WIND TURBINE ACCIDENT AND INCIDENT COMPILATION

1 Last updated at30/06/2018 Compiled byCWIFA ccident typeDateSite/areaState/CountryTurbine typeDetailsInfo sourceWeb reference/linkAlternate web reference/link1 Fatal30/11/1980 Choteau, near Conrad,MTUSA2kwTim McCartney, fall from tower while removing smallturbine. Body found near Energy -- The Breath of Life or the Kissof Death: Contemporary Wind MortalityRates, by Paul , CAUSA40kwTerry Mehrkam, atop nacelle, run-away rotor, nolanyard, fell from Energy -- The Breath of Life or the Kissof Death: Contemporary Wind MortalityRates, by Paul failure1981 DenmarkDenmark250 Turbines exposed to wind speeds of 35 m/sec for10 min resulted in 9 failures and 30% damagedSafety of Wind Systems, M Ragheb,3/12/20094 Fatal1982 Bushland, TXUSA40kwPat Acker, 28, rebar cage for foundationcame incontact with overhead power lines, Energy -- The Breath of Life or the Kissof Death: Contemporary Wind MortalityRates, by Paul Erik Madsen, during servicing of controller, Energy -- The Breath of Life or the Kissof Death.

2 Contemporary Wind MortalityRates, by Paul Springs, CAUSA500kwEric Wright on experimental VAWT - tower collapsedwhile he was on Energy -- The Breath of Life or the Kissof Death: Contemporary Wind MortalityRates, by Paul Pass, Doucette, unloading towers from a truck, towersrolled off truck, crushing Energy -- The Breath of Life or the Kissof Death: Contemporary Wind MortalityRates, by Paul Springs, CAUSA80kwArt Gomez, servicing Dynergy craneWind Energy -- The Breath of Life or the Kissof Death: Contemporary Wind MortalityRates, by Paul 10kwUgene Stallhut, ground crew, driving tractor as towvehicle, tractor flipped over crushing himWind Energy -- The Breath of Life or the Kissof Death: Contemporary Wind MortalityRates, by Paul Springs, CAUSA65kwJohn Donnelly, atop nacelle, servicing Nordtank nacelle,no brake, lanyard caught on main shaft protrusion,death attributed to "multiple amputations" as he wasdragged into the Energy -- The Breath of Life or the Kissof Death: Contemporary Wind MortalityRates, by Paul Hozeman, atop nacelle, entered Polenko nacelle instorm, no brake, caught on spinning Energy -- The Breath of Life or the Kissof Death: Contemporary Wind MortalityRates, by Paul of LollandDenmark400kwLeif Thomsen, & Kaj Vadstrup, both killed servicingrotor, no locking pin on rotor, brake releasedaccidentally, rotor began moving catching man basket &knocking it to the ground, third man clung to tower Energy -- The Breath of Life or the Kissof Death.

3 Contemporary Wind MortalityRates, by Paul , CAUSA90kwThomas Swan, crane operator, travelling, locking pinfailed, boom swung downhill into 66 kV power line,electructing Energy -- The Breath of Life or the Kissof Death: Contemporary Wind MortalityRates, by Paul windmillA 16 year old boy died of asphyxiation in a windmillaccident on his family's farm. Apparently he climbed thewindmill toretrieve a broken coupling, and in doing so he wascaught by the rotating shaft, and strangled by his ownclothing. His mother found him with his arms above hishead and his clothing twisted up around his neck. Hisskivvy was twisted very tightly around the windmill mother desperately tried to untangle him, or to lifthim, but she was unable to do so. Despite her franticefforts, she was aware that her son was already deadwhen she found him. The 1991 date is uncertain buthinted at by a pro-wind sourced material by Farmsafe - acompilation of material sourced fromrange of websites (as identified within thisdocument) Farmsafe WA Alliance 31/5/04following an enquiry concerning sendingworkers out to maintain high farm windmill A farmer died after falling from a windmill whileattempting to repair its tail section.

4 The top of thewindmill wasapproximately seven metres from the ground and thetail section of thewindmill was broken and hanging down. The fan portionwas not turningand several blades on the fan were missing. There wasa steel ladder,constructed on one side of the windmill, which extendedfrom the groundto the platform (five metres above the ground).Farm-Related Fatalities in Australia, 1989-1992. Australian Centre for AgriculturalHealth and Safety and Rural IndustriesResearch and Development 1 87649196 5 TURBINE ACCIDENT AND INCIDENT COMPILATION16 Fatal1992 Palm Springs, CAUSA65kwRichard Zawlocki, descending tower without lanyard,without fall restraint system in place, lanyard foundholding nacelle cover open, found at base of tower, fellto Energy -- The Breath of Life or the Kissof Death: Contemporary Wind MortalityRates, by Paul failure1992 Delabole, Cornwall,EnglandUKVestas 400kwBlades damaged by lightning two weeks after opening Accidents , D Kr mer, BLS, Dec.

5 Wind site,Tehachapi Pass,CaliforniaUSAD arrieus turbinesAccelerated, human-induced erosion caused by rainrunoff from service roads and wind TURBINE pads in theTehachapi Pass, CA. The site is now owned by FloridaPower & Light and the eggbeater or Darrieus turbineshave since been removed and several erosion controlpractices instituted. While these practices have reducederosion in the gullies shown, new gullies have formedelsewhere along the ridge, hence erosion continues."Erosion Gullies in the Tehachapi Pass: AnExample of Improper Wind Development" -article by Paul Gipe with photos. Originallywritten in 1996, the article has recently(2005) been brought up to date, saying thatessentially nothing has changed since injuryMar-92 CaliforniaUSAF ayette turbineCase Brenda Behrens (Plaintiff) vs FayetteManufacturing Company Inc (defendants). C009749,Court of appeal, Third District, CA, March 31st worked for Fayette as a TURBINE technician.

