Plane Hits Power Lines (rescue video)

[Kaos]

This had to be scary waiting for the rescue.

Two people were rescued from a light aircraft which hit power lines near Durach, in southern Germany.
It took emergency services two hours to get the trapped occupants out of the plane which was left dangling 30 metres (100 feet) above the ground.
Rescuers on the scene believe the plane's undercarriage clipped the 380,000 volt power line shortly after taking off from a nearby airport.
The pilot and passengers had to wait in the stranded plane while a cherry-picker was brought to the scene. It was decided that the downdraft from a helicopter would risk dislodging the aircraft.
See Video

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7568045.stm

[Powercube]

My goodness, imagine hitting power lines, realizing you and the plane are almost completely unscathed, and then having to gingerly teeter over the ground until someone can save you. The laundry bills alone... Very cool, but sort of scary video there.

[Cargo Runner]

Not find me going up there

This is days old news....... I did notice that they used two different cherry pickers to rescue the people, I would hate to have been in the CP going up there.... I think I would be licking my finger and touching the power lines to make sure they were switched off, that's silly really cos I am sure these sorts of volts would jump at you if you got too close....yikes scary or what!!!

[Quench]

power lines

This is days old news....... I did notice that they used two different cherry pickers to rescue the people, I would hate to have been in the CP going up there.... I think I would be licking my finger and touching the power lines to make sure they were switched off, that's silly really cos I am sure these sorts of volts would jump at you if you got too close....yikes scary or what!!!

You cant get a shock by touching a power line unless another part of your body is earthed or touching another power line at a diferent potential.

See all those birds that stand on the power lines to warm their feet in the winter. 250,000V no problem.

In the video the aircraft appears snared in a group of lines and there are 2 other groups further away. All lines in the same group would be at the same potential and phase. So it is quite possible that the lines were live when the aircraft hit them and were turned off for the rescue.

You can of course get a very nasty static charge build up on the power lines.

[ATFS_Crash]

Would this qualify the pilot for a trap landing. (j/k)

You cant get a shock by touching a power line unless another part of your body is earthed or touching another power line at a diferent potential.

See all those birds that stand on the power lines to warm their feet in the winter. 250,000V no problem.

False. While there is some truth to what you say it is not the entire truth and the false parts can get you killed.

You don’t necessarily have to have an “earth ground” to get a shock. The body (man or aircraft) itself can act as a capacitor. As you touch the power lines, there can be a difference of voltage between your body ( human or aircraft), since you’re an aircraft body or a human body can act like a capacitor to some degree at extremely high voltages as the voltage equalizes between the powerline and your body there will be some current flow. The amount of current that flows depends on the voltage, frequency and the size/capacitance of the aircraft or human body and the surface area of the body and the relative voltage of the surrounding air. They’re also can be other factors like humidity and pressure that can affect the amount of current flow. Sometimes you may survive or not notice a shock, and other times it can be deadly.

(effectively: your body/or aircraft could be an empty capacitor; and as you touch the power lines that have extremely high voltage the voltage has to equalize between you’re the line and the capacitor therefore there is a small degree of amperage flow as the capacitor charges or discharges; as voltages get extremely high the amount that it takes for the to voltage to equalize and the amount of capacitance reactance increases to the point that the current flow can be painful or deadly.)


They sometimes use line men and helicopters to service live high-voltage power lines. They used a lightning rod that has a chassis ground to the aircraft to equalize the voltage between the aircraft and the powerline. The line men wear chain mesh electrical armor to act as an electrical umbrella or a Faraday cage, so that any deadly stray voltage should be directed away from the body, to protect the lineman. Even with that level of protection I think the linemen often feel a slight tingle from the capacitance reactance with ultra high AC voltages.

To some extent the air itself can act as a ground. Birds usually do not receive a significant shock, because their bodies are smaller, therefore they are a smaller capacitor, therefore there is less current flow.

The pilot in this aircraft was safe fairly safe inside of the aircraft because the aircraft acted like an electrical umbrella or a Faraday cage. As long as the pilot was inside the aircraft when it made contact to the power line he would probably be safe, and after the electrical levels equalized he might even be able to touch the power lines; but whether that results in a slight tingle or death depends on several factors. Such as voltage, humidity, distance to source of earth ground or other chassis ground.

If you don’t believe what I say; I think there is some sort of documentary on the history Channel or Discovery Channel about linemen in helicopters servicing live high-voltage power lines supporting what I say.

The power lines would have had to been turned off for the rescue with your average metal lift gondola.

If you don't know and respect the difference of "earth ground" and "chassis ground" it can get you killed under some circumstances.

Notice how these line men use a chassis ground electrode to equalize the voltage between the helicopter and the powerline before offloading the linemen. Notice that when the helicopter withdrawals that they use in electrode to direct the electricity away from the linemen. Notice that there is enough amperage flowing that the resulting arc can be heard even over the noise of the helicopter. I assure you that would be enough current to kill a person.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_NEAEGeFIw

It’s hard to tell by this video but I assure you that the bodysuits, face shields, gloves and footwear are designed to conduct electricity away from the body. The material doesn’t look like metal mesh in this video, but I suspect the material is aluminized or has a metal foil liner or something of that nature to conduct and direct the voltage away from the linemen.