WHAT WENT WRONG? - Summary Of Ft. Lauderdale Lofting & Videos

[ricki]

Originally Posted by davewolfs

Other then the obvious of not kite surfing in conditions like this, what should someone do when in this type of situation? Can the kite even be released when being hurtled at this type of speed?

YES, lots of things can be done.

CRITICALLY, the best solution is to never volunteer to enter the crisis in the first place through proper Weather Planning and Monitoring (CLICK).

Failing that, physically practicing Emergency Depowering (pushing the bar all the way out or dropping it if recommended by the manufacturer with flat kites or dropping it to the leash with C kites) and mentally visualizing what you would do in response to x,y,z ROUTINELY. Touching your QR several times a session and thinking about what if can also combat brain freeze.

The time to Emergency Depower is well BEFORE any change in wind speed or temperature. Think kill the power NOT let's try to fly out of this. With a proper downwind buffer there is no reason not to do this.

If you mega screw up and you're lofted, yes, you can usually free fall to earth. Shannon Best did this in a summer squall in Delray as did another kiter not a 100 ft. from the site of this accident in the last two years in another squall. I would have from 30 ft. up but was lofted years before reliable QRs existed and my chicken loop was twisted on hard as a rock on my harness hook. I was in for the complete ride. Today, there is NO need to do this to yourself or others or our sport!

[WindRyder]

Thanks, Rick, for keeping us updated. Fay looks like she will be visiting every area of our state. Weird how the weather patterns are working to move the storm the way it is projected to.
I hope that Kevin is able to make a full recovery.
We can only be thankful that no one else was hurt during this incident.....a car accident on A1A, kite/lines tangled around bystanders, etc.....

[mocean]

hey rick ..watching the vid and reading all of the info you put up jst freak me right out,
I hope that the dude lives and heals to ride another day..
if he does not get to ride again,I hope he just lives and heals.
AJ watson

[Steve-O]

Just want to take a moment to commend Rick and the effort that he puts into this website. He is a leader in kite safety/education and I look forward to meeting him one day. I send all my students here to read about past accidents and to educate themselves regarding weather patterns and human patterns as well. Rick has found an incredible tool of communication for our sport. I am sure we will continue to learn from these events, but like he said, it will take time. As unfortunate as this accident is, hopefully it will prevent more in the future.

If you haven't seen Riding Giants, it is a must see for any serious waterman and an incredible story about taking risks. Even the best of the best can perrish doing what they love, but the bottom line is it is still a tragedy. It can shake you up, and make you think twice.

Thank you Rick for your continued service to FKSA.

[greg meintjes]

When you look at the video, there were a few other kites on the beach, which I find amazing because conditions were forecast to be dangerous throughout the day this is scary in that so many other people also showed total disregard for theirs and other persons safety as well as any ramiffications from their actions.I am also wondering if anybody actualy took the initiative and tried to dissuade any of the riders from launching their kites.

Greg

[davewolfs]

So based on the speed that he was flying if he had simply pushed the bar out the kite would have given up? Sorry for my ignorance but I am an amateur who is looking to get into this sport, I've never used any of this equipment aside from a training kite and this video simply scares me.

Originally Posted by RickI

YES, lots of things can be done.

CRITICALLY, the best solution is to never volunteer to enter the crisis in the first place through proper Weather Planning and Monitoring (CLICK).

Failing that, physically practicing Emergency Depowering (pushing the bar all the way out or dropping it if recommended by the manufacturer with flat kites or dropping it to the leash with C kites) and mentally visualizing what you would do in response to x,y,z ROUTINELY. Touching your QR several times a session and thinking about what if can also combat brain freeze.

The time to Emergency Depower is well BEFORE any change in wind speed or temperature. Think kill the power NOT let's try to fly out of this. With a proper downwind buffer there is no reason not to do this.

If you mega screw up and you're lofted, yes, you can usually free fall to earth. Shannon Best did this in a summer squall in Delray as did another kiter not a 100 ft. from the site of this accident in the last two years in another squall. I would have from 30 ft. up but was lofted years before reliable QRs existed and my chicken loop was twisted on hard as a rock on my harness hook. I was in for the complete ride. Today, there is NO need to do this to yourself or others or our sport!

[ricki]

Originally Posted by davewolfs

So based on the speed that he was flying if he had simply pushed the bar out the kite would have given up? Sorry for my ignorance but I am an amateur who is looking to get into this sport, I've never used any of this equipment aside from a training kite and this video simply scares me.

