That's not 61mm

[ARWadsworth]

"Nik Wallenda braved wind and heavy spray to make the 1,800ft (550m) walk from the US to Canada on a two-inch (61mm) wire."

[The Natural Philosopher]

Well its one way to avoid the Customs post..

[Gib Bogle]

2 ft = 61 cm 10 inches per foot - that's the metric system (or should I say SI?).

[ARWadsworth]

You should work for the BBC:-)

[Bob Eager]

They still asked him for his passport when he got to the other side.

[ARWadsworth]

And spot the mistake on this one

TMH could spot it. Broadcast to millions of people and no-one spotted it. Nor did the BBC correct it when I emailed them.

[ARWadsworth]

Bloody hell. That was quick. I emailed the beeb and the site now says 51mm.

It did say 61mm earlier

[ARWadsworth]

And

"Mr Wallenda will not be wearing a harness":-)

Oh dear. It's all wrong.

[ARWadsworth]

Come on harry. It was a very good joke.

[ARWadsworth]

Yes. And probably the funniest thing on the programme.

[Gib Bogle]

And an explanation of the mistake. ;-)

[Andy Burns]

It's all right, we believe you :-)

newssniffer has archived the original, and picked up other edits but not yet the 61mm to 51mm edit

[Dave Plowman (News)]

When metric arrived, the BBC used the metric foot in TV studios for scenery etc. 300mm. All that did is make sure nothing ever quite fitted again. ;-)

[Onetap]

Thay talked about that on one of the programmes, and the number of e-mails they'd had about it. Laughed at it and carried on.

[charles]

That wasn't just the BBC - it was the whole building industry. Itcame to the fore when White City was built (actually design and build by Balfour Beatty) and all the office furniture came from north America; it was all just too big!

[Roger Mills]

And if he hadn't had it with him, would they have sent him back across the wire?

[Bob Eager]

Probbaly not. These were Canadians, after all. Not North Americans.

[Davey]

If the Canadian Immigration guy thinks you're working without a permit, he will send you straight back. I speak from experience. I did notice that they have an Immigration Code for Exotic Dancers, who do not need a work permit, just like Railroad Workers. But they probably ask you to prove it, if you claim to be one.

[ARWadsworth]

not

was updated at 08.35 this morning.

But it's only the beeb so who cares:-)? Use the "contact us" link at the bottom right of the page and you could get the first article fixed to say

51mm. Now I am wondering is this cable 51mm or 61mm and it is the inches that are wrong.

[ARWadsworth]

One that does not bear close analysis. But was still fun.