Hmmmm, read a few comments here about a recent incident of a kite hitting power lines. Some facts. The incident occurred around 3:30pm Monday 28th November 2011 coner Hawker St and Safety Bay Road. The kite pulled down two (2) overhead lines of the 22kv main distribution lines causing blackouts for most of Shoalwater and Safety Bay. Full power restoration and repairs were not completed until after 8pm that evening. The repairs required a full Western Power crew that included an elevating work platform to conduct the repairs. A Western Power emergency response vehicle remained at the scene throughout to ensure no danger to the public and to direct traffic when the main work began. Sections of both Safety Bay Road and Hawker Street were closed during the main repair. I understand no one was injured but a member of the public pushing a pram was put in danger as the kite blew across the road. I think it would be responsible for the owner/operator of the kite to get in touch with Western Power and apologise for the trouble and inconvenience caused.

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rdunlop said...

........ I think it would be responsible for the owner/operator of the kite to get in touch with Western Power and apologise for the trouble and inconvenience caused.

And Pay $50,000. Good reason to never put your name on your kite!

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wishy said...

rdunlop said...

........ I think it would be responsible for the owner/operator of the kite to get in touch with Western Power and apologise for the trouble and inconvenience caused.

And Pay $50,000. Good reason to never put your name on your kite!

haha good point..! haha

Not funny. What about all those people that had their TIVOs setup to record Deal or No Deal at 5.30pm?

Some of the comments on this thread underplay the seriousness of this incident in that
1) a non-kiting civilian nearly got taken out; &
2) that approximately 4700 homes were without power because of this incident, some of them without power from 3.30pm until approx 10.30pm (that figure is not made up FYI).

Certainly not done deliberately but the ramifications of this incident are frightening for our sport and the ongoing relationship with The Pond. Consider just for a moment, the potential damage to electrical appliances and inconvenience/loss/frustration that damage might have caused?

it wasnta cab, i dont understand

How quick was the owner to get up there and paint 'Slingshot' over the Cabrinha logo?

Was he the one trying to join AKSA over the phone that afternoon?

another ****in slingshot in the power lines... bloody noobs

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Juddy said...

Some of the comments on this thread underplay the seriousness of this incident in that
1) a non-kiting civilian nearly got taken out; &
2) that approximately 4700 homes were without power because of this incident, some of them without power from 3.30pm until approx 10.30pm (that figure is not made up FYI).

Certainly not done deliberately but the ramifications of this incident are frightening for our sport and the ongoing relationship with The Pond. Consider just for a moment, the potential damage to electrical appliances and inconvenience/loss/frustration that damage might have caused?

I wasn't joking? He will actually be up for $50 grand+ if he gets caught, my neighbour crashed his car into a powerpole and didn't even break it and had to pay $15,000. Western power were out the front of our house with 5 police cars within about 10 minutes so i'd be suprised if this guy got away.

Pity about that old bloke on the dialysis machine

Ebay add:
Awesome looking Slingshot kite. Ideal beginner through advanced. Shows some signs of wear but nothing unusual for its age. Pics are from manufacturer's website and for illustration purposes only. All reasonable offers welcome

^^^^^^^Canopy still "crispy" from,,,um,,errr,,, small electrical fire.

does anyone have the scoop on who it was?

Euro or local??

Name and shame here.

Yeah, it was waveslave,,Chicken loop snapped,,,,no death leash to stop his kite.

This guy must have been pretty over'powered'

But I must say... pretty scary, glad nobody got hurt. hopefully it won't have any consequences for safety bay cause all of a sudden it doesn't seem so 'safe'

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lotofwind said...

Yeah, it was waveslave,,Chicken loop snapped,,,,no death leash to stop his kite.

True now thats Funny but hey not all inventions work , sic to death of high electricity bills.

If this was your stuff up slave you owe all of us a beer

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rickwindt said...

This guy must have been pretty over'powered'

BWAAAA ha ha ha ha that was funny!!!

If they find the owner of the kite he/she's up for a hefty bill, unless they are an AKSA member and then we are up for a premium rise next year

. . . . . . . . . fail at life

I think the guy should be rewarded for helping the environment, by limiting power to 4700 homes from 3.30pm to 10.30pm, thats probably a metre or so of ice cap he just saved.....

If i were the residence on that street I would be calling for a kite ban. What happens if the lines fell on to a house and started a fire. I'm in a similar situation where if kites hit lines my house could be in danger of falling lines. While I love to kite out front I would be getting the locals together to pressure the energy company into a ban.

this is shocking...

all of those who can't fly kites should be banned from all public/main kite beaches. Go practice kite flying in remote areas until you have some basic skills

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Hardcarve1 said...

