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C/P from News......Two people die in a parasailing incident at Ocean Isle Beach
Posted: Aug 28, 2009
2 die in parasailing accident (Figueredo live at 6; 8/2 Cool

1:41
Parasailing accident (Figueredo live at 5; 8/2 Cool

1:44
WECT Extras

Reported by Lynda Figueredo - bio|email
Posted by Debra Worley - email

OCEAN ISLE BEACH, NC (WECT) - Two people died in a parasailing incident Friday afternoon at Ocean Isle Beach.

Officials said they received a call around 2:00 in regards to an Ocean Isle Beach water sports boat in distress.

Witness say the wind picked up so the captain shifted into full throttle in effort to move the parachutes safely away from the shoreline. They say that's when the cables snapped and the parachutes were pulled into an under draft and were caught under a pier.

According to First Alert Meteorologist Robb Ellis, a small craft advisory was issued Thursday and was still in place during the incident.

The North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission, the Coast Guard, and the Ocean Isle Beach Police Department are investigating the accident.

Authorities are withholding the names of the victims at this time, but say they appear to be two middle aged women from out of town.

Stay with WECT and wect.com for more details as they become available.

Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 8:59 pm Post subject:

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20090828/ARTICLES/908289946/1177?Title=UPDATE-2-killed-in-Ocean-Isle-Beach-parasailing-accident

I have a hard time believing anyone would of even went on a trip like that today. What a way to end a vacation.
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Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 9:08 pm Post subject:

http://www.ncwatersports.com/meet-the-crew.cfm
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Capt. Dave
Continental Shelf
Morehead City, NC
800-775-7450

Life is SHORT....Fish Hard!

Ol'Salt Joined: Mar 03, 2006 Posts: 562

You can be pretty sure that company will change ownership soon! Shocked

Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 2:31 am Post subject:

I think Brants' gonna have his hands full with this one. Hope it all works out.
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MOD Joined: May 17, 2004 Posts: 2694

Very Sad.
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Newbie Joined: Nov 10, 2007 Posts: 3

not brants parasailing business

Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 4:10 pm Post subject:

Looks like it was on the tied high out of Holden, but who ever runs it is probly. in for a long ride...went out on a small craft adv. not good.

Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 4:24 pm Post subject:

Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 6:18 pm Post subject:

Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 1:06 am Post subject:

http://www.thesunnews.com/news/breaking_news/story/1042689.html

The U.S. Coast Guard says an initial report indicates that the rope on the women's parasail separated from the boat it was connected to Friday afternoon, causing the death of the two women near the Ocean Isle Beach Pier.

Coast Guard investigators are interviewing witnesses and the master and crew of the boat, Tied High.

Drug and alcohol tests have been conducted on the crew.

A Maryland man who pulled in one of the women from the heavy surf at the Ocean Isle Beach pier said Friday that her body was bruised, bloodied and bloated.

The women were parasailing with equipment from N.C. Watersports in Ocean Isle Beach, said C.D. Blythe, mayor pro tem of Ocean Isle Beach. Representatives from N.C. Watersports did not return phone calls seeking comment on Friday.

Blythe said the incident was the first parasailing accident he was aware of in Ocean Isle Beach.

Jay Jenkins of Waldorf, Md., said he watched the accident from the beginning, first noticing the parasailers and the boat towing them and thinking they might be in trouble as both seemed frozen in position among rough seas and high winds that were in front of a backdrop of roiling, black clouds.

"I started questioning why they were out there with the winds [and] dark clouds," Jenkins said. He said he wondered if he should call 911.

He said the boat and parasailers seemed frozen in position for 45 minutes, but his wife, C.J. Jenkins, who was with him on the beach near 350 E. Ocean Blvd., said it happened much faster.

Suddenly, Jay Jenkins said the rope that connected the parasailers to the boat snapped, and the parasailers seemed momentarily suspended in place.

A gust of wind caught the parasail and whipped the women westward, toward the South Carolina line, along the face of the beach. The wind also pushed the parasail downward and crashed the women against the water.

The sail then rose and fell several times, each one a new blow to the two parasailers, he said.

But each hit to the water also slowed down their progress, eventually to the point where the parasail tow boat caught up with the women and circled them in heavy surf in an apparent attempt to rescue the women, Jenkins said.

He said the boat nearly capsized in the attempt to save the women and that at one time it appeared to try to block the wind that was driving the parasail.

Eventually, the parasail swooped into the midsection of the pier which finally drove the air out of it, Jenkins said.

Jenkins called the parasail boat driver's efforts heroic, as well as those of two land-based rescuers who worked with him to free the women from the pier.

"He did everything he could," Jenkins said of the boat driver, who he said beached the boat in his rescue attempt.

He described the scene on the beach at the pier as chaos. He said a lot of people were screaming.

He said he and the other rescuers waded into the wind-pounded surf by the pier and discovered that the victims were still attached to the parasail, which was underwater and trying to drag them under as well.

Jenkins said one of the land-based rescuers, who arrived on the beach in a rescue truck, cut the lines free and the women were able to be carried ashore. Neither was conscious, he said.

"[The victims] were from out of town, and I'm sure they were down here like other vacationers and wanted to relax and something like this happened," Blythe said said. "It's a sad day for Ocean Isle Beach and the town certainly extends our sympathy to all the families involved."

Blythe said the parasail business, which operates from the Ocean Isle Fishing Center, has operated in the area for four years and that its employees had "always been very, very safety-conscious."
_________________
Capt. Dave
Continental Shelf
Morehead City, NC
800-775-7450

Life is SHORT....Fish Hard!

Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 1:11 am Post subject:

Guard probes parasail deaths
Storms put extra stress on boat, riders
By Steve Jones - sjones@thesunnews.com E-Mail http://www.thesunnews.com/news/local/story/1043587.html?storylink=mirelated

OCEAN ISLE BEACH, N.C. -- The U.S. Coast Guard knows that a snapped tow rope began the tragic series of events that fatally sent two women parasailers bouncing along the Ocean Isle Beach coast Friday until the sail snagged on a pier.

Officials don't know yet, though, what caused the rope to snap, Cmdr. John Nadeau of the Marine Safety Unit of the Wilmington, N.C., Coast Guard Station said Saturday.

The victims were identified as Cynthia Woodcock, 60, of Kernersville and Lorrie Shoup, 56, of Granby, Colo.

Carpenter, who was in the boat at the time of the accident, told family members the water was so choppy some passengers feared it might overturn.

"We're trying to figure out why the owner of the boat would take them out" in those conditions, Woodcock's daughter-in-law Tyisha Woodcock said Saturday.

She described her mother-in-law as an avid bird-watcher and gardner who was born and raised in Lenoir, where the funeral will be held sometime next week.

The boat was owned by N.C. Watersports. Rube McMullan and his son Barrett McMullan, owners and operators of the company and the Ocean Isle Fishing Center where it is located, did not return phone calls Saturday. A woman who answered the phone at the fishing center Saturday afternoon said she thought parasailing had been suspended, but wasn't sure.

Witnesses said Friday afternoon that the boat and suspended parasailers seemed to lodge motionless in high winds that preceded a storm the National Weather Service said was spawned by a low-pressure system that traveled from the Gulf of Mexico to the Carolina coast.

The rough seas that the parasail tow boat battled as it tried to rescue the women were the result of Tropical Storm Danny, said Ron Steve, meteorologist with the service's Wilmington office. The low-pressure system from the Gulf swallowed the remains of Danny overnight as both moved up the coast.

Steve said he doesn't have wind readings from Ocean Isle Beach, but monitors in Southport, N.C., and North Myrtle Beach registered gusts of 20 mph Friday afternoon.

He said stronger winds could have occurred in a localized storm between the two monitors.

One witness described the wind preceding the tragedy as strong as that of a winter nor'easter.

The Coast Guard does not regulate parasail businesses or any of the equipment associated with it, but Nadeau said he's sure that Coast Guard inspectors at least looked at the rope when the boat was last inspected in March.

Nadeau said that at the time of the accident, the boat was being driven by a Coast Guard-licensed master and that there was one other crew member on board.

Jay Jenkins, who pulled one of the women from the surf at the pier, said he saw the whole tragedy unfold.

He said the women seemed to hover in air after the tow rope snapped, until their sail was caught by strong wind that sent them quickly toward the pier and ocean. He said they crashed into the water once and bounced several more times before the parasail became entangled in the pier.

"When the wind gets over 20 mph, it makes a huge, huge difference," said David Sage, co-owner of Myrtle Beach's Ocean Watersports, which has been in business since 1981.

He said his parasail boats are ordered to halt operations when sustained winds get to 20 mph.

