fatality in SPI

[bryanleighty]

http://www.kiteforum.com/viewtopic.p...st=0&sk=t&sd=a

very sad news..

new rider.. if you look at last post it has the most accurate details..

probably riding kite size that was a bit too large..

looks like the one HUGE issue was that he had his leash on backwards..

a lot is unknown ..

PLEASE use a leash with a QR and please know how to use it.

Quoted from deep in the thread:

Here is a link to a post on Best kite forum concerning some details of this accident.

Does anyone have any other details...or corrections to the description presented here?

http://forum.bestkiteboarding.com/viewt ... 7ac9997f95
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Here is what was stated:

""I have spoken with the 4 people involved in the accident in Texas, but did not see the accident myself. No one investigating this accident has come to a firm conclusion as to what actually occurred. A medical condition is just as likely the reason for the initiation of the incident as other theories such as (1) a fall in shallow water, (2) operator error in reversing the safety leash (3) an interrupted self-rescue. A good deal of speculation and misleading information has resulted.

I was told by the rescuer who heroically downed the kite, which had looped over a hundred times over a distance of a kilometer, that the kite safety leash was indeed reversed, which resulted in the slide release being out of reach of the kiter. It is likely that this fact had no bearing on the fatal result of the incident, in that an unconscious kiter would have drowned in the incident regardless.

Another fact that was relayed to me was that the kite was a 2007 true Bow kite from one of the top manufacturers, and that there was no apparent equipment failure detected.

The safety was connected to the line system, not by a rear OS loop, but by the standard front line ring-to-open-gated-carabiner method. None of the other lines were snagged in the carabiner.

When the victim was finally detained, it was noted that the chicken loop was not in the victim's spreader bar hook, and also noted that the chicken loop release had not been activated. The victim had apparently unhooked the chicken loop without activating the release.

It was also noted that a centerline appeared to be wrapped around the end of the bar, but it was not noted which of the 2 center lines. There was other line tangling evidence in the area of the bar, which gave rise to a theory that the kiter may have been in the process of self-rescuing, when an unintended relaunch of the kite occurred initiating the dragging incident. It is just as likely that some other factor caused the lines to be tangled around the bar.

Another theory that is based on the fact that the board was found not far from shallow water (the wind was mostly off-shore), proposes that the inexperienced kiter outran the kite and slacked his lines at the same time his board jammed into the bottom, throwing him into his bar and lines, at which time the lines got wrapped around the bar, and the kite relaunched. The kiter could have been knocked out or stunned by hitting the bottom.

The kiter had 9 hours of lessons, previous to the accident and was at the stage where most people would be practicing on there own.

I was told that the wind was not excessively high or gusty for an 11 meter bow kite, which the victim was using.

One of the rescuers, who was kiting at the time and was able to follow fairly close to the victim, noted that the victim's eyes were open, but could draw no firm conclusion as to whether or not the victim was actually looking at him.

No one was looking at the kiter when the incident began.

I have gotten two accounts of the rider's ability. One witness said that the kiter could go out and back, but could not turn. The other witness said that he thought the kiter was able to ride under pretty good control.

The victim was said to be a very pleasant and intelligent design engineer who was contracting with NASA.

Without a medical report which most likely would occur if released by a relative in his native country of Poland, we are left with a very unsatisfying analysis of what actually occurred in this tragedy.

Discussing and analyzing hypothetical situations may be of some value in arriving at safety and rescue tips, in cases like this, but the truth may never be known in this specific incident.

The rescuers did an admirable job, and at the time, were devoting their full energy to trying to save a life, dealing with such details as (1) how to lift the body up onto the jet-ski (it is not a one person task in 5 foot deep water), (2) how to initiate cardiac compressions and ventilation, (3) how to keep lines from fouling the intake of the jet-ski, (4) where to take the victim for treatment, (5) how to secure the body so that water would drain out of the lungs. The lines were therefore wound up in a hurry in an effort to speed up the rescue and were jammed out of the way, so as not to get sucked into the jet pump. The rescuers were focused on the future of the victim and not on analyzing the past. At this time and under these circumstances, it would have been negligent and detrimental to the life-saving effort to devote time to the investigation of the cause of this accident. Only after the victim was in the hands of the EMT and helicopter crew was it proper for the shaken rescuers to devote any time and energy to the analysis of this incident. I think that studies have shown that traumatic memory is not completely dependable, and that shocked recall can be suspect where details are concerned.""

Damn....

Sad story...

I hate hearing about things like this...not sure if it would have helped but kite developers should make kook proof QR's and leashes..

When I first got a kite leash I rode with it backwards for a few weeks....not knowing the difference...You should not be able to connect it that way in the first place....

