A PA23 pilot sighted an unlighted tower southeast of abi that is not NOTAM'ed. An associate reported...

Attributes
ACN	970353
Time
Date	201109
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ABI.TRACON
State Reference	TX
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	PA-23 Apache/Geronimo Apache
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 30 Flight Crew Total 3150 Flight Crew Type 900
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Object
Miss Distance	Horizontal 1500 Vertical 100

Narrative:

I was flying VFR from abi to communication at 1;000 AGL due to a 2;000 ovc layer south and east of abilene. At approximately three nautical miles north west of oplin tx; I saw an unlit tower just below my altitude. The ASR tower registration number for this tower is 1058250. After my flight I double checked NOTAMS for my route of flight. No notice of this unlit tower was present. I discussed this tower with another pilot associate; who thought the tower lights had been inoperative for an extended time (180+ days?) and that the NOTAM to this effect kept aging out after being reactivated periodically. The visibility on the day of my flight was adequate for me to see the tower before it became an issue; but my concern is for the safety of air evac helicopters that operate in the area. This tower is in the direct line of flight between coleman tx; and hendrick hospital in abilene where I have seen helicopters operate during night VMC conditions.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A PA23 pilot sighted an unlighted tower southeast of ABI that is not NOTAM'ed. An associate reported that the tower lights have been inoperative for an extended time and that the NOTAM to this effect keeps aging out after being reactivated periodically.

Narrative: I was flying VFR from ABI to COM at 1;000 AGL due to a 2;000 OVC layer south and east of Abilene. At approximately three nautical miles north west of Oplin TX; I saw an unlit tower just below my altitude. The ASR tower registration number for this tower is 1058250. After my flight I double checked NOTAMS for my route of flight. No notice of this unlit tower was present. I discussed this tower with another pilot associate; who thought the tower lights had been inoperative for an extended time (180+ days?) and that the NOTAM to this effect kept aging out after being reactivated periodically. The visibility on the day of my flight was adequate for me to see the tower before it became an issue; but my concern is for the safety of Air Evac Helicopters that operate in the area. This tower is in the direct line of flight between Coleman TX; and Hendrick Hospital in Abilene where I have seen helicopters operate during night VMC conditions.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

A PA23 pilot sighted an unlighted tower southeast of abi that is not NOTAM'ed. An associate reported that the tower lights have been inoperative for an extended time and that the NOTAM to this effect keeps aging out after being reactivated periodically.