Accidents of the Week – May 13, 2023
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Woman’s Body Recovered Following Deadly Kayak Incident in Tennessee
4/29/23 – Nashville, TN
Search and rescue crews recovered a woman’s body after reports that a boat hit a kayaker near Hamilton Creek on Percy Priest Lake, Tennessee.
Crews were called to 2901 Bell Road at around 9:45 a.m. on 29 April, according to the Nashville Fire Department. Officials with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), Nashville Office of Emergency Management (OEM), and Nashville Fire responded to the incident.
Officials said a kayaker didn’t resurface after getting hit by a boat carrying three people. Through interviews with witnesses and the cooperation of the driver of the boat, officers were able to identify an area of water where the missing kayaker may have been.
Officials used a remote-operated vehicle (ROV) in the area and found the body of a female kayaker in 54 feet of water. Divers with Nashville OEM recovered the kayaker shortly after 3 p.m.
The kayaker is being identified only as a Middle Tennessee resident. The case remains under investigation, officials said.
21-year-old Missing After Canoe Capsizes in Ohio’s Maumee River
4/30/23 – Toledo, OH
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) spent much of the evening on 30 April searching the Maumee River near downtown Toledo, Ohio, for a man who capsized in a canoe.
ODNR said three people were in the canoe and two were found safe. A police report released on 1 May identified 21-year-old Jesse Babiuch as the man still missing. Police were called to the scene around 4:30 p.m.
According to ODNR, three people were on a motorized canoe when it overturned. Despite the long search, which included a helicopter at one point, the search was suspended for the night, and ODNR announced that it would continue on 1 May, weather permitting.
Toledo police, Toledo fire, the U.S. Coast Guard and ProMedica Life Flight were all involved in the search.
Dad, Sons Rescued from Capsized Boat in Washington’s Vancouver Lake
4/30/23 – Portland, OR
A father and his 2 teenage sons were rescued from Vancouver Lake after their aluminum rowboat capsized and sank on the afternoon of 30 April.
The father called 911 around 4 p.m. to report their rowboat was taking on water, officials with the Clark County Fire District 6 said. He said they were about 400 feet from the Felida Moorage ramp and drifting to the Vancouver Lake outlet.
Rescuers from Fire District 6 and Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue rushed to the spot and rescued all 3. The teens were pulled onboard with District 6 and the dad was grabbed by Clark-Cowlitz rescuers, officials said. No one was wearing life jackets. They all refused medical evaluations.
Coast Guard Rescues 2 Stranded Boaters Near Whiskey Island, La.
4/29/23 – New Orleans, LA
The Coast Guard rescued two stranded boaters on 29 April from their aground vessel near Whiskey Island, Louisiana.
Sector New Orleans watchstanders received a report from Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office of an aground 18-foot aluminum vessel with two people aboard at approximately 7 p.m. on the evening of 20 April.
Watchstanders coordinated the launch of a Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-60 Jayhawk aircrew to assist. The Jayhawk aircrew located the boaters, hoisted them onto the helicopter, and transported them to the Houma-Terrebonne Airport. Both boaters were reported to be in stable condition.
Coast Guard Assists Missing Boaters Near South Padre Island Waters
4/28/23 – South Padre Island, TX
Three boaters who were initially reported missing by their families were found by the Coast Guard on 29 April, 30 miles northeast of South Padre Island.
On 28 April, the Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi received a notification at 10 p.m. regarding three overdue boaters aboard a 31-foot catamaran. According to a news release, the men had departed Island Moorings Marina in Port Aransas at 10 a.m. on 27 April, and were heading for Perdido Rig — located about 180 miles east of SPI.
EPIRB, Radio DSC allowed Coast Guard to vector in on boater’s position
However, the men did not return as expected to Port Aransas the following night, the release stated. As a result, watchstanders contacted personnel at Perdido Rig, who reported they saw the catamaran near the rig at about 3 p.m. on 28 April.
Then, the Coast Guard directed the launch of an HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane from the Corpus Christi air station. After the search began, the Ocean Sentry crew heard the boaters hail them on VHF-FM channel 16, which led to the boaters activating both the DSC distress alert function on their radio and their Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon, or EPIRB.
With the alerts, command center personnel vectored the aircrew to the boaters’ position and directed the launch of a 33-foot Special Purpose Craft–Law Enforcement boat crew from the Coast Guard Station in South Padre Island. Upon arriving, the Ocean Sentry crew saw the three men bailing water out of the catamaran. According to the release, the on-scene weather conditions were 10-foot swells with winds of 34 mph.
The SPC-LE crew rendezvoused with the catamaran and escorted the men safely to Sea Ranch Marina on South Padre Island. Emergency medical services personnel assessed the boaters. There were no injuries reported.
Watch Rescuers Save Boaters, Dog From Sinking Boat Off Georgia Coast
5/1/23 – Savannah, GA
Two boaters and a dog were pulled from a catamaran as it sank off the coast of Georgia, Coast Guard officials reported.
The boaters and a dog named Reggie were on a 28-foot catamaran when their boat began taking on water on Monday, 1 May, near the entrance of St. Simons Sound, the Coast Guard said in a tweet.
Charleston watchstanders received their mayday call and dispatched rescuers from Savannah and Tybee Island. “We were able to locate the survivors’ exact position because of an alert from their PLB (personal locator beacon).
A PLB transmits personalized distress signals and helps us find you in (search and rescue) missions,” Tyler Murray, a Coast Guard officer, said in a tweet. After rescuers removed the boaters and Reggie, the catamaran eventually sank, officials said.
Officials said both boaters and Reggie were taken to Hunter Army Airfield in good spirits after they were rescued. St. Simons Sound is about 70 miles southwest of Savannah.
Boise River Search Turns Up Inflatable Kayak, No Kayaker
5/1/23 – Boise, ID
Marine units searched the swift-flowing Boise River on 1 May, after receiving a report of a missing kayaker, Boise Fire Department spokesperson Lynsey Amundson told the local press. The Boise Police Department was also on the scene, Amundson said, and was monitoring from bridges and elsewhere.
At around 2:45 p.m., Boise fire and police units responded to a report of a missing adult male kayaker on the Boise River, according to a news release. By 4:15 p.m., a possible rescue transitioned into a recovery effort after nine units, including the Boise River rescue boat, were unable to locate the man.
Boise police assisted the search with drones, the release said. Witness reports indicated that the kayaker put in at Barber Park and was last seen in the middle of the river channel near the E. Parkcenter Bridge.
The Boise Fire Dive Team recovered one inflatable kayak on the river, according to the release, and the incident was turned over to the Ada County Sheriff’s Office as a missing-person investigation.
Boat Fire Injures 3 at Northern Virginia Marina
5/4/23 – Fairfax Co., VA
A boat caught fire at the Mount Vernon Yacht Club, injuring three people on 4 May, according to Fairfax County Fire and Rescue, in Northern Virginia.
The department said crews arrived to the Mount Vernon Yacht Club, in the 4800 block of Tarpon Lane, to find flames coming from an unoccupied boat. Fireboats from D.C. also responded, DC Fire and EMS said on Twitter.
The three people hurt in the fire were transported to the hospital with minor injuries. Fire investigators were trying to determine what had caused the fire.