Feature Article October 28, 2004
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Plane hits hydro linesby Jeff Green (with files from Bill Rowsome)
Last Sunday afternoon, Nancy Fradenburg was minding her own business in her home on the Little Mississippi River on Hwy. 41 about 20 km north of Cloyne, when she heard a loud crash. A small plane had severed three high-tension hydro lines that passed across the water at her house.
When she went to see what had happened, she saw the severed lines and heard some incredibly loud explosions as switches were exploding down the line from my house, she recalled later.
The plane, a Cessna 172, was piloted by a 19-year-old student pilot from Pembroke. An OPP report on the incident says the pilot made a successful landing at an abandoned Ministry of Natural Resources airstrip located at Irvine Lake. The airstrip had been built to accommodate planes for spraying gypsy moth larvae about 20 years ago. There were no injuries in the incident, and the plane only suffered a damaged propeller.
Hydro service was disrupted over a large part of Addington Highlands Township and points west, and about 1600 hydro customers lost power on Sunday evening.
According to Nancy Fradenburg, hydro crews were on the scene quickly, and power was restored by about 10:00 pm.
I was sure we would be out of power for a couple of days, Fradenburg said, but the hydro crews were incredible, and extremely helpful.
Two days later, about 30 hydro workers were still working to permanently fix three severed lines lines, which were only temporarily patched together on Sunday night. The lines stretch about a half a mile between hydro towers. The cables are reattached by blasting them together, and one estimate of the cost of splicing in 50 feet of new cable to the three transmission lines and reattaching them is $200,000.
Even though the presence of all the hydro workers and their equipment has hindered Fradenburg from conducting her business this week (she runs Log Cabin Yarns, a wool business, from her home), she has nothing but praise for how the hydro workers have been conducting themselves.
As for the pilot of the plane, however, it is a different matter entirely. When the Cessna 172 hit the hydro lines, that wasnt the first time on Sunday that the plane had come to the attention of Nancy Fradenburg, and many other residents of Cloyne and the surrounding area.
There are reports of cars 
being
buzzed in Cloyne and on Mazinaw Lake. He buzzed my car; he was making
a nuisance of himself throughout the afternoon, Nancy Fradenburg said.
An OPP investigation into the incident, conducted by Constable Mahoney,
has been closed, with no charges being laid, but according to Constable
Sheri Wannamaker, the Media Relations Officer from the Napanee/Kaladar
detachment, the matter is being looked into by Transport Canada.
We dont have jurisdiction over airplanes, Wannamaker said. Constable Mahoney could not be reached for comment early this week.
Pamela Mintern, a media relations officer with Transport Canada in Toronto, said Transport Canada is aware of the incident, and we are gathering information and reviewing the facts. If we determine that aviation regulations were not followed, then we will be taking appropriate enforcement action.
