SAD NEWS - First model rocket flight fatality announced by NAR President

NAR President Ted Cochran posted this on the NAR Facebook page a short time ago:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2255560886/?fref=nf

I regret to have to announce that our hobby has experienced an on-field fatality. Based on initial news reports, a very experienced Boy Scout leader helping out at the annual Rocket Rave event in California lost sight of a rocket after it was launched and was struck in the face when it came down.
Please keep Michael Bentley in your prayers.
The most detailed report I have been able to find is here:

https://www.pe.com/articles/bentley-786423-rocket-event.html

I have no additional information at this time.
Please review safety procedures at your next launch, including your procedures for tracking, pointing at, and calling heads up for rockets that present a hazard to participants and spectators.

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Wow. I'm really sorry to hear this! Prayers out to his family. As a Scout leader myself, I hope the boys are holding up well also.

Oh my... Extremely sad.

Go Fund Me page:

https://www.gofundme.com/mikebentley

Prayers for Michael Bentley, his Family, Friends, and all the Scouts involved.

Very Sad News indeed.

Full Disclosure: I've posted George's message over to TRC.

Unreal.
Prayers sent for family
:sad:

A sad day for Scouting, Model Rocketry, and The Nation at Large; A good man lost his life in the pursuit of helping others learn and grow.

Very sad news indeed, thoughts go out to his friends and, family...

Sad news.
Prayers sent out to all involved.

I concur. Thanks for posting the gofundme page.

I've always asserted that a cardboard rocket coming in ballistic that nobody can see is the greatest safety issue at most launches....especially HP launches where most people don't watch the LP flights.

Bummer of an incident.

FredA said:

I've always asserted that a cardboard rocket coming in ballistic that nobody can see is the greatest safety issue at most launches....especially HP launches where most people don't watch the LP flights.

Bummer of an incident.

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Or fiberglass rockets with high descent rates "because the rocket can handle a hard landing." Hopefully we learn from this tragic event and make sure our regulations are sufficient and those who represent the hobby recommend safe practices.

Mistakes will always be made, but the goal is keep everyone alive. Such a sad and unfortunate accident.

Damn!


Positive thoughts pointed that way.

There's been a sad event reported here about a death during a launch:

https://www.pe.com/articles/bentley-786423-rocket-event.html

Was sent out over the TRA forum. Since it's public, I'm reposting.

Kurt Savegnago

A very sad day. Thanks for posting the GoFundMe.

FredA said:

I've always asserted that a cardboard rocket coming in ballistic that nobody can see is the greatest safety issue at most launches....especially HP launches where most people don't watch the LP flights.

Bummer of an incident.

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How do you know it was a small rocket? Let us focus on the family and worry about safety fixes later.

Merged Threads - there were three on this topic.

cwbullet said:

How do you know it was a small rocket? Let us focus on the family and worry about safety fixes later.

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The article said it was a bottle rocket.

Barkley said:

The article said it was a bottle rocket.

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News media outlets are notorious for getting things wrong.

They said bottle rocket, let me assure you that bottle and model sound similar, especially when there is some kind of interference (say a lousy connection over a cell phone, or a speech/hearing impediment).

They also said homemade... Was the rocket a builder kit that was made at home? A pure scratch build? A clone? Did it use a sugar motor? Some other form of propellent? OR (more likely) did the reporter only hear what they expected to hear, tune out the details that would have clarified things, then go on and mess this fact up?

There's a lot of speculation going on around there, and the media isn't the best source of information. Even when the facts are eventually made evident, you can trust that the media will still find a way to mess them up.

Why is the merged thread in the LDRS sub-forum???

cwbullet said:

Merged Threads - there were three on this topic.

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Sincere condolences and smoke going up for the family.

Big or small, cardboard or fiberglass, sugar, BP or APCP: none of that matters in the big picture. A vehicle coming in ballistic is going to be next to impossible to see and move away from if it is headed directly toward you.

We need to wait for the the investigation and report. Then ensure we are taking precautions to minimize the probability of it being repeated.

shreadvector said:

Why is the merged thread in the LDRS sub-forum???

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Dunno, Fred. I've moved it to the watering hole...

I don't even know what to say. I will pray.

It was definitely a model rocket. NAR President Ted Cochran would not has posted this news if there was any doubt it was a "bottle" rocket or something else.

Also keep in mind of the many many scout (and other groups) that do model rocketry, how likely would it be that a scout group did bottle rockets, in California (where fire codes do not allow them)? Same for "home made", we interpret home made to mean makng your own engines. To the general public , these days home made could be applied to a kit..... built at home. Semantics.

It is said that one of the phases of grief is denial. OK, I get that, some are hoping it was a bottle rocket, or home-made rocket with sugar fuel or whatever. As though that is what scouting groups in California would be doing. Instead of Estes-type model rockets that this group had done many times in the past, which is what they were doing.

Anyway, Ted Cochran said this is not the time to speculate on how or why this may have happened.

Suffice to say that I have known in general, and probably most of you realized too, that even an Estes Alpha on an A or B motor could be fatal given a specific chain of events (Odds of say.... one in half a billion*). I've seen the roof of a car with an impressive belly-button type of dent in it when an Alpha-like model on a B streamlined in and hit it. I realized what that could potentially do if it hit a person in the head at certain locations and angles. I say that not as a speculation on why this tragic event happened, but to confirm the potential danger of even the most basic model rocket, given a specific chain of events.

* - At over 500 million flights , the hobby has been fortunate that there had been no fatal FLIGHT accident until now.

- George Gassaway

Creeps said:

A sad day for Scouting, Model Rocketry, and The Nation at Large; A good man lost his life in the pursuit of helping others learn and grow.

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Well said.

Very Sad.

Very, very sad news indeed...
My deepest condolences to this man,, his family,, and the scout troop as well...
And all my prayers for you as well...
What a terrible and tragic accident....

Teddy

Condolences to the family and all present at the incident.

And a reminder safety can never be a laughing matter.

Mr. Bentley is survived by a wife and four sons.

A gofundme account has been set up to help with funeral and other expenses.

Https://www.gofundme.com/mikebentley

Exceedingly Sad and Tragic news. Condolences to the Scouters Family. Our hobby morns the loss.