Yes, 22kv lines are heavy duty and if you look to the top of the pole the right hand conductor is the only one in the air. The other two phases are coiled up on the ground behind me as I took the pic, they are hanging from the next pole further down Safety Bay Road. Not sure how the kite pulled them down, would needed considerable force????
The conductors didn't break, i am guessing but any moisture on the kite would of created a short and this would of blown the conductors.
Thanks for the extra info Bob, re the coiled conductors.
Highly likely then a phase to phase short was created by the kite impacting the lines. Enough slack in the lines for this to occur.
Therefore this would have caused the lines to arc, melt and break. Quite spectacular to have seen !
I doubt the moisture on kite would have caused it as Darkside suggested. If that was the case the kite would have been like a rather under rated fuse between the lines and would have gone up in a puff of smoke very quickly. No signs of any burning on the kite if this indeed happened :o)
Why is there still mixed details regarding the actual reason for releasing the kite, surely someone must know. No point over speculating about the power lines, really the only thing that matters was that a run away kite ended up in them and caused damage.
I feel like people are protecting the instigator who released his kite, name and shame.
I am also a resident of Safety Bay Road and support kitesurfing as a sport. I also worked for Western Power for 28 years and am aware of the dangers of this kind of incident. Keep in mind the kite crossed the busy Safety Bay Road to reach the power lines.
The 'Pond' is a public beach not a designated kitesurfing area. I would like to see WAKSA, the local Kitesurfing Schools, local authorities and other stakeholders review and implement some agreed kitesurfing safety guidlelines. I hold a PADI Rescue Divers certificate, diving is a self regulating sport, maybe WAKSA and Kite Schools could introduce something similar.
Rob
I have sent you a PM re: this indident & your post above. Please email me direct - president@waksa.org.au
Juddy
And than we go to Bali and see this:
I'm sure no one would ban flying kites over there, even tho it's not far from the airport.
There were accidents, they will be accidents, and the life will go on...
and how do you know it was a noob that cant fly a kite maybe he/ she was doing a s mobe kiteloop 360 sidespin backflip to blind and in the 1% chance of not landing it actually crashed and the leash broke?
