‘Like a bomb going off’: Lightning repeatedly strikes Frying Pan Shoals Light Station

BALD HEAD ISLAND, NC (WWAY) — A restoration trip to Frying Pan Shoals Light Station turned into a six-hour ordeal after a powerful thunderstorm repeatedly struck the structure, knocking out communications and other electronics as a crew sheltered more than 30 miles offshore.

Dr. Craig McCotter, a cardiologist with Wilmington Health and one of the light station’s co-owners, said a restoration team and several visitors were at the structure over the weekend as part of ongoing efforts to restore it and make it safer for visitors.

McCotter said the group was not expecting the storm that arrived overnight.

“Just after midnight, a storm cell literally parked itself right over the tower,” McCotter said. “And for about six hours, all we did was get bombarded.”

McCotter said lightning struck the tower multiple times, with each strike damaging more of its electronics.

The group first lost its primary communications system before switching to satellite communications, which McCotter said was also knocked out. A backup AT&T FirstNet connection and the station’s VHF marine radio were eventually lost as well.

“We wound up losing pretty much all the electronics on the tower,” McCotter said.

The crew was eventually able to piece together equipment and restore a cellular connection.

McCotter described the lightning strikes as sounding “almost like a bomb going off,” with the entire structure rattling each time.

He was working on damaged communications equipment when one of the strikes traveled down a nearby pole.

“Every sense was overloaded,” McCotter said. “You could smell it, you could taste it in your mouth, you temporarily went blind just from the electrical current that was seizing off that pole, and you could hear the sizzle of the metal.”

Despite the intensity of the storm, McCotter said the steel structure offered protection similar to a Faraday cage, allowing electrical current to travel around the exterior rather than through the people sheltered inside.

The greater concern, he said, was losing the ability to communicate from about 32 miles into the Atlantic Ocean.

“That’s the biggest fear, is that you don’t have a way to call for help,” McCotter said. “And we lost every form of communication for a brief time.”

After the storm, most of the group left the station by boat. McCotter said a captain who had already planned to pick them up was able to reach the station despite rough seas.

A helicopter that had been parked on the flight deck during the storm was inspected and determined to be safe to fly. McCotter and the remaining crew later left in the helicopter.

Everyone made it back safely.

McCotter said the same helicopter was previously used to help with hurricane relief efforts in western North Carolina and was featured in “Air Angels.”

The dramatic weekend comes as work continues to restore Frying Pan Shoals Light Station.

McCotter said crews have been completing interior improvements, working to ensure drinking water is safe, installing solar panels and adding safety equipment for visitors.

Major structural restoration is expected to begin in the coming weeks. Plans also include repairing doors and the upper lighthouse area, with the goal of allowing visitors to experience views from about 135 feet above the water.

McCotter said preserving the offshore structure is the owners’ primary goal.

“All we’re trying to do is save this historic structure,” McCotter said.