I witnessed Tom's accident and he is very lucky to be alive. There was a passing car at the time which Tom missed by about 2'.
I recall that day was overcast with a few areas of dark clouds. The sky did clear prior to the accident, but if I am not mistaken there was a noticeable change in the air temp and some wispy fast moving low level clouds a few minutes before the wind shifted directions and started nuking.
I remember this because I was riding and made the descision to land the kite and by the time I was close to my vehicle and sat on the tailgate Tom was skipping across the water and heading to the beach. Once on the beach Tom looped the kite, skidded across the road on his spreader bar/stomach and stopped 25' short of the mangroves where his kite crashed.
When I got to Tom he was sitting upright, had the deer in headlights look on his face and was grateful to be alive.
That was a scary situation and thank God it turned out ok.
The lesson to be learned from this situation is to inspect, test and become familiar with your safety release system as if your life depended on it, it might. Mentally rehearsing where the release is and how to activate it while you are riding helps develop muscle memory and will prepare you for an emergency.
What do I consider gusty? A 15 mph or more increase in wind speed over the average or baseline reading.
Locally this is most common during the winter cold fronts and summer squalls.
Kite safe,
E
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