Spain Fatality

pkh · Since 27 Feb 2005 6549 Posts Couve / Hood Honored Founder

"Yesterday, friday, we had a very sad day in Ibiza (Baleares Islands, Spain), one of our old friends, years ago in windsurf, and started kiting two years ago or bit more, Ramón, 35 years old, married and a 4 year daughter, nice guy, always helpfull with everyone, and one of the most cautios guys I know had a bad day that ended in fatality, Im going to explain what happened, lived in first person, so that it will never happen again anyplace:

We got to the beach, and regged our smallest kites cause the windmeter indicated 30 kts, 39 in the gusts. We were all overpowered with our 7m, 8m, and 9m. Ramon rigged his 8m, but like others he wasnt decided to go kiting because of the strong winds. The moment he decided to go, he asked two friends to help him, one grabbed his harness, and the other one helped him with the kite. He depowered the kite the maximum, but the bad luck, because of the strong wind, made his right steering line tangled just very near the pigtail of the kite, and made a knot there, so the line was shortened aprox 30 cm (we saw it when they got the kite from the roof of a hotel), nobody noticed this knot, he didnt either, he gave the thumbs up to lift the kite, and the kite passed through the zenit, and continued making a kiteloop, that dragged him and the guy that was holding his harness (big and strong guy, aprox 80 kg), who couldnt grab him after the first 2 meters, the pull of the kite ripped his hand off the harness. He dragged two more meters with the bad luck of hitting his head on one of the few stones on the beach, he probably passed out there, but the kite did another kiteloop that launched him 20 more meters, then another one that launched him another 10m and made him hit a van that was in a parking lot behind the beach, and then inexplicably did another kiteloop that made him fly over that van, another two vans, one tree, a 2 meter fence, and some gardens, and violently impacted on the first floor of a hotel, and fell to the ground. then everything finished. Nobody could do anything for him, they tried holding him, bat could do nothing. A low depower kite added to the knot that was tied with the strong winds shaking the kite tips left rigged time with the lines extended a while, and over 30 kts, triggered this sad accident. PLEASE BE CAREFULL OUT THER AND I WISH NOBODY TO PASS THROUGH WHAT HIS FAMILY AND OUR SELVES ARE SUFFERING."

http://www.kiteforum.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=2342814

pura vida one · Since 22 May 2007 80 Posts

if it's the beach i'm thinking of, there are almost no rocks. so the chances would be super low for him to hit a rock. this makes it seem so evident that a small series of unlikely mistakes can combine to create the worst outcome. helmets, people.

it was pretty onshore wind when i was there last summer. those guys are coming off summer like us but are used to fairly low winds from what i understand, so this must've been really burly for them.

me gustaria dar el pesame... condolences as best i can in spanish. rip

magicmaker · Since 29 Oct 2006 895 Posts da Hood Opinionated

this is really sad, but i think the problem was that he may not have been familiar with his safety and release system. One time this summer, my 7m was @ airtime getting repaired so i decided to fly my 9m fuel. Anyway i think it was blowing about 40-50mph and somehow i forgot to attach one of my leading edge lines.

because it was sooo windy right before i was about to launch, I was thinking to myself, if it is too windy to self pivot launch, then it's probably too windy to kite; The sand finally stops blasting my leg for a second and I go to pivot launch and the wind is blowing so hard as soon as i get the kite directly downwind of me with a bunch of fifth line pulled in the kite just takes off and sh** hit the fan; kite was just looping out of complete control fairly close to the ground so somehow I had enough weight to hold onto it but it kept pulling me downwind, just looping like craazy, and within the time span of a couple of seconds, i thought to myself something was wrong and time to unhook so I unhooked and let my bar go thinking my leash would catch my kite and it would have, had it been connected. Anyway, long story short, i called it a day after i got my kite back and was left uninjured minus a gash on my knee i got recovering my kite.

Knowing when to unhook/release the CL from your harness is invaluable. IMO, i think this death any many other deaths caused by kiteboarding could have been prevented had they used the quick release within a second or two.

jcohenx · Since 28 Aug 2007 250 Posts Portland Obsessed

So sorry to hear this. My condolences to you and to his family.

