Venice / Lamon Bay Florida Boating Accident - Eight people hurt in boat collision

VENICE, Fla. — Eight people were injured Wednesday night, two critically, when two pleasure boats collided near the South Venice boat ramp, according to a report by FLORIDA TODAY news partner Tampa Bay's 10 News.

Update on the case.

Dwayne

Twin Brother Wants Justice For Grand Lake Hit And Run Victim - Grand Lake Boating Death - Murray McGarvey

Charges to be filed against two in this incident.

Drinking may have been involved.  Causation will be the key??

The twin brother of man killed in a Grand Lake boat wreck spoke out in August for the first time. 35-year-old Murray McGarvey was killed in nighttime hit and run over the summer. He was at Grand Lake on vacation from his home in Georgia.

Late news

There may be new info coming out soon on this case.

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We have posted on this case before.

Dwayne

Mark deTournillon sentenced to 15 years in prison

A Bedford County judge has sentenced Mark de Tournillon to 15 years in prison for a deadly boating accident.

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From the outside this seems like a fairly just result.  I am sure it is not much consolation to the families.

Dwayne

"Thank God and the United States Coast Guard..."

7 survive two nights on life raft

‘Thank God and the United States Coast Guard’

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There is a happy ending to this one…..

Dwayne

Young Woman Dies After Boat, Freighter Collide In Sound - Gina Bortolotti - Sailing Vessel - Essence - Barkald

Gina Bortolotti, crew member on the wrecked sailing yacht Essence, wasn't alone in the pre-dawn hours Wednesday, her final hours. She floated in Long Island Sound as another of the three-member crew, her fiance Nardus Bothma, fought to keep her unconscious body at the surface.

http://www.bluegina.com (Gina’s site)

Sailboat Beauty ( The New York Post)

Dwayne

Hill - Duque - Healy - What Killed Divers Under Ice?

The Coast Guard has started two investigations, relieved the Healy's captain, pulled all diving equipment off the ship for examination, and suspended all polar diving. Nothing has been said about what might have killed Hill, 31, and Duque, 22, on Aug. 17, or when the investigations will conclude.

We have found that it is not unusual for the Coast Guard to withhold information about investigations until it concludes its findings.  It must be frustrating for the families but hopefully in the end there will be a thorough investigation that will shed light on the cause of this tragic event and allow the families some closure. 

Dwayne

Woman killed when sailboat, tanker collide - the Essence

A woman aboard a 92-foot, Greenwich-bound sailboat was killed yesterday morning when the vessel collided with a 600-foot freighter in the eastern Long Island Sound, U.S. Coast Guard officials said.

The freighter crew in the fatal collision tested negative for alcohol.

Dwayne

Houston Firm To Assist In Grand Lake Boating Accident Investigation

 

GROVE, Okla. (AP) -- An engineering firm will attempt to create a computer-generated simulation of a Grand Lake boating collision that killed a Georgia man.

ATA Associates Inc. of Houston will be at the lake September 26-27 to inspect the two boats involved in the crash and take measurements, said Bryce Lair, a Delaware County assistant district attorney.

Prosecutors are trying to determine whether criminal charges should be filed in connection with the July 30 collision that killed Murray McGarvey, 35, of Brunswick, Georgia.

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ATA Associates can be found here.  http://www.ataassociates.com/Marine.htm

Dwayne

Officials may never know cause of fatal boat crash on Texoma

 The investigation into a Labor Day weekend boat crash that killed five people has all but ended without a determination of who or what was to blame, Oklahoma authorities said Monday.

Investigators have looked for clues in salvaged pieces of the two high-performance boats that collided on Lake Texoma, but evidence was inconclusive, said Oklahoma State Highway Patrol Trooper Kera Philippi.

"Investigators may never know if the collision

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Sounds as if there was not enough evidence left to determine the cause.  Without good eye witnesses this report may be correct.  They may never know the cause of the accident.

Dwayne

Marine and Boating Deaths from NTSB

Marine deaths showed a slight increase from 765 in 2004 to 769 in 2005. Recreational boating deaths, the largest marine category, jumped to 697 from 676, while cargo transport fatalities dropped substantially to 12 in 2005 from 26 in 2004.

Dwayne

Parties settle in boating lawsuit - Deadly Boat Crash

Mark de Tournillon Sr., who pleaded guilty to causing the boat wreck that killed a Moneta couple last year, agreed Friday to a substantial $2.75 million settlement with the estates of Lawrence and Judith Lewis.