6 Aspart of her job she inspected, maintained, andperformed repairs on wind turbines, windmills [ 1570] used to generate electricity. She wasinjured on the job when she got her hand caughtbetween the yaw pinion and the yaw gear of the windturbine. At the time of the ACCIDENT she was in theprocess of attempting to lock-off a wind TURBINE so itcould be repaired. She climbed the tower of the windturbine and entered the work cage; seeing the yawmotor pivoting towards her and fearing it would strikeher legs, she swung her legs out of the way and pushedoff with her right hand. In so doing, her hand was caughtin the yaw gear. The TURBINE had broken it's Brenda Behrens (Plaintiff) vs FayetteManufacturing Company Inc (defendants).C009749, Court of appeal, Third District, CA,March 31st 1992. Behrens v. FayetteManufacturing Co., 7 264, 1567 (Cal. App. 3 Dist., 1992)20 Fatal1993 Illinois, ILUSA2kwRobert Skarski, erecting small wind TURBINE , towercollapsed with Skarski strapped to it, fell to Energy -- The Breath of Life or the Kissof Death: Contemporary Wind MortalityRates, by Paul Valley, CAUSAA ntelope Valley.

7 An overheated wind TURBINE triggered afire Thursday that burned 220 acres of brush northeastof Cameron Road and Tehachapi-Willow Springs Road,firefighters said. Kern County firefighters fromTehachapi, Keene, and Edison and Bureau of LandManagement firefighters responded to the 8:45 fire,and gained control of it about four hours later. About 45firefighters, two helicopters and two bulldozers foughtthe blaze, Capt. Mike Cody on July 2, 1993, Daily News of LosAngeles (CA)22 Blade failure09/12/1993 Mynydd-y-Cemmaes,Powys, WalesUKWEG 300kwSeveral turbines severely damaged during a storm,including a large blade part which was thrown over400m. An independent witness estimated the bladepiece to weigh 1 tonne and travel almost Case Against Wind Farms - CountryGuardian (2000 edition). Also Welsh AffairsCommittee Second Report on Wind Energy,HMSO, 13 July 1994, and WindpowerMonthly January failure15/12/1993 Cold Northcott,Cornwall, EnglandUKWEG MS-3 300kwComplete blade and rotor broke away from tower duringDecember 1993 only one month after opening.

8 Datesimply used as mid-point for the monthWindpower Monthly January , MNUSA300kwMark (Eddie) Ketterling, inside Kennetech base towersection, winter, large chunk of ice fell, cutting him in Energy -- The Breath of Life or the Kissof Death: Contemporary Wind MortalityRates, by Paul Gipe AlsoWindpower Monthly April 1994 injury15/03/1994 Mojave, CAUSA"Big Blue not at fault, crane company's president says".An employee broke his left leg when a wind turbinecontrol panel he was removong from a packing cratetipped over. The reference date given is simply "March1994""Big Blue not at fault, crane company'spresident says". Published on JS Online,Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, last updated 21 July 300kw"Birds nest caused major failure". Date is of magazinepublicationWindpower Monthly June 199427 Blade failureNot known. 1994 orafterKirkby Moor, Cumbria,EnglandUKVestas 400kWOne of the turbines on Kirby Moor failed in spectacularfashion following a lightning strike, the bladesdisintegrated hurling debris across the moor.

9 Tatteredremains of the glassfibre coating are all that remainedon the blade tips. The nose cone was also blown off bythe lightning strike. Commisioned in 1994, the accidentmust have happened sometime laterMAIWEG web site with failure01/04/1995 CanadaTwo of the 30 metre structures have toppled, followingmetallurgical failures which are still under appear attributable to poor quality control byAdecon in the manufacturing and installation Monthly Magazine, 01 April 199529 Blade failure18/07/1995R dersdorf,BranderburgGermany11m long piece of rotor blade landed adjacent tochildren s nursery. Date is of newspaperNewspaper M rkische Oder , 18/7 Accidents , D Kr mer, BLS, Dec. 200030 Fire1995. Actual datenot knownMynydd-y-Cemmaes,Powys, WalesUKWEG 300kwTurbine fire. It took firemen 2 and a half hours to controlthe blaze. No mains water supply so bowsers wereused. Local MP Lembit Opik later called for anindependent inquiry over the safety of turbines atCemaes, and was "critical of the way the windfarm'sowners Wind Energy Group had handled the situation".

10 Cambian News, 8 Jan 199831 Blade failure15/11/1995 TarifaSpainKenetech 90 kw S-33 Two separate occurrences of blades broken off duringNovember 1995. Date simply used as mid-point for themonthWindpower Monthly, December failure01/12/1995 Greece34 Windmaster300kwCracks found in blades. Date is of magazine publicationWindpower Monthly December 199533 Miscellaneous1992 to 1995 Germany393 reports of lightning strikes from 1992 to 1995, 124of those direct to the TURBINE , the rest are to electricaldistribution networkData from WMEP database: taken fromreport External Conditions for Wind TurbineOperation Results from the German 250MW Wind Programme , M Durstewitz, et al,European Union Wind Energy Conference,Goeteborg, May 20-24, 199634 Lightning1996 GermanyThe German electric power companyEnergieerzeugungswerke Helgoland GmbH shut downand dismantled their Helgoland Island wind power plantafter being denied insurance against further lightninglosses.