Every serious injury or fatality that I read about this year with the exception of one sounded like they could have been avoided. Sadly, on a website that kept kiteboard injury statistics from 2000 to 2003, most of the serious injuries and half of the fatalities are assigned to kiters that considered themselves "experienced."

Helmets should definitely be a requirement in 30 kt wind even if the beach is covered in marshmallows. It's not clear from the posting if he was wearing one but helmets are not going to save you from polytrauma in a drag through a parking lot. Using quick releases when necessary is even better. Practice them until it becomes automatic.

YngvaiMalmsteve · Since 16 Aug 2007 5 Posts New Member

It appears that the guy didn't even have time to pull his QR...he hit the rock pretty quickly which appeared to knock him unconcious....so there's no way he could've pulled his QR after that

jcohenx · Since 28 Aug 2007 250 Posts Portland Obsessed

I read the original post.

He was definitely not wearing a helmet despite the fact that he wore one during his training days. From the eyewitness description, it sounds like there was only a few seconds to decide on the quick release. The danger was compounded by flying a C-kite with limited depower.

Moto · Since 03 Sep 2006 2698 Posts Still a gojo pimp! Moto Mouth

very sad news Sad

forrest · Mon Oct 15, 07 7:49 am

This is a horrible story, my condolences.

Had something similar happen to me at Lyle once. The foam tube that wraps the steering line leader was wrapped down around my bar. Launched the kite and it shot over my head and down the other side of the window before I realized what was going on and corrected by over steering to compensate.

Gotta double check your setup before you launch, visually inspect the bar before any tension in the lines, and when in doubt put it down and inspect everything.

Moto · Since 03 Sep 2006 2698 Posts Still a gojo pimp! Moto Mouth

I have seen similar stuff happen on launch with kites with bridles. Basically one of the rollers gets tangled and then when they launch, the kite pulls very hard to one side and sends the guy flying, however, I have never seen an injury due to this error. My condolenes to the family Sad

Kataku2k3 · Since 14 Aug 2005 3754 Posts PDX-LA Videographer

If there's a good chance of something going wrong when launching, just keep one hand on the emergency release from the start.

stringy · Since 23 Jun 2006 1738 Posts vancouver XTreme Poster

thanks for posting.
it is very sad to hear of such stories.
I have experienced launches with wrapped wingtip lines.
This can definitely send your kite across the window.
if you can foresee this while your are launched and cannot correct by depowering or steering,
you can reach up and grab your slacked steering line pulling it in to equalize the line lengths and then set the kite back down.
This method requires quick thinking, so punching out is the other alternative.
Know your equipment before putting yourself in these conditions.

magicmaker · Since 29 Oct 2006 895 Posts da Hood Opinionated

pkh · Since 27 Feb 2005 6549 Posts Couve / Hood Honored Founder

A good test to see if you could pull your QR in an emergency is to (in deep water) send your kite into a kiteloop mid air, then try to pull your quick release before you hit the water. Never tried it, but it did sound like a good test.

Its sad but also good to hear about these stories so we don't make the same mistakes.

genek · Since 21 Jul 2006 2165 Posts East Po KGB

A potential problem with that technique is if you pull the release after the kiteloop initiates you'll be flying with some speed. After that even if the QR works you could still get hurt dropping out of the air with some speed. Might be better to start while dragging in the water and loop the kite while you're in the water. Not having a board and being in the water will decrease height and speed so the wipeout won't be as bad, but the kiteloop should still load the QR pretty well. You could also try to bare off downwind a bit while riding and loop the kite while edging against it and then pull the QR (hopefully without catching any air). In any case looping the kite might be risky if you're not careful about the power you generate.

Really sad to hear about such an unfortunate accident. Seems like unintentionally looping kites due to a snagged line/bridle are more common than we'd like to admit.

pkh · Since 27 Feb 2005 6549 Posts Couve / Hood Honored Founder

Didn't say it was a safe test, just a realistic one. Very Happy

genek · Since 21 Jul 2006 2165 Posts East Po KGB

You got me there Shocked

. I guess I assumed when you said it was a "good" test it was good from all aspects.

pkh · Since 27 Feb 2005 6549 Posts Couve / Hood Honored Founder

I'd like to see you do it in one of those bigguns at Rooster! Wink