Accidents of the Week – April 8, 2023
8 April, 2023
BoatTEST publishes “Accidents of the Week” as a public service for our VIP Subscribers to acquaint them with potential boating dangers and by inference their prevention.
Man Dies After Falling Off Boat in Georgia’s Chattahoochee River
3/24/23 – Troup Co., GA
A 58-year-old Atlanta man died after being pulled from the Chattahoochee River in Georgia’s Troup County, where the Sheriff’s Office reported that they received a call just after 6 a.m. about a possible drowning along Roanoke Road, near the Chattahoochee River bridge.
According to deputies at the Troup County Sheriff’s Office, Reginald Crane fell from his boat into the water.
Two others on the boat were able to pull him back onboard and get him to the bank, where they began performing CPR as emergency crews were arriving. Crane was then rushed to Well Star West Georgia Medical Center, but did not survive.
Emergency Personnel Searching For Missing Boater on Pickwick Lake
3/23/23 – Hardin Co., TN
After a boating accident on Pickwick Lake, emergency officials were searching for a missing person.
Firefighters responded late in the afternoon of 23 March after a boat was seen without passengers and spinning in circles on the lake. One man was rescued.
The search by personnel from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) and Hardin County Sheriff's Department for the second missing person continued the following day.
Ohio Man Dies from Injuries Sustained in Boating Accident
3/26/23 – Hamilton Co., OH
Nathaniel Willman of Patriot, Ohio, died from injuries sustained in a 26 March boating accident on Goose Greek, reported the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The preliminary finding from the Coroner’s Office in Hamilton County, Ohio, was death by drowning.
Indiana Conservation Officers were dispatched to the Goose Creek boat ramp in Patriot around 2:26 p.m. on 26 March. Upon arriving at the scene, officers located a capsized personal watercraft (PWC).
The initial investigation revealed that Nathaniel Willman, 20, went under the water and never resurfaced after his PWC capsized as another passenger attempted to board.
Willman was recovered from the water by a Jeff-Craig Fire and Rescue diver in seven feet of water after being submerged for almost an hour. He was flown to UC Medical Center for treatment. The investigation was ongoing.
Boat Destroyed by Fire Near Tennessee’s Chickamauga Dam, No One Injured
3/27/23 – Chattanooga, TN
Drivers on Highway 153 Monday morning saw heavy, dark smoke near the Chickamauga Dam, in Tennessee. The source was a small passenger boat, which was completely destroyed.
"As I got closer, I saw a boat that was just completely engulfed in flames," said Lisa Shepard, who saw the smoke while driving to pick her son Monday morning. "I saw just a teeny sliver of white at the front, and everything else was just completely engulfed."
It happened shortly after 11:30 a.m. near the Chickamauga Lock. Fire officials say the people on the boat when the fire started were able to make it to shore. No one was injured.
In what proved to be quite a task, it took firefighters about an hour to put out the fire, pushing the boat around the water in their attempts. Eventually, the black smoke turned white and the boat sunk to the bottom of the lake. Investigators were still trying to figure out what had caused the fire.
2 Airlifted After Personal Watercraft Crash Near Miami Marine Stadium
3/26/23 – Miami, FL
Rescue crews airlifted two people to the hospital after they were involved in a personal watercraft (PWC) crash near Miami’s Virginia Key, police said.
City of Miami Police and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units responded to the scene of the incident near the Miami Marine Stadium on 26 March. According to investigators, the collision happened at around 4:45 p.m.
“A JetSki accident. Air rescue en route,” said a dispatcher in radio transmissions. Local news cameras captured first responders as they brought the victims to land, then took them away by air. Both victims were airlifted to Ryder Trauma Center for treatment. The extent of their injuries remained unknown.
Back on the water the investigation continued, as marine patrol units sat near the personal watercraft and detectives worked to determine what had caused the crash, which was under investigation by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Cruise Ship Aids Coast Guard in Rescuing 3 From Sinking Boat Off Alabama Coast
3/26/23 – Gulf of Mexico, AL
A Carnival cruise ship assisted the U.S. Coast Guard in rescuing three people aboard a sinking boat on 26 March. The Coast Guard’s New Orleans station received an emergency position-indicating radio beacon - or EPIRB -- alert shortly before 7:30 a.m. from a 44-foot recreational boat, the Snail Mail, the authorities said.