Fear is a healthy perspective for something like this, has excellent survival value! Indifference which we seem to be plagued with, tends more toward grief in wx extremes.

Big point, YOU NEVER WANT TO TRY TO DEAL WITH A LOFTING ONCE YOU ARE FLYING.

The outcome is ALWAYS uncertain and biased towards the grim side of things. You want to take great pains to never escape gravity and start what may be a one way flight downwind.

That said, what you do if you're lofted and in flight? One approach is to detach from your chicken loop and drop to the ground. This may hurt and injure you. Then again, your injuries may be less than a frontal impact against a house, car, rocks, whatever. Pushing out on your bar if you are flying a flat kite will reduce the power but I think it might glide for a while. You'll burn off forward speed but will it help? Got me, goes to kite performance and accident specifics. If it were me, I would Emergency Depower well before the first gust came. If I was already in flight, I might try small control inputs to see if the kite is maneuverable and if there is something soft to glide into. If not or if I was still rising, I might just drop and free fall to an uncertain impact without the kite.

Do you see how bogus and uncertain all this is? That is why you need to take great pains never to be lofted and particularly not lofted in a spectacular fashion (i.e. 165, 800 or even 1750 ft. horizontally as have happened already).

Were I you, I would be worried about something FAR more important. That is interviewing and selection the best professional kiteboarding instructor that I can find. You DO NOT want to take this sport on solo. The odds of trashing your gear, yourself and our access are just too high. Ideas for interviewing and evaluating instructors appear at: http://fksa.org/forumdisplay.php?f=45

[firstcoastkite]

First of all, I am sorry to hear about Kevin and I hope and pray that he makes a full recovery and lives to kite again one day. I am a professional kiteboarding instructor for 6 years now, and having suffered through one of the worst windless summers in years, this accident is like pouring salt on an old wound that has never healed. I live in St. Augustine, and have kited a total of 45 minutes this entire summer due to an active monsoon season and unfavorable weather patterns.

I am currently on vacation visiting family and searching for wind up in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and saw the video of the Ft. Lauderdale lofting on the Weather Channel on JetBlue airlines flying up to Boston. I got an email from a friend in Washington about it later, so obviously this has become national news. My thoughts are with Kent in this matter in that this event greatly effects our industry, and we should be very conscious of it.

I echo other people's concerns that there were other people out that day, and their example led Kevin to decide it was a good idea to kite in dangerous conditions. Each of us needs to think about our decisions and how it affects others in this case. We all enjoy our sport 99.9% of the time in relatively safe conditions, well within the limits of our equipment. But it is that .1% of the time that we need to think about. I for one will be stressing safety release in all upcoming kiteboarding lessons this fall, with our windy season about to start in northeast Florida. Have you ever pulled your release? If you had to in a split second, would you be able to?

Paul Menta was the one who certified me to be an instructor, and he was always adamant about PRACTICING pulling your release, and even riding with your hand on the release in sketchy conditions. You simply CANNOT WAIT until the shit hits the fan to figure out how to work your safety release mechanism. It needs to be automatic, so that you know exactly what to do, and have the muscle memory programmed in case of emergency. Know your equipment, and how to use it.

That said, the best way to avoid accidents is not to put yourself in a bad situation in the first place. One of the major things that I stress in my lessons is for people to learn how to assess the conditions, and know when to go out, and when to go home. Marcus at 3-2-1 Takeoff in the Dominican Republic showed me how important it is to teach students to be able to check the weather conditions before they go out. Yes, it has been a very windless summer, but that doesn't mean you should go pump up a kite when 50 knot squalls are moving through at 60 mph. Do yourself a HUGE favor, and check the NWS/NOAA forecast, radar images, IKitesurf meters, and any/all weather indicators you can BEFORE you decide to pump up a kite and endanger yourself. Err on the side of safety, and live to kite another day.

[ricki]

Thanks everyone for your input and support, I really appreciate it! The next challenge is getting folks to get onboard with proper WX Planning And Monitoring. A huge dividend is less time wind waiting and suffering needless wind lust. You can zero in on useable winds, particularly frontal winds a lot more effectively than just going at it randomly. You also stand a much better chance of enjoying your session as opposed to regretting it in the ER and/or rehab.