We will never know what happened.
I can tell you this though, having your kite leash hooked up with the QR on the bar side, and not your side, is a death trap should you release the kite and it is looping. I know this from when leashes did not have QRs and getting worked bad once.
Also, watching Bill (tennis Bill) a couple months ago in the same scenario was pretty overwhelming.
No one is strong enough to "reel in" the kite on the leash. It's a death trap, for certain when in reasonable wind with a looping kite.

It's an easy fix, just make sure it is attached properly.

Not to be a nanny, but I think most people underestimate how bad things can get. Most of the time, things are functioning normally and kiting seems more safe than chewing gum.
That could not be further from the truth. When lines break or a bridle snaps or gets caught, these kites basically do all they can to whack you (quickly) and most times you won't get a second chance at avoiding serious injury, or worse.

Knowing your safety systems is crucial to not eventually getting hurt really badly.
Keeping a safe distance so that when things do break you have time to react is crucial.
Still, most people won't do either. (Just putting up facts, do with as you wish).

[bryanleighty]

i saw that post that Tom put up there and i didnt read it all the way through the first time.. reading about this makes me kinda sick to my stomach..

i just saw the part about the CL wrapped around the bar.

i dont know if that gets discussed enough. i am sure that everyone has their stories of coming down from a jump where you pendulum under the kite and hit the water with lots of slack... usually there is no problem .. maybe the kite will fall and you will have to relaunch..

but every now and again you get off kilter enough that the CL goes around one end of the bar and starts to tighten up... typically it will pop off.. occasionally it will pop off with a bit of a pull and take you on a 1 second ride....

i have had it not pop off and rip the bar from my hands and loop and crash.. thankfully it stopped there...

I know that Dan B once had the CL from a 15m ckite wrap around the bar with his hand intertwined and it took him on a looping ride directly into the beach at the Skyway. thankfully there was some folk on the beach that reacted and tackled his kite.. i dont think he had any control at all and if the wind conditions had been offshore it could have been bad.

i know that Scott had something like this occur a few weeks ago and quickly hit his QR and then had to QR his leash for a complete release of his kite..

its something to think about and just another possible situation that you have to prepare for..

[ricki]

I was wondering, how often have you guys had a kite relaunch from the water or land for that matter with a tangled wingtip resulting in looping? This seems to have factored in some cases.

[WindRyder]

I have. A little over a month ago, I was in the gulf. Was very windy, and I was on a 10M Era. Was about to go in to pump up the 8M, but had to get that "one last tack with the 10M." I was eyeing a wave to boost off of, and when I hit it, my body got very contorted in the air, and all I remember saying to myself was, "this is really gonna hurt." I landing sideways in the water, board flew off somewhere, and the kite when down. When preparing to relaunch the kite, I saw a wrapped bridle line. With a few tugs, the kite ran to the relaunch position, and I thought, "wow, that was easy....too easy." Kite launched and looped picking me up a good 15ft. I went ahead and hit the first release at the bar and the kite stopped looping, however, I started getting submarined and quickly released the kite. Instead of taking the time to try and deal with relaunching the kite, I punched out, as I didn't want to go for a kite loop ride, or get pulled underwater and not have enough wits left to release later in the event.

[ricki]

Originally Posted by WindRyder

I have. A little over a month ago, I was in the gulf. Was very windy, and I was on a 10M Era. Was about to go in to pump up the 8M, but had to get that "one last tack with the 10M." I was eyeing a wave to boost off of, and when I hit it, my body got very contorted in the air, and all I remember saying to myself was, "this is really gonna hurt." I landing sideways in the water, board flew off somewhere, and the kite when down. When preparing to relaunch the kite, I saw a wrapped bridle line. With a few tugs, the kite ran to the relaunch position, and I thought, "wow, that was easy....too easy." Kite launched and looped picking me up a good 15ft. I went ahead and hit the first release at the bar and the kite stopped looping, however, I started getting submarined and quickly released the kite. Instead of taking the time to try and deal with relaunching the kite, I punched out, as I didn't want to go for a kite loop ride, or get pulled underwater and not have enough wits left to release later in the event.

Wow, that was some incident. Glad things worked out OK, particularly your QR. Thank you very much for providing input on this. What would you guess the wind range was? You were still being pulled with excessive force even though you released your primary QR and dropped the bar? You were being pulled by your leash at that point?

[Todd RT]

Oh boy. My stomach hurts now. I'm such the Mr. Super Safety guy... but it freaks me out thinking about what would be going thru your mind in a kitemere moment. I gotta get away from this computer now... Think I'll go inspect my bridles or something..

[BigR]

scary stuff Linda, I'm glad you reacted quickly and didn't get hurt.

in the old days I just went along for the ride until finally things calm down eventually. these bow kites start looping , they really don't wanna stop