Putrajaya Minaret Incidents

According to the ESE standard, NF C 17-102, the protection zone of the ESE air terminal is shaped like a parabola with the apex at the tip of the air terminal. One way of conducting the “ultimate test” of the ESE standard is to install an ESE air terminal on top of a tall and slender concrete structure where all parts of the structure lay deep within the clamed ESE protection zone. If the ESE standard is correct, then no part of the structure should be struck by lightning.

The minaret of the Putra Mosque is a slender 116 metre high structure with an ESE air terminal installed on the apex and forms the ideal subject for the “ultimate test” of the ESE standard. After observing this structure over a period of a dozen years, it was found that lightning had struck the concrete parts of the minaret several times. This demonstrates that the ESE standard is a defunct air terminal placement method.

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