cut in an act of vandalism. It would be another eleven days before another tower could be erected and Cars 108 would be able to resume broadcasting.

Those memories still live with me. As you can see from the photos, the damage was extensive and costly. Within days the FBI had assumed control of the case, and a young man had been charged in the vandalism.

When Cars 108 returned to the air on May 25th, we played a montage of news stories and music that covered the event. Listen to the montage and remember the "Day the Music Died" in Flint Michigan.

Listen to audio from local TV news reports in this audio montage: