Local Updates of Bali

Unsafe at any altitude when Bali kites go out of control. Balidiscovery.com has reported in the past how the popular Balinese past time of kite flying represents a threat to local aviation, including the recent grounding of a tourist helicopter when its rotor blades became ensnarled in a kite’s string.

A report in the Bali Post also tells of sometimes dire consequence of kite flying in Bali for pedestrians and motorcyclists. On Sunday, May 25, 2008, a strings from a fallen kite stretched across the major thoroughfare of Jalan Cokroaminoto in downtown Denpasar. Unseen by a passing motorcycle driven by 20-year-old Andika Haryanto, the kite string caught the driver in his neck. As a result, the young man lost control of his motorbike. While the motorcyclist suffered cuts and abrasions as he fell to the asphalt, his motorcycle careened into an eight-year-old pedestrian, Gusti, who was standing on the side of the road watching the many kites flying in the sky above. Following the accident Gusti was warded in the emergency care center of Bali’s Sanglah Hospital.

Other hazards caused by the oversized Bali kites result when the kites break loose from their ground teams and hit high power lines causing widespread power outages, or when the kites come crashing down unto local streets striking vehicles and causing traffic accidents.

Stories are also not infrequent of motorcyclists suffering horrendous injuries to their faces and eyes as glass-encrusted kite strings used in “fighting kite duels” get stretched across streets where, largely invisible, they injure passing motorcyclists and pedestrians.

Kites and Helicopters Don’t Mix in Bali

In less than a month, Air Bali has made a two emergency landings of its helicopters with passengers aboard. The latest incident took place on Saturday, May 17, 2008, when a Bell Helicopter chartered by the Company was forced to make an unscheduled landing in the playground of a Junior High School in Bali’s capital of Denpasar. The earlier incident took place less than one month earlier on April 23, 2008, when another Air Bali helicopter operated made a hard landing on Lebih Beach. [See: Bali Air Makes Emergency Landing on East Coast Beach]

Although passengers were on board in both flights, no serious injuries were reported.

According to reports in Bali Post and Radar Bali the latest “unscheduled” landing happened at around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon when the pilot with 4 passengers on board made a smooth landing in a local schoolyard following problems with the helicopter’s power plant.

According to local press reports, a subsequent inspection of the helicopter revealed a substantial amount of kite string entangled on the aircrafts rotor blades.

Kite flying is a popular seasonal pastime in Bali, oftentimes involving huge kites secured by large gauge strings and wire. The cause of numerous power outages and an acknowledged threat to aviation, loosely enforced regulations are in place that limit the areas and the maximum permitted height for kite flying in Bali.

The playground of the school used for the landing was empty at the time of the incident, but local residents were reportedly momentarily panicked by the sudden appearance of a helicopter in their neighborhood.

Both the Air Bali helicopters involved in both incidents are owned by a Jakarta-based charter company - Derazona and leased to Air Bali.

While both landings are under investigation, aviation officials have given high marks to both pilots for the way in which they handled an emergency landing.

The latest incident happened on a flight from Tanah Lot to the Sanur area.

Yikes! Watch Out for Kites!

Pilots flying into Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport are complaining about the hazard to air safety posed by the thousands of kites that crowd the skies across the island, particularly during the months of July and August each year.

A popular pastime among the Balinese, villages will often spend large sums of money creating kites whose main structures are as large as a truck with tails that stretch for a hundred meters. Requiring the coordination of large team to become airborne, these kites are often tethered to local trees and left unattended for days on end.

When the lines holding the kites fail, they fall back to earth, oftentimes crashing into passing vehicles or short-circuiting high-power electrical lines.

A Threat to Aviation

Although seldom enforced, local regulations carry fines and prison sentences for those flying kites in Bali’s air traffic control areas. A law passed in 2000 absolutely prohibits kite flying within 9 kilometers of the airport; flying kites at more than 100 meters above ground level between 9 and 18 kilometers from the airport; and over 300 meters in a radius between 18 and 54 kilometers from the airport.

In an effort to reduce the threat posed by errant kite enthusiasts, PT Ankasa Pura, the Company that manages Bali’s airport, has convened meetings involving the police, Air Force, airport security services, the Air Communication Department and local villages in Bali. In order to improve enforcement of regulations prohibiting kite fling in air traffic control areas Angkasa Pura has asked the agreement of local village officials to permit airport officials to ground kites left unattended and tethered to local trees. According to an Angkasa Pura spokesperson, local village chiefs have issued their full support to such steps and a stronger enforcement of the “no-kite” rules.

Bali Suffers an Island-Wide Power Outage

Bali’s precarious balance in the national electrical power grid was underlined, once again, as the entire island suffered an electrical power interruption on Monday morning, October 16, 2006 when a 150 kilowatt transformer failed at Banyuwangi, East Java.

The failure, which apparently triggered a chain-reaction across the entire island, caused Bali to lose power at 6:26 a.m. local time, only to be restored more than an hour later at 7:52 a.m.

At a press conference convened by the State Power Board (PLN) and PT Indonesia Power an apology was issued to the people of Bali for the power outage blamed on a short circuit caused by a kite that fell on the subject transformer, causing a short circuit.

The electrical suppliers complained that power interruptions due to fallen kites was, unfortunately, a common occurrence, particularly in Bali where kites can be enormous in size.

Officials estimate that the interruption in power caused direct losses in power billings by PLN equal to Rp. 176 million (approximately US$19,200).

An Island With Strings Attached

With local police authorities unable or unwilling to enforce a local regulation that prohibits kite flying in the proximity of Bali’s Airport, Administrators at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport have issued a formal Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) warning of the potential threat posed by kites aloft in the approach and departure pattern of the Bali airport.

The NOTAM, issued worldwide, advises pilots to exercise caution during Bali’s kite flying season from May to October.

As reported in Bali Update #298, literally hundreds of kites - some the size of a large truck - are launched by local village associations during the season of strong off shore winds. Flown on the end of ropes, often stretching many thousands of feet above the ground, these kites can cause traffic accidents and major power outages when they return uncontrolled to the earth. Moreover, encounters between the kites and local aircraft do occur with at least two reported “entanglements” taking place in recent months between the kites and a large commercial aircraft and a local sightseeing helicopter. Fortunately, no injuries were reported in connection with either of these incidents.

Local regulations carrying fines and prison sentences for those flying kites in Bali’s air traffic control areas are in place, if not in force. A law passed in 2000 absolutely prohibits kite flying within 9 kilometers of the airport; flying kites at more than 100 meters above ground level between 9 and 18 kilometers from the airport; and over 300 meters in a radius between 18 and 54 kilometers from the airport. Nonetheless, in what seems to be blatant contempt for these rules, hundreds of kites dot the skies of Bali, including areas immediately adjacent to the airport’s runway.

Local press reports have noted the reluctance of Bali’s Police authorities to take an active role in enforcing the kite flying rules, gambling with the potentially tragic consequences of a mid-air aircraft encounter with one of Bali’s massive kites.

News by Bali Discovery Tours - balidiscovery.com