Illinois woman dead, 2 children injured in Florida Keys parasailing accident
An Illinois woman was killed and two young children injured when their boat captain cut their parasail loose during a sudden storm, causing them to drag across the ocean and slam into a bridge in the Florida Keys on Monday, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Severe wind caused the airborne parasail to drag the boat, leading the captain to cut the line. The boat was operated by a local parasailing company.
The woman and her 10-year-old son and 9-year-old nephew were dragged across the surface of the water by the inflated parasail until they collided with the Seven Mile Bridge, a section of U.S. Route 1 that stretches over the ocean to connect Florida's Middle and Lower Keys.
Shortly after the boat captain put the three victims in flight, a sudden gust of wind "pegged" the parasail, according to an incident report filed by the state's wildlife agency. Pegging a parasail happens when a parasail chute becomes controlled by weather conditions, like wind, and "essentially becomes a sail and starts impeding the safe operation of the vessel," the report said.
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"With the parasail pegged, the Captain cut the line tethered to three victims," the report continues.
A nearby boater saw the victims hit the water and rushed to try to save them, pulling them into his boat and taking them to waiting paramedics.
The 33-year-old woman was pronounced dead on the scene . The two boys were taken to hospitals for treatment.
John Callion, a fishing guide, raced around Pigeon Key to reach them, according to his fiancée, Kasey Platt.
“He was pretty frantic on the call. He said, ‘Call 911 right away,’” Platt told local television station WPLG.
Callion told the Miami Herald that the Memorial Day storm developed suddenly.
“It was pretty much flat calm, but you could see the storm coming. All of the sudden, the temperature dropped by 10 degrees and the wind started blowing like crazy,” Callion said.
Callion found the 10-year-old boy battered but awake. The 9-year-old boy was unconscious and wrapped in the parasail’s lines.
The Coast Guard and the state's wildlife agency are investigating the accident "to determine the causal factors and mitigate future casualties to make the waterways as safe as possible," according to a Coast Guard statement released Tuesday night.
Contributing: The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Florida parasailing accident leaves 1 woman dead, 2 children injured
