Ted Cochran, NAR President, has been working with local authorities to find
more details and posted the following update:
National Association of Rocketry
21 November 2015
Greetings,
As I reported on the NAR Facebook page last Sunday, I regret to have to
inform you that a fatal on-field rocketry accident occurred in California
last Saturday. I want to bring you up to speed on the status of our
investigation.
When I made the first announcement, there were few details available. We
have since been working to understand what happened, so that we may all
learn from it and prevent it from happening again. Our Association has no
standing in the matter except as concerned and experienced enthusiasts, but
I've been in contact with law enforcement and witnesses and have a
preliminary set of facts to share.
First, to the best of our knowledge, no NAR or TRA members were involved in
this incident, certainly not directly involved. No kids were involved,
except, unfortunately, as witnesses.
The deceased, Mike Bentley, a very experienced adult Scout leader, was at
an annual BSA Council-sponsored rocketry and camping event for multiple
scout troops called Rocket Rave, which has been conducted for at least
several years. During the weekend, scouts complete tasks required for their
Space Exploration merit badge, which requires two model rocket launches.
During the launches, it has also been common for adults to launch their
own, larger rockets.
Around noon on Saturday, Mike engaged in a drag race with a second adult.
Winds were likely within limits, safe distances were at least close to
being met, and both rockets probably met the weight and power limits
defined by the NAR Model Rocket Safety Code. The drag race was conducted
from a dedicated area, to one side of the primary launch pads for the
scouts to use to fly their conventional A through C powered model rockets,
and about two dozen people were in the immediate vicinity.
Mike's rocket was powered by a small APCP motor; the other rocket was
powered by at least one, and possibly more, black powder motors. Both
rockets launched; while Mike was watching his rocket, the other rocket
arced over and came down ballistically, striking him in the face and
causing severe injuries. Despite the best efforts of scouts, law
enforcement, and medical professionals both at the scene and afterwards,
his injuries were ultimately fatal.
We know that the rocket that struck Mike was about four feet long and four
inches in diameter. It had a cardboard body tube and a plastic nose cone.
We don't know much else for sure. It is possible that the rocket was
designed to fly on a cluster of motors, but at least one picture of the
flight does not clearly show more than one motor firing. No parachute was
deployed; none was seen at the accident site. At least one report indicates
the rocket was damaged prior to flight. We don't know what motor(s) were
used and whether they all ignited and functioned as designed. We don't know
if applicable local laws were fully observed.
I do know that the investigating law enforcement authority is not pursuing
a criminal investigation at this time. The lack of an investigation will
likely leave questions unanswered for some time. We don't know if the
rocket would have been allowed to fly at a NAR launch; we can't
definitively say whether the NAR safety code was observed or not. We will
continue to gather information to the best of our ability, and we'll pass
on significant new findings to you.
Where does this leave us? We know that rocketry remains orders of magnitude
more safe than any other outdoor activity we can name, provided the safety
codes are followed. But it is not without risks; the safety code is our
primary means of mitigating those risks.
Everything in the safety codes is there for a reason, and I urge you to
continue to observe-and when prudent, exceed-their recommendations every
time you fly.
Do preflight inspections of every rocket. Be especially careful with
complex rockets. Pay special attention to the recovery system.
Tilt your launch guides away from the crowds: Plan to have good flights,
but also plan for bad flights to end in safe places.
Add to the safe distance standards when lots of observers are present.
Make sure launch controllers and ignition methods are appropriate for the
motor(s) being used.
Have a spotter for every rocket in a drag race, near enough to the RSO to
be able to get a warning out if necessary.
Have people point at malfunctioning rockets if they see them.
Make sure the crowd can hear the RSO.
Confirm the stability of untested designs.
If rockets are flying over spectators, stop and fix the problem.
Offer to help people and groups who are just starting down the path that we
have trod. Set a safe, positive, and helpful example.
Please consider contributing to Mike's memorial fund through his gofundme
site.
I'll continue to keep you informed, so that we can learn what we can from
this unfortunate accident, and be safer because of it.
Sincerely,
Ted Cochran
President, National Association of Rocketry
More to come on this tragic event, but we need to remind ourselves that it
is "safety first" when we fly to prevent something like this from happening.
On Thu, Nov 19, 2015 at 5:37 PM, Chris North <chrisnorth14@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Dont want to sound cruel but for all we know with the shortage of facts on
the fatality anything could be possible. Maybe the impact from the rocket
is not the cause of death he could potentialy have suffered any kind of
medical condition or a chain of events occured he could have been knocked
unconsious and fell on to a sharp object such as a launch rod or knife on a
table.
On 20/11/2015 2:26 PM, "Redacted sender JMKrell for DMARC" <
dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Sorry, I didn't see your last sentence on your post from the 17th.
Krell
In a message dated 11/19/2015 5:10:17 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,
clj@xxxxxxxxx writes:
On 11/19/2015 7:55 PM, (Redacted sender JMKrell for DMARC) wrote:
The speculation on this accident has been focused on blunt force
trauma to the head or face. Another possibility is a severe cut from
the fins to the head or neck. I've witnessed balsa wood fins leaving
deep groves in wheel fenders from near miss lawn dart model rockets.
A thin plywood or fiber glass fin would be equivalent to a knife
blade. Something to think about.
Well, two days ago in this very thread I wrote "anything moving fast
enough that slices a large enough blood vessel can cause death
relatively quickly", so it wasn't like the possibility wasn't broached.
