Post by evets on Aug 16, 2017 9:56:35 GMT
This report involving an incident of a mid air collision between a helicopter and a kite was reported in the Telegraph on line:
A trend for kite fighting which sees mid air duels at up to five times the legal altitude limit is putting aircraft at risk, crash investigators have warned after a helicopter was hit.
A pilot was carrying four passenger on a sight-seeing flight over the Kent countryside when he noticed the kite and on later inspection discovered that if it had hit just inches lower it could have caused him to lose control.
The helicopter had been flying at between 700 and 1,000 feet when it was hit, more than three times the limit of the 200-feet that toys are allowed to fly at.
The trend, which has been banned in parts of India and Pakistan after the death of several children, sees competitors try to cut the line of their rivals and down their toy, sometimes using glass coated lines.
An official inquiry by the Air Accidents Investigation Board revealed that the line of the kite that hit the The Bell 206 JetRanger III had been laced with an abrasive substance.
The 45-year-old pilot, an experienced flier, told the AAIB that he was flying to Canterbury and back at between 700 and 1,000 feet and as he was passing over the coast he noticed a kite very close by and was forced to take "avoiding action".
He only realised the extent of the damage when he landed back at Manston airport, and said afterwards: "When I landed, I discovered the damage to the rotors, windscreen and tail fin. The marks to the top of the fin showed that if it had made contact inches lower, it would have hit the tail rotor. That would have put me in trouble, as loss of tail-rotor control is a serious emergency in a helicopter."
He had flown the route before but never seen kites in the area, he told investigators.
The inquiry noted that the kite flying activity had not been notified to the CAA so no warning had been issued to other air traffic in the area.
The CAA must be notified if a kite is flown at above 200 feet
The CAA must be notified if a kite is flown at above 200 feet CREDIT: VESNAANDJIC
The incident, the second collision between a kite and an aircraft in a year, has led to calls for tougher action to be taken against kite fliers who break the 200-feet maximum height flying rule.
Kite fighting, which features in Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner and the film adaptation of the same name set in Afghanistan, is popular across South Asia.
Two children in Delhi died last year when their throats were cut by the line as they watched the sport.
The craze is now spreading across Britain, with kite flying enthusiasts holding competitions on beaches.
The AAIB on established that the kite involved in the helicopter incident probably came from Sandwich Bay beach where enthusiasts regularly fly.
Investigators noted: "Evidence from the nature of the damage to the helicopter and photographs taken at the probable kite flying location suggest that the kite string was coated with an abrasive substance.
"In a number of other countries, kite fighting is a competitive sport where the objective is to cut the string of an opponent’s kite.
"To facilitate the cutting action, the upper parts of the kite string may be coated with an abrasive substance. There is evidence that a number of different coastal locations in the United Kingdom are used for kite flying at heights above 60 m but the activity is not being notified."
Rules state that kites must be used in a manner which does not represent a hazard to other users or more than 60 metres above the ground without the permission of the CAA.
A Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesman said: "This was the first time we had received a report relating to fighting kites and we take all reports seriously."
A trend for kite fighting which sees mid air duels at up to five times the legal altitude limit is putting aircraft at risk, crash investigators have warned after a helicopter was hit.
A pilot was carrying four passenger on a sight-seeing flight over the Kent countryside when he noticed the kite and on later inspection discovered that if it had hit just inches lower it could have caused him to lose control.
The helicopter had been flying at between 700 and 1,000 feet when it was hit, more than three times the limit of the 200-feet that toys are allowed to fly at.
The trend, which has been banned in parts of India and Pakistan after the death of several children, sees competitors try to cut the line of their rivals and down their toy, sometimes using glass coated lines.
An official inquiry by the Air Accidents Investigation Board revealed that the line of the kite that hit the The Bell 206 JetRanger III had been laced with an abrasive substance.
The 45-year-old pilot, an experienced flier, told the AAIB that he was flying to Canterbury and back at between 700 and 1,000 feet and as he was passing over the coast he noticed a kite very close by and was forced to take "avoiding action".
He only realised the extent of the damage when he landed back at Manston airport, and said afterwards: "When I landed, I discovered the damage to the rotors, windscreen and tail fin. The marks to the top of the fin showed that if it had made contact inches lower, it would have hit the tail rotor. That would have put me in trouble, as loss of tail-rotor control is a serious emergency in a helicopter."
He had flown the route before but never seen kites in the area, he told investigators.
The inquiry noted that the kite flying activity had not been notified to the CAA so no warning had been issued to other air traffic in the area.
The CAA must be notified if a kite is flown at above 200 feet
The CAA must be notified if a kite is flown at above 200 feet CREDIT: VESNAANDJIC
The incident, the second collision between a kite and an aircraft in a year, has led to calls for tougher action to be taken against kite fliers who break the 200-feet maximum height flying rule.
Kite fighting, which features in Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner and the film adaptation of the same name set in Afghanistan, is popular across South Asia.
Two children in Delhi died last year when their throats were cut by the line as they watched the sport.
The craze is now spreading across Britain, with kite flying enthusiasts holding competitions on beaches.
The AAIB on established that the kite involved in the helicopter incident probably came from Sandwich Bay beach where enthusiasts regularly fly.
Investigators noted: "Evidence from the nature of the damage to the helicopter and photographs taken at the probable kite flying location suggest that the kite string was coated with an abrasive substance.
"In a number of other countries, kite fighting is a competitive sport where the objective is to cut the string of an opponent’s kite.
"To facilitate the cutting action, the upper parts of the kite string may be coated with an abrasive substance. There is evidence that a number of different coastal locations in the United Kingdom are used for kite flying at heights above 60 m but the activity is not being notified."
Rules state that kites must be used in a manner which does not represent a hazard to other users or more than 60 metres above the ground without the permission of the CAA.
A Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesman said: "This was the first time we had received a report relating to fighting kites and we take all reports seriously."