The Coast Guard contacted the owner of the Snail Mail, who was not on board the boat, but had been in contact with the three people who were and had confirmed the boat was taking on water.
A Coast Guard Ocean Sentry aircrew was dispatched to the scene and located the Snail Mail some 386 miles off the Alabama coast. Through the use of the automated mutual-assistance vessel rescue system (AMVER), the Coast Guard had already located Valor, a Carnival cruise ship, in the area and directed the 952-foot, $500 million ship to the Snail Mail’s position.
The Valor arrived on the scene, launched a rescue boat and transferred the three stranded boaters back to the cruise ship, where they were evaluated by the ship’s doctors. They were found to be in stable position, according to the USCG.
Body of Ohio Fisherman Found After Boat Capsizes in Hoover Reservoir
3/25/23 – Westerville, OH
A Columbus police spokesperson said the body of a missing boater at Hoover Reservoir was found on the evening of 26 March, 24 hours after two men went into the water when their boat capsized.
Officials confirmed just after 6:30 p.m. that the man’s body had been found. The other man had been rescued on 25 March, before rescue efforts were suspended due to high winds.
Authorities later revealed that the casualty was Shane Henderson, 44, a husband and father who loved fishing and who died after his boat overturned on the Reservoir.
It happened during a fishing tournament he had helped plan, prompting a high school friend to say that he had died doing what he loved.
“The thought of a freak accident like this happening, it’s a blow,” said Henderson’s friend since high school Jascha Vissman, who added that he and his friend’s family were in shock. “Everybody says the same stuff about him, it’s consistent across the board, he’s the strongest, toughest guy anybody’s ever met.”
He said they had spoken on the phone on 24 March, and the weather had never crossed their minds. The following day, wind speeds reached over 60 miles per hour. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources said high winds had caused the boat to capsize.
Body of Missing 29-year-old Boater Recovered in Pensacola
3/25/23 – Pensacola, FL
The body of a 29-year-old missing boater was recovered on 25 March in Pensacola, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). Pete Griffin's body was located around 2:15 p.m. in the water near the Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola.
Griffin had been missing since the morning of 21 March when his boat capsized in Pensacola Bay near NAS Pensacola. Another person on the boat was able to swim to shore. Search efforts for Griffin had been ongoing since the day of his disappearance.
The Coast Guard -- assisted by the Escambia County Sheriff's Office -- initiated the search before suspending it on the night of 21 March. The FWC, Escambia Search and Rescue, the United Cajun Navy and local volunteers continued to search in the following days.
Multiple planes -- including from the Air Force and Navy -- flew over the area on 24 and 25 March. The FWC and Pensacola Police had recovered the 14-foot boat on the morning of 21 March in Pensacola Pass.
Body Recovered After Lake Wylie Boating Accident
3/28/23 - Charlotte, NC
A man was found dead in Lake Wylie, North Carolina, after a boating accident that left crews searching for him on 28 and 29 March. According to an NC Wildlife sergeant, the body of Jim Cook was found around 7:30 p.m. on 29 March.
The search for Cook began the previous day in Lake Wylie, near the Catawba Yacht Club, with assistance from the Steele Creek Fire Department, Charlotte Fire Department, Charlotte Mecklenburg Police, Department of Natural Resources, and Medic.
Cook was last seen in a rowing-style boat, according to officials and crews that searched the area until 10 p.m. on 28 March. Steele Creek Fire officials returned to the area the following morning to carry on looking for the missing person. Steele Creek Fire officials asked boaters to use caution in the Youngblood Road West and Here at Last Lane area of Lake Wylie, to enable them to conduct the search safely.
“We normally don’t see this kind of thing on Lake Wylie," a friend of the missing boater Tom Martin said. "It’s a good, safe lake." Martin lives near where the incident occurred. “[Cook is a] very smart guy, very disciplined, good athlete," Martin shared. "He raced sailboats."
Martin said they were both members of the Catawba Yacht Club, and Cook was no stranger to the lake. “He’s very familiar with water sports,” Martin said. An investigation of the incident was ongoing.