Timothy Clippard
Early reports indicate the boat motor struck an underwater part of the bridge made of steel or concrete, broke loose, flipped into the boat, and struck Tim Clippard in the head. However, A Deputy Sheriff that spends a lot of time on Kentucky Lake says the current high waters could have huge trees floating down the river. They may have struck one of them. An investigation is ongoing. Read More→
Nicholas Milligan
One observer said that as the boat circled, it appeared to make contact with the group of people in the water three or four times as the boat circled for 10 to 15 minutes. He reported screaming and seagulls coming into the water (sea gulls may have been looking for food in the blood).
Two family members were killed outright:
All four other family members were injured:
The injured were life flighted to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth.
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Doctors saved the young boy Kit’s leg, but Victoria’s (the mother) left leg has been amputated below the knee. Both mother and son have been moved to a London hospital where they both need more surgery per The Sun.
Accident investigators confirmed on Thursday 16 May, the kill cord was not attached to the boat operator at the time of the accident, but have still not publicly identified the operator.
On 17 May MAIB issued a kill cord Safety Bulletin in the wake of this accident.
Heddon Johnson lost his son in a kill cord preventable accident at UK boat show in 2000. In the wake of the Milligan accident, Johnson is calling for a mandatory kill cord use law and has established a petition at change.org (search for kill cord).
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Nicholas Milligan’s Boat / RIB
The Milligan family came from London to holiday in Cornwall for the Bank Holiday. Nicholas Milligan’s boat was a Cobra RIB named Milly / Millie with a large Yamaha outboard motor. Read More→
A family of six on holiday in Padstow UK was boating about half a mile from Padstow Harbor about 3:40 pm Sunday May 5, 2013. All six people on board were ejected and the out of control speedboat began spinning in the Circle of Death. Two family members were killed outright (the 51 year old father and his 8 year old daughter), the other four were injured (31 year old mother, 10 and 12 year old girls, and their 4 year old son). A separate report said two boys ages 4 and 13 were also among the wounded. Officials are obviously still sorting things out.
THIS REPORT HAS SINCE BEEN UPDATED AT:
Nicholas Milligan Boat Propeller Accident at Padstow UK: Two Dead 5 May 2013
The family came from London to holiday in Cornwall for the Bank Holiday and were in their own boat, a Cobra RIB named Millie powered by a large Yamaha outboard motor.
The four non-fatally injured family members suffered some life threatening as well as some life changing injuries per officials (sounds like some amputations may be involved). They were taken to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth. Reports said the children and the mother all had leg injuries of varying severity. Read More→
Sarah Roderick
Lake Havasu firefighters and a life flight helicopter arrived to assist, but Sarah Marie Roderick was pronounced dead at the beach.
Officials noted alcohol died not appear to be a factor in the accident. They also said the lifeflight helicopter arrived about 15 minutes before the vessel made it to shore. That leads us to suspect her injuries were very severe.
Sarah Roderick’s obituary reports the young girl was interested in soccer, piano, science, art, reading, AWANA (a Christian youth organization), and American Girls. Read More→
United States Coast Guard Executive Petty Officer Terrell Horne
boarding the Halibut after water survival training
USCG photo
Officer Horne served as a Chief Boatswain’s Mate (BMC).
About 11:30 pm Saturday, December 1, 2012, a U.S. Coast Guard C-130 aircraft on routine patrol spotted a recreational boat near Smugglers Cove, Santa Cruz Island, California. They contacted the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Halibut that was already operating in the region.
Halibut, a USCG Cutter
USCG photo
The C-130 then reported spotting about a 30 foot panga boat (an outboard powered opened bowed fishing boat) at Smugglers Cove with two men on board and without navigation lights. Read More→
Casey Schulman
About 9am, a group of students hired a boat from Anchorage Dive Center captained by Andrew Armour, for a snorkeling expedition off Soufriere. The trip was not part of the “Semester at Sea” program. The students snorkeled then went to the west end of the island near Mero where they lounged on the boat, played in the water, and rested on the beach. Mero is about five miles from Roseau, Dominica’s capital and largest city.
About 2:30 pm while Casey Schulman was in the water, the boat had picked up some food and was reversing when she was struck by the propeller. She was taken to Princess Margaret Hospital, and pronounced dead. Initial reports say Casey Schulman “sustained injuries all over her body.” Read More→
Mark Barhanovich
The outboard motor struck a submerged object (many think it was a dredge pipe) about 6:30 am Sunday. The outboard motor broke loose from the transom, flipped into the boat, and its propeller struck Mark Barhanovich in the back. Another friend was nearby in another boat at the time of the accident.
The emergency call came into Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) at 6:39 am Sunday morning.
Mark’s friend in the nearby boat ferried law enforcement and ambulance crews from shore to the disabled vessel.
Mark was taken to Jackson County Small Craft Harbor, then to to Ocean Springs Hospital where he was declared dead at 7:52 am Sunday morning as friends and family were gathering at the hospital. Read More→
Live Like Kali
Kali Gorzell
Sixteen year old Kali Gorzell of greater San Antonio Texas was boating near Aransas Pass about 10:30am Friday July 20, 2012. The teenage girl was onboard a boat as a friend of two sisters and their father.
They were boating on Redfish Bay, near Dagger Island. The boat turned, she fell over the front, the boat passed over her, and Kali was struck by the propeller.
The same boat brought her to Hampton’s Landing off East Ransom Road. Witnesses said she was bleeding badly from a deep gash beginning at her neck and running up her head.
She was taken to Care Regional Center in Aransas Pass, and pronounced dead from lacerations to her face and the back of her head.
Kali Gorzell propeller accident boat. Still image from KRISTV news video.
Kali Gorzell was a sophomore at Smithson Valley High School in Comal ISD. Her classmates and friends describe her as full of zest for life and recall how she was always a positive influence on those around her. Students there are now using the phrase, “Live Like Kali”, to encourage others to life life to the fullest as she did. Kali is described as a popular girl and a member of the volleyball team. Read More→
Charlie Hutton on Boat
Charlie Hutton was more seriously injured than the other boy. A Solent Coast Guard Helicopter, already airborne performing an exercise, was routed to the accident. Charlie Hutton was life flighted to Southampton General Hospital on the mainland. A Yarmouth RNLI lifeboat took the other boy to meet an ambulance where he taken to St. Mary’s Hospital on the Isle of Wight.
Charlie Hutton died Saturday July 21st from his injuries. Read More→
On February 13, 2012 a male Ukrainian tourist and his friend were snorkeling off the City Sharm Hotel in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, an area of the Red Sea world renown by divers for its crystal clear water and underwater sights.
A boat came by at high speed and its propeller struck the Ukrainian in the head while his friend was filming the dive. A 13.5 minute video of the dive begins with about 3.5 minutes of the dive, the diver is struck by the propeller at about 3 minutes and 38 seconds on the video, then the video camera remains on, but very shaky during the ensuing chaos.
Diver Snorkeling Before Struck
We captured several still images from the video near the time of the strike that illustrate the content of the video and present them as the sequence of 11 images below. Without additional information (which we provide a request for below) many of our comments are speculation based on the video. Additional information could confirm or change them.
Plus we are aware that images are sometimes reversed by cameras or online posting methods so any comments below about left, right, port, or starboard are just being made about the way things appear to be in the images and may not be correct.
Propeller Strike Sequence Image #1
It only takes something of the nature of two seconds from the boat appearing in the top left area of the video at a distance a few times further away than it appears in the image above until the diver is struck. The diver is just below the surface, probably looking downward and not seeing the oncoming boat, while breathing through the yellow tube. Read More→