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Another airboater drowns - NO PFD!

A

Anonymous

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-http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2004/11/14/news/00lead.prt-

Man lost after airboat sinks on Swift Creek

November 14, 2004

The operator of an airboat is missing after his craft sank north of the Seventh Street boat landing Saturday afternoon.

Authorities searched the area commonly called Swift Creek by boat and land, focusing on the area where the airboat was submerged.

By 4:30 p.m., rescue teams could not find the missing man, but the airboat was recovered and removed from the water, said Steve Dewald, warden supervisor for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

The boat had no mechanical problems, he said.

The search began about 12:30 p.m. Saturday when authorities were called by several neighbors who witnessed the accident.

"No one saw the entire event from start to finish," said Dewald.

Richard Hawkins was on his son's roof Saturday afternoon tearing off shingles damaged by hail.

From the rooftop that overlooks Swift Creek, he heard an airboat cruising the waterway near Green Island Ice Arena.

Moments later Hawkins heard a loud noise, like the boat hit something, he said.

Looking over the roof, he saw the boat had sunk and all that remained was one person waving his arms, he said.

He called 911.

The search was called off Saturday because of darkness.

The fire department will continue the search 8 a.m. today. The dive rescue team will continue at 10 a.m.
 
pfd again, yes the wearing of a pfd would have made the body recovery easier
 
woody":3f08f0zf said:
pfd again, yes the wearing of a pfd would have made the body recovery easier
Click to expand...

Woody,
I would venture to say that if the man had been wearing a PFD there would not had been a news story and there would never had been the need for a body recovery.

:( WaterLizard

Please read the following post.
 
-http://www.winonadailynews.com/articles/2004/11/15/news/00lead.txt-

November 15, 2004

Airboater's body found

LA CROSSE, Wis. � Steven R. Breidel was an avid hunter, angler and trapper who learned the tricks of the trade from his father's side of the family and always would come back successful. To help with his trapping endeavors, the Dakota, Minn., man got an airboat.

"(Breidel) was out there for the third time (Saturday) trying to master its use for trapping," his son-in-law, Matt Schubert, said Sunday afternoon.

Breidel's body was recovered by the La Crosse Fire Department at about 9:40 a.m. Sunday from the Isle La Plume slough, near the Green Island Ice Arena, almost 24 hours after an accident involving the airboat in the slough.

Breidel, 55, boarded the airboat at the Seventh Street Boat Landing and headed north along the slough, just upstream from Swift Creek, said Steve Dewald, area warden supervisor for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Shortly after Breidel left his brother at the landing about 12:30 p.m. Saturday, authorities were called by several neighbors who witnessed the accident.

"His brother said he was going up to turn around, but never came back," Dewald said.

Breidel was not wearing a life jacket, Dewald said. But his brother said Breidel was a good swimmer and in good physical condition, Dewald said.

"We presume (the cause of death was) drowning, pending further investigation," La Crosse County Medical Examiner John Steers said. Through interviews with witnesses, none of whom saw the entire incident, Dewald said authorities believe the accident happened while Breidel was turning the airboat in the slough. No other boats were observed and foul play is not suspected, he said.

"Someone saw him leave the boat landing," Dewald said. "Someone heard the propeller hit the water. Someone saw him in the water for a few seconds. But no one saw the boat actually sink. It happened very quickly."
The submerged airboat was recovered and removed from the water by late Saturday afternoon.

Dewald said airboats are popular in the Coulee Region because of their use by trappers and duck hunters, and their usefulness in the winter.

"Backwater areas are silting in with sand, which makes them shallow and unreachable by a conventional propeller," Dewald said.

"These guys (Breidel and his brother) are trappers and to trap in December with the combination of water and ice the airboat fits the bill," he said. "You can go back and forth between water and ice."

Breidel was a lifelong Coulee Region resident who spent his younger years on La Crosse's South Side and attended La Crosse schools. He worked for Swanson's Heavy Moving for about 20 years and later was a general laborer with the union. He retired four years ago, but continued to do odd jobs, Schubert said.

"He had a great sense of humor. He was always there for a joke and a laugh," he said.

Family was important to Breidel as he enjoyed playing with his two grandchildren, Emma and Jack, and taking trips with his wife of almost 25 years, Jan Correll.

He also did volunteer work in the Dakota community, helping to install playground equipment.

"The kids knew Grandpa Steve put it up," Schubert said.

Breidel was a NASCAR fan who loved Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

He is survived by his wife, Jan Correll of Dakota; two stepchildren, Dawn (Matt) Schubert of Menomonee Falls, Wis., and their children, Emma and Jack, and Jeff (Melissa) Correll of London; one son, Scott Breidel of La Crosse; two brothers, Charlie Breidel of La Crosse and David (Yvonne) Kopperud of Mosinee, Wis.; and two sisters, Linda Marsh and Judy Slama, both of California.
 
Another in a continuous and sad line of similar stories. Airboaters cherish freedom and shun constraints. a PFD is a constraint in many folk's eyes and most of them have run boats for many years. Regretably, few airboaters wear PFDs.

Airboats are DIFFERENT. They usually have no positive / upright flotation; they ALL have heavy powerplants located at the lowest point of the boat; few operators seek professional training when getting started and every airboat will sink immediately when the starboard corner dips below the water surface as it ALWAYS tries to do.

Florida Airboat Association has a Safety Officer - Robert Dummett - who preaches PFD with almost every breath. There are vest types that can double as core body armor if someone gets tossed out unexpectedly - and there are auto inflatable PFD suspenders that inflate upon contact with the water. The latter version features less constraints and provides life saving flotation in the event of wearer emersion. Either choice will Save Lives.

Whatever your choice, do your family a huge favor to avoid unimaginable pain and suffering - WEAR YOUR PFD.
 
I always require that any body that rides in my Airboat wear one,Georgia
law requires that you just have one for each passenger in the boat,but I figuerd that it won't do you much good if it's in the boat and you are in the water.
 
I agree completely. Sometimes my kids don't like it but I insist.

I've gone swimming, unexpectedly, twice with the second time getting my attention. Since then I always wear a PFD.
 
Been airboating for almost 40 years and never had an "incident" until recently........

Last March, water down in the Kissimmee, hit a submerged fence post on Lake Cypress near BS Hill about 1:AM while frogging. Two passengers - both guides - on a 13' Kennedy / Continental E-185. My combat Marine son's boat. Rolled up on the post and my elbow came down on the electric fuel pump switch - burried the throttle to recover and all was looking better - 'till it ran out of fuel. First time in 35 years of guiding, I sunk the boat - passengers failed to run to the rake. My fault for sure. We are all swimming in an instant.

This October, after the hurricanes, I was back in Kissimmee, counting stars and lightening bugs celebrating our 26th with the wife. Then, in front of Thomas Landings, in the rain at 4:AM - after spending 3 hours getting son's boat off a mud tusset - hit another illegal submerged fence post and tossed my wife of 26 years into the water. She doesn't like gators, snakes or bugs. Guess What?

Will never run an airboat again without all wearing PFDs.
 
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