PATON, Iowa (AP) - For the second time in as many months, a huge blade has broken off from its wind turbine in central Iowa.
The latest incident happened Thursday near Paton in Green County, television station KCCI reported Tuesday. No one was hurt. That follows a similar incident in mid-September, when another blade dropped from a turbine near Adel and crashed into a corn field.
The blades are 177 feet long and weigh 18,000 pounds, officials said. Mid-American Energy told the station that in both cases, the blades were equipped with a specific type of lightning protection system.
MidAmerican said such incidents are “extremely rare,” but acknowledged that even one incident is unacceptable.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.