Here's a start: http://fksa.org/showthread.php?t=7043

[OttoNP]

As always, thanks again Rick. You do so much for the safety of our sport and it is well appreciated across the country. Whenever I read of these tragic events I try to ensure that my common kiting practices would have prevented them and if not, I try to add something that would have. Most of them are from reading and collecting information from sources such as Rick.

For the benefit of others and for any criticism, a list for similar circumstance is below:

1. Do not kite in typhoon conditions of when radar map looks like that.

2. If winds came up like that while riding, I would flag kite on line and self rescue out on the water. This is a pain, but in my opinion you do not want to be on land in high gusty winds...very dangerous.

3. If on land when wind comes up, depower kite as much as possible and keep it very low, keep one hand on emergency release. It seems a lot of people consider 12:00 the safest position, I'm not sure why, maybe that gets to be where you put kite when you get going too fast while riding. Wind is lower close to ground and drag is easier to hold. Put kite as low as possible with as much depower as possible. The only advantage I can think of with the kite at 12 is that it may be less likely that you would send the kite. With the kite low, if you make a mistake or for some other reason, the kite can go rapidly to 12 or through the window causing more problems (curious what others have to say about this) Also, usually one side is safer than the other, toward the water. Be prepared to release. Try to avoid this as much as possible through weather prediction and by putting kite down in water. An alternative plan in this case of the wind getting too high while ridingis prepare to flag the kite as soon as it is over land. In this case I would have leash attached to flagging line and pull chickenloop release as soon as kite is over the beach.

4. Things happened very fast in that video, it looks like he would have only had time to release during the first lofting. After he touches the sand, there is almost no time for him to react.

5. Kites are not expensive (relative to you). You need to forgot about how much you paid....easier said then done, right? You need to be more than willing to release the kite if everything goes wrong.

I'll also add these other things I do which I think help me, once again any added thoughts are helpful
:
1. Try to get muscle memory of grabbing your release

2. Try to set up mental danger lines at your spot and what you will do at each. I think this is very important, it creates clear instructions in your mind as what to do and when. Also, by deciding ahead of time when you are not in a dangerous situation your judgement will also be much better. Give youself enough space for whatever your plan is. Below is an example of a spot I frequent:

Where the water meets the coast, there are trees and rocks. About 3 kitelines lengths out there are buoys that mark an area that power boats are supposed to stay out of. I typically ride well past that. In my mind, if I lose control and can not regain it by the time I get to the buoys, my plan is to flag the kite and self rescue. This will put my kite on the water about 2 kitelines length from shore, which should be enough to self rescue without any danger of the kite getting to the rocks/trees. If I can not flag the kite immediately after passing the buoys, I will pull the safety release. If that doesn't stop my drag, I will immediately then pull leash release. I try to practice this plan mentally. From what I gather, you can easily go 1-2 kitelines lengths before you can react, with 3 I hope that is enough. If conditions are sketchy or become sketchy, I would add more space, but I also would not be out if they are sketchy.

I travel a lot to kite, partly from my job, so I always survey the spot and try to find the line I don't want to cross. On the ocean, I want to make sure I'm fully in control before the surf. If I have to put my kite down, I would want to do it about 2 kitelines length from the surf. If I get to the surf out of control, I'm pulling all my releases.

I have been lucky so far and have never had to execute the above plans, but I feel that by having them pre-programmed in my mind it will help if they are needed. A lot of kiters typically ride past the lines where I will start to try to react, which I consider an unneeded risk. I have seen them crash and dragged on the beach/rocks while I grabbed their kites to help them. Also, I'm only saying to react if you are out of control. Obviously I come through this zone when I come in and out, I'm just on high alert when I'm in that area. If I were to lose control in that area, I would also pull releases, first chickenloop and if no effect than leash.

Also, Rick has a lot of good weather related information, but a simplified checklist that I follow right before I go is below:

1. Check buoys/windspeed
-is wind steady? watch out for gusty conditions
-any recent change in speed/direction? watch out if speed or direction recently changed

2. Check wind forecast
-is wind supposed to go up/down and when? I try to find time and speed and correlate when I'm kiting. If wind is 10 knots and supposed to go up to 25-30, I know that it is only going to keep going up. conversly, if it is 20 and supposed to go to 0 knots, I know to make sure I can get back in before it dies.
-is wind following forecast? if not, something weird may be happening

3. Check air pressure
-if air pressure is rapidly changing, watch out, something is probably going to change

4. Check radar map, watch out for anything coming in...




Sorry about the length, but I hope someone finds this helpful...