If i were the residence on that street I would be calling for a kite ban. What happens if the lines fell on to a house and started a fire. I'm in a similar situation where if kites hit lines my house could be in danger of falling lines. While I love to kite out front I would be getting the locals together to pressure the energy company into a ban.

+1. If a petition to ban kiting comes out, how many of those residents will happily sign the petition.

The irony is there is a post about the humour of a failed launch (right next to power lines) when I fail to see any humour in it.

How long do people honestly think its going to continue before people take action against kiters and we all suffer? How many times is western power going to happily bare the brunt of a $50K repair bill before they go to council?

its these kind of issues that will force us down a licensing path with only a handful of kite spots and 150 kiters on the water at each. Catch a wake up people.

Put the power underground City of Rockingham. Its not the first time or the last this has happened.

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Juddy said...

Some of the comments on this thread underplay the seriousness of this incident in that
1) a non-kiting civilian nearly got taken out; &
2) that approximately 4700 homes were without power because of this incident, some of them without power from 3.30pm until approx 10.30pm (that figure is not made up FYI).

Certainly not done deliberately but the ramifications of this incident are frightening for our sport and the ongoing relationship with The Pond. Consider just for a moment, the potential damage to electrical appliances and inconvenience/loss/frustration that damage might have caused?

This thread just reflects the ignorance of many kiters.
The fact that the kiter didn't have to balls to come forward (as it appears) just puts the kiting community into a worse light. Hit and run in my opinion.
I wonder when people will realise that they're not the local heros and many non-kiting residents at those spots see kiting more as a nuisance rather than this fantastic sport that we see.
Incidents like that would give them plenty of reason to ban the spot due to public safety concerns, and the council just needs to have a look at this thread to see that the kite community takes the p!ss out of it.

* Kiting is so much fun for us that it might be difficult to see it from a non kiters perspective. Using public areas for our sport is a privilege not a right...and we should be very respectful of those communities that give us that privilege.
* If this was caused by gear failure (broken chicken loop) then that could happen to any of us any time unless we are super vigilant about gear inspection and maintenance; so let's not be too quick to blame the kiter.
* Once we get banned from spots, that's it - game over - it will be very hard/impossible to come back from there - so we have to take this, and other incidents like this seriously and make well considered responses as a community.
* I know this sport attracts a lot of go for it young guys and I like that attitude. However, there is a fine line between a "go for it young guy" and a "hoon" who does not carefully consider the implications of what they are about to do or have done when they are kiting. For example, a forum like this can be read by anyone, the attitudes or writers noted and used as evidence for decision making about banning/not banning the sport...I love a good laugh and the "powered up line" was a good one, but please practice consideration of your attitude at all times.
Peace, good winds and good times.

was it not doomed to happen soomer or later?, just look at the proximity of the spot to roads and trees its an accident waiting to happen in my eyes regardless if your a local, metro or travellor. u'hooked f'style means alot of strain on leash's, add this to a butter flat water location and pinged kites is all matter of course. was there nobody on the other side to intervine and stop it?

I'm shocked no one has come out and named the kiter yet, it is inconceivable that amongst the zoo no one saw it happen. Pretty serious incident and whilst putting the power lines underground would be a good solution for us I doubt the council will see it like that.

Really can't comment more until we know the in's and out's more, regardless unhooked tricks upwind of power lines is a recipe for disaster (I have been one of these people). Most leash failures the kite does not got far, certainly wouldn't carry all the way to the power lines in usual circumstances so I wonder if there is more to this story.

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Hardcarve1 said...

If i were the residence on that street I would be calling for a kite ban. What happens if the lines fell on to a house and started a fire. I'm in a similar situation where if kites hit lines my house could be in danger of falling lines. While I love to kite out front I would be getting the locals together to pressure the energy company into a ban.

I am a resident that lives on Hawker and was without power for about an 1.. this was the second time without power in two weeks. The first loss of power was a council worker hit the power poll and live wires came down in my neighbors yard. Luckily their child wasn't in the yard playing. Accidents happen. Kiting on any level should not be banded, locals and visitors just have to kite safe. Follow the rules, always wear a leash.

My guess it was one of those guys who feel the need to launch and land on the grass.

Can anyone spot the bar & lines ? ^^^
I'm looking for a tangled mess that should be hanging off the kite somewhere ?
I can't see it ...
Which makes me suspect that the runaway kite was not being flown at the time.
Maybe the kite took off during the inflation process ?
Maybe the little kite-pump leash snapped ?
lol.
The plot thickens: