Kiting Fatality Analysis, 2000 - 6/2006

[RickI]

To my knowledge there have been no fatalities involving flat kites yet.

Unfortunately this is not right. Look at this (in Danish though):

http://www.kitesurferen.dk/phpBB2/viewt ... d%F8dsfald

This kiter used a Takoon Nova (bow). He died this summer after being pulled after the kite.

Anyway, keep up the good work, Rick.

I was not aware of this Danish accident, thank you for bringing this up. I was working through an automatic Internet translation engine which can be inaccurate at times. Still, in reading through it apparently the post mortem found that the man suffered a fatal coronary. It seems that there may not have been any trauma consistent with dragging or lofting. It sounds like it was a lighter wind day (perhaps too light for a Waroo 14 m?). So, even though a 12 m Takoon Nova flat kite was involved, also it seems he was riding by himself, failure to properly depower or otherwise avert excessive kite force does not appear to be a factor in this sad accident. Am I mistaken in any of this?

My sincere regrets go out to this man's family, friends and to the kiters who tried so hard to save the man.

FKA, Inc.

transcribed by:
Rick Iossi

[RickI]

Rick, about the accident in Holland. I was to inform you about it, but I just didn't feel like it yet. It was a horrible day at the spot and I still feel horrible thinking about it.
...

The accident happened on september 3rd. He passed away last weekend, age 23.

Ralph, rest in peace.........

Thank you for relating information about this tragic accident. I wish solace to the riders family, friends and Dutch riders.

I can appreciate the lack of desire to relive the event much less write about it. I have received some reports and translations about the accident. When appropriate, I would value your review and comment on the summary that I could forward to you via PM.

Take care,

FKA, Inc.

transcribed by:
Rick Iossi

[hightide]

Hi Rick

After a very sad 2005 (fatal accident in Egypt), I had a very nice 2006 with no injuries and loads of fun on the water. What I experienced was on the other hand very disturbing:
Beaches, also in Europe become more crowded and there's always more folks on the water...but, no one seems to care! Many riders are not aware of the danger they can cause. So I still see people jumping around swimmers, around beginners and often "on the beach"-action, just to show off.

So that's why I like your information to be spread in many forums, people should know about the danger of this sport, then they'll have fun for a long time...no showing off, just having fun and riding safe. Thanks Rick for your EFFORT!!!

Regards from Switzerland,
Romano

[kjelleren]

Rick,
Thanks for the good work. We try to find statistics to compare our risks too, but it often doesn't work so well. Sometimes you need to be creative and use common sense. For example, how many of us have been injured while driving to go kitesurfing? Or have any of us heard of a kiter being killed while driving to the beach. That may be a better way of comparing the hazards of the 2 activities. Common sense comparisons tell us that kiting causes many more injuries per event than driving. I only know a few kiters that have not been injured.

[RickI]

Hi Rick

After a very sad 2005 (fatal accident in Egypt), I had a very nice 2006 with no injuries and loads of fun on the water. What I experienced was on the other hand very disturbing:
Beaches, also in Europe become more crowded and there's always more folks on the water...but, no one seems to care! Many riders are not aware of the danger they can cause. So I still see people jumping around swimmers, around beginners and often "on the beach"-action, just to show off.

So that's why I like your information to be spread in many forums, people should know about the danger of this sport, then they'll have fun for a long time...no showing off, just having fun and riding safe. Thanks Rick for your EFFORT!!!

Regards from Switzerland,
Romano

Thank you Romano for your input now and in the past. I am happy to hear this has been a more pacific year for you. I too see quite a few poor practices out there. Some people use reason and examples to try to avoid problems, others want to be convinced sometimes in the worst ways possible. I suspect this will improve in time but at a cost. We do this sport for fun, why work to keep it that way?

[RickI]

Rick,
Thanks for the good work. We try to find statistics to compare our risks too, but it often doesn't work so well. Sometimes you need to be creative and use common sense. For example, how many of us have been injured while driving to go kitesurfing? Or have any of us heard of a kiter being killed while driving to the beach. That may be a better way of comparing the hazards of the 2 activities. Common sense comparisons tell us that kiting causes many more injuries per event than driving. I only know a few kiters that have not been injured.

Thanks for your input as well. Coming up with statistics is tough for this sport, meaningful statistics is even harder. I really wish I had some acceptable estimates of hours ridden per year vs. various demographic groups. That might zero in on things a bit better. Still, there is largely a vacuum of any information on kiting in this regard currently. So, any objective info is probably better than none. Stay tuned, more to come on this soon.

By the way, we are up to 57 reported fatalities since 2000, perhaps a few more subject to confirmation. November is coming, although traditionally September and October have been bad as well.

Be careful out there.

[Kirok]

To my knowledge there have been no fatalities involving flat kites yet.

Unfortunately this is not right. Look at this (in Danish though):

http://www.kitesurferen.dk/phpBB2/viewt ... d%F8dsfald

This kiter used a Takoon Nova (bow). He died this summer after being pulled after the kite.

Anyway, keep up the good work, Rick.

Important!!!!
That man in question had a heart condition and was taking medication for it. He died of complications of his heart condition on the water enjoying the sport he loved. The real message to this tragic event is how quickly and effectively the kiters identified he was in trouble and the speed in which they fished him out and to land. They then tried to revive him, and got an ambulance there very fast. Unfortunately, he died on the water long before anyone could get to him. One of the kiters was even a doctor.

So I am nut sure this should be included in the accident statistics but for sure in the tragic death category.

Kirk

[RickI]

Since the time of this post in 2006 the number of fatalities that I have heard about and have been able to do some level of inquiry on has risen to 62, perhaps 65.

The number per year follows:

2007 - 3 (to date)
2006 - 13, possibly 16
2005 - 16
2004 - 11
2003 - 5
2002 - 10
2001 - 3
2000 - 1

FKA, Inc.

transcribed by:
Rick Iossi

[RickI]

An article from August 2006 follows that was requested for publication. Some things have changed since that time including perhaps a reduction in kiting fatality numbers. The primary cause is still apparent today, Operator Error, flat kites when properly preflighted, maintained and operated can offer more complete depowering in strong winds than experienced with past systems. Guys are still making poor choices, technology has improved but as always is imperfect. Things seem to be improving regardless of these considerations. Hopefully with continued rider hazard awareness, appreciation and avoidance along with improved technology fatalities and accidents in general will drop further.



How dangerous is kiteboarding? This is a fairly simple question with a variety of possible answers. Let’s look at some accident statistics in an effort to answer this question. This information is of interest to most kiteboarders however it is far more important to know and practice the means of avoiding accidents.

Global loss statistics are hard to come by. There is a fair quantity for the USA to look over however. Three kiteboarders were lost in the USA in 2005. Using estimated rider populations in the USA (25 to 50 thousand that own kiteboarding gear), this equates to roughly 6 to 12 fatalities per 100,000 riders for 2005. This allows us to make rough subjective comparisons to other activities.


Estimated Fatality Rates In USA
Activity - (Losses per 100,000) - Source

Paragliding - 88 - 1) http://www.ushga.org/safety/PG2005 AccidentSummary.pdf
Unintentional injury deaths from all causes - 56 - 2) WISQARS http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars (2003)
Motor Vehicle Traffic injuries - 15 - 2) WISQARS http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars (2003)
Kitesurfing - 6 to 12 - 3) http://fksa.org/ (2005)**
SCUBA diving - 5 - 4) http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medic ... /index.asp (2003)
Pedestrian - 2 - 2) WISQARS http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars (2003)
** The range was derived from the estimated number of kiteboarders in the USA.

So, based upon these statistics, you may be more at slightly risk of suffering a fatal automobile accident in the USA than to be killed kiteboarding. Alternatively, you may be at perhaps half the risk of being killed while SCUBA diving than kiteboarding. Paragliders appear to be substantially more at risk of fatal injury. NOTE: all of these statistics are estimates to varying degrees and are derived from differing assumptions. Also, actually fatality rates per country vary substantially year to year. The statistics have been calculated from generally unconfirmed reported observations received from around the world. If new credible information is received regarding historical accidents as happens on occasion these statistics can change.

A more accurate statistical picture might be obtained with a comparison of accidents to hours kiteboarded. At present there is no available accurate estimate for the total number of hours kiteboarded in the USA.

NOTE for every kiteboarding fatality there are far more (likely many 100’s to 1000’s) non-lethal injuries attributable to the same causes. Many of us know of people who have been hurt practicing our sport, some quite seriously. In working to avoid severe injury through proper kiting practice riders may well avoid any injury at all. This is a major point of this article.

Some of the trends in kiteboarding fatalities worldwide (total number of 52 through July 2006), are summarized below. These statistics have been calculated from reported but generally unconfirmed observations received worldwide. All parameters are not known in all cases. Credible new information received in the future as sometimes occurs may alter some of these statistics.

1. The most experienced riders appear to put themselves at the greatest risk.

Experience
4 or more years = 42%
3 years = 23 %
2 years = 15%
up to 1 year = 17%


2. Older riders in their late 30’s and 40’s appear to be at highest risk. NOTE: there is NO information available regarding serious but survivable injuries which could significantly differ from this summary. That is, just because you are fairly young doesn’t mean you have a free “Get Out of Jailâ€Â

[spork]

Here are some comparative numbers from 1993:

ACTIVITY Falalities/l00,000

Timber faller/logger 129
Airline pilot 97
Power line installer/repair 50
Fireman 49
Peace Corps 42
Garbage collector 40
Truck driver 40
Roofer 32
Flight attendant 23
Real estate agent 7
Editors and reporters 4

Driving a car 28
15-25 year-old male driving 50
Motorcycle rider 80
Motorcycle in Arkansas 250
All terrain vehicle 36

Airshow 500
Home-built aircraft 300
General aviation 145
Ballooning 67
Sailplane soaring 45
Skidiving 25
Hang gliding 22