Padstow speedboat crash: Fresh warning over 'kill cords' safety device

Kill cords are fitted to virtually all small power-driven craft, including jet skis, in the UK and Europe.

The cord - as suggested by the name - is designed to kill the engine in the event of the helmsman, or driver, of a boat going overboard.

After the speedboat accident claimed two lives in Padstow, Cornwall, over the Bank Holiday weekend, experts issued a fresh warning over the importance of the mechanism which 'prevents tragedies like this happening'.

Local harbormaster Rob Atkinson warned that every boat's kill cord should be connected at all times.

Devon and Cornwall Police are currently investigating whether the Milligan family were using a kill cord when disaster struck.

Officers said this afternoon the 'kill cord' on the Milligan's boat would be a 'key focus' of their investigation.

Mr Atkinson said: Please, please, please, when you have a boat fitted with a kill cord, make sure the kill cord is operating correctly and make sure it is attached to you because if you go out of the boat, it will stop the engine and it will prevent tragedies like this happening.'

One end of the cord is attached either directly to the outboard engine in the case of very small vessel, or where there are separate steering and throttle controls, to the throttle unit itself. The other end is then attached firmly to the driver, usually to their leg or wrist.

Fitting the kill cord has been standard practice by manufacturers for many years and virtually all small power-driven craft - including jet skis - have one, according to Richard Falk, training manager and chief examiner at the Royal Yachting Association (RYA).

He said it was possible for a driver of a boat to connect the kill cord to the throttle so that the engine works but then not to connect it to him or herself.

'It is possible for the operator, the driver of the boat, to connect the kill cord to the throttle so the engine will work but they don't connect it to themselves. If they then move away from that throttle or steering position the engine won't cut out,' he said.

He said where a kill cord is not operating properly and a driver goes overboard the prospect of a power boat turning in circles was a rare 'worst case scenario.'

'If you fall over board and there is no-one else to drive the vessel, the vessel can obviously run off and hit somebody else and cause damage that way,' he said.

'Alternatively it can leave you in the middle of the water with no assistance if it sets off in a straight line.

'Or the worst case scenario is that the vessel goes into a turn and keeps going back towards you, where it keeps circling around a focal point. The whole idea of the kill cord is to prevent any of these situations occurring.'

He said where a boat went into circle those in it ran the risk of being hit by hull, the propellers or the 'leg' of the engine.

He said RYA advice is to ensure boats are well maintained, and that standard good practice is to wear a kill cord and to make sure that people are 'appropriately seated' and holding on when moving at speed.

He said he could not speculate on the reasons for the accident at Padstow yesterday.

'I have not seen the pictures myself yet but until the investigation is complete it is a little bit difficult to say what the problem was, whether there was faulty equipment or whether there was a failure to attach the kill cord to the driver.

'We do not know until an investigation has been carried out.'