Although most of that amount will be paid by insurance companies, de Tournillon intends to pay $250,000 out of the proceeds from the sale of his business, Shoreline Marina. The business has not yet been sold, said William Stanley, one of de Tournillon's defense lawyers.

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This case is indicative of the high costs of boating accidents…in human life and money damages.

Dwayne

Michael LaFave - Trial adjourned in fatal boating accident

As expected, the trial for a Hamburg Township man accused of killing a Brighton Township man in a 2005 boating accident on Zukey Lake was adjourned Thursday to allow the prosecutor to get an expert's report on "newly provided evidence."

Also, there is a newly discovered witness who was on the Hamburg Township lake at the time of the July 23, 2005, accident that killed Michael LaFave, 27. The witness' identity and what the witness knows about the accident was not released.

Dwayne

Speed of boats in deadly crash estimated at 100 mph

By The Associated Press

A witness to a boat crash on Lake Texoma that killed five people estimated the two high-performance boats were traveling at close to 100 miles per hour when they collided, an investigator said Tuesday.

 

Dwayne

The plan offered by Democratic leader Harry Reid would have bolstered security on trains and buses and at chemical plants. Republicans charged it would have slowed efforts to improve security at the nation's ports.

We need a lot more help with the security of our ports.  Lets hope this bill has some teeth in it and that our ports are made safe before we have a serious attack.

Dwayne

Langley Brown Jr. and Langley Brown III - Death by Boating Accident - Florida is the Deadliest

As they raced across Lake Louise on a sunny afternoon to catch what they hoped would be a trophy bass, disaster struck Langley Brown Jr. and Langley Brown III.

The father and son were killed this summer the way authorities say too many Florida boaters die. Carelessness and unsafe speed were to blame, common factors behind the boating accidents that make Florida the deadliest state for recreational boating, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Dwayne

Ethan Allen Saga and Litigation Continues

Its name covered with duct tape, the trailered Ethan Allen tour boat rolled south on the Northway Tuesday to a temporary home in storage, as it awaits possible tests related to what could be months of civil litigation over its capsizing.

Dwayne

Texoma Speed Boat Crash Investigation Inconclusive - Lake Texoma - Texhoma

Authorities say they may never know if excessive speed played a role in the Sept. 2 collision between two jet boats on Lake Texoma that killed five people, including four from Texas.

Dwayne

Tragic accident takes life of Dan Clark - Life jacket??

A tragedy occurred Friday when a fishing trip to Steinhatchee by a well known Suwannee County couple turned bad, with Daniel (Dan) Clark losing his life to drowning. The Clarks are residents of the Wellborn community.

Dwayne

Focus on Legality of Poker Runs - Texhoma - Texoma - Boat Collision

9-6-06 - Investigators are still talking to witnesses as the try to recreate the boating accident that killed five people on Lake Texoma, but attention has also focused on the poker run that deadly day, and whether they are legal at all in Texas.

Authorities say that alcohol was probably not a factor in this tragic accident.

Dwayne

Fisherman hopes to keep found boat - Salvage Law?

For one area fisherman, it could end up being the brightest spot of an otherwise dismal fishing season or one of the all-time best stories of the one that didn’t get away.

 

McKinney family mourns after fatal boat collision - Texoma Poker Run Boat Collision

MCKINNEY - While visitors continued to enjoy Lake Texoma the day after the accident that claimed five lives Saturday, Bruce Lane's day in McKinney was far from normal. Lane's son, 25-year-old Justin Lane, and his son's wife, 31-year-old Amy Lane, were both passengers on the "Flash Gordon," which was one of the boats involved in the high-speed fatal collision.  Here is news on a memorial service for the young couple. Dwayne

Speedboat collision investigated - Lake Texhoma Poker Run - Collision Deaths

WILLIS (AP) -- Investigators were trying to determine Sunday why two high-performance boats collided while participating in a "poker run" on Lake Texoma, killing five people, including a well-known former race car driver.

Oklahoma Lake Patrol investigators plan to reconstruct the two boats in an attempt to gather clues to how and why they collided Saturday, Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Kera Philippi said.

"They're going to investigate the mechanics of both boats, too, and not just focus on whether it was driver error," Philippi said. "The driver of the second boat is still alive, so they're going to want to talk to him."

Deaths cut Coast Guard cutter mission short - Healy - Hill - Duque

Deaths cut Coast Guard cutter mission short
Somber crew brings Healy to home port

By LARRY LANGE
P-I REPORTER

The Coast Guard cutter Healy returned to its Seattle home port Sunday, weeks early, and things will not be the same.