He said he had never heard of a parasailing accident like that which took the two women's lives.

Sage said he pulled his parasailing boats out of action as storms approached the Grand Strand about 2 p.m. Friday, the same time that witnesses said the drama on Ocean Isle began.

Nadeau said he doesn't have a timetable for the investigation of the accident, but said that hopefully its findings can be used in determining if safety regulations are needed.

"It's a tragic accident," said Debbie Smith, Ocean Isle Beach mayor.

She said that the event brings up memories of a fatal house fire on the island in October 2007 that claimed the lives of seven students from S.C. universities.

"Any time you have a tragedy, it upsets you," Smith said.
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Capt. Dave
Continental Shelf
Morehead City, NC
800-775-7450

Life is SHORT....Fish Hard!

Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 7:27 am Post subject:

Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 9:48 am Post subject:

Accidents happen , It's a shame that lives were lost .
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MOD Joined: May 17, 2004 Posts: 2694

Anyone see the interview on the news?
If you find it I'd like to see it.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 5:35 pm Post subject:

Joe, I don't have the link, but wect has it on their site.
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Capt. Lyndon Carter
Holden Beach Sport Fishing Charters
www.holdenbeachsportfishingcharters.com

MOD Joined: May 17, 2004 Posts: 2694

Found it, thanks.
Here's local station's report & videos
http://www.wect.com/Global/story.asp?S=11010348
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 10:40 pm Post subject:

I don't really understand how all this happened. I feel kinda morbid asking this, but how does the rope snapping kill the two riders?? I realize they won't release autopsy reports for a while, but what do y'all suspect? Do you get sucked under by the loose sail and drown, do you get the crap beat out of you by falling like 60' into the water, or do you get strangled by some weird mechanics of the sail and cord?

I've never been parasailing, people that I talked to that have done it say it's not fun and it's like a stressful roller coaster ride. While I fully understand this is a freak accident, chalk it up as another reason I won't be doing it in the future.

Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 11:52 pm Post subject:

Bilzo news 14 carolina quoted Police said the victims drowned when their parasail cord snapped, sending them under water.

http://news14.com/content/headlines/613937/parasailing-accident-kills-2-at-ocean-isle-beach/

http://news14.com/content/top_stories/613987/safety-the-first-concern-for-many-parasailing-companies/

This is sad Pray for them
Barry
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Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 12:59 am Post subject:

ok....so my followup is:
Don't they have life jackets on? or do they effectively get keel-hauled by the boat? I would think the cord snapping means they've lost contact with the boat, or is the wet sail so damn heavy it just sinks and takes them with it?

Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 7:47 am Post subject:

The report posted by Capt Dave says the parasail dropped them into the water several times, and it sounded like they hit hard each time. When you are that high in the air, hitting the water hurts. Anyone who has gone off a high dive knows that - any part of you that is not vertical gets hammered.

Ol'Salt Joined: Jun 26, 2006 Posts: 528

Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 6:04 pm Post subject:

Heard that these 2 women died from blunt force trauma , not drowning , If would not surprise me if when they initally hit the water that it killed them .
Accidents happen all the time , could it have been avoided , sure if they had not strapped their self into the seat . I do not know how any insurance company would insured an operation such as this . In the emergency setting a rope can only used 1 time in a life safety setting then it can not be used again , but how many times has this rope pulled people up since it was new ?
It would not surprise me if their insurance left them out to dry
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MOD Joined: May 17, 2004 Posts: 2694

My insurance wouldn't cover me during a small craft advisory.
I think as soon as you decide that your going to be out there
during one, most insurance companys drop your coverage.
Being that they were out there during one, They took a
chance & it might cost them.
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Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 6:31 pm Post subject:

I ran a parasail boat part time here in Sneads Ferry and in Hilton Head, SC. We would not go if it was over 20 knots of wind steady. I'm not saying anyone was at fault because I wasn't there and we don't know the full situation. I do know that if the cord snaps, you don't just free fall at a deadly speed. You slowly descend like a parachute. We used to dunk people all the time during a flight for a thrill. It was harmless. Now if the wind drug the women underwater while the chute was caught in the draft, you're going underwater no matter what you have on. If you get drug underwater quickly and panic, water will fill your lungs from trying to scream and you will drown very quickly. My prayers go out to the family of the victims and to the capts. of the boat. I feel the worst is only beginning for them now.
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Capt. John Mallette
1(910) 934-2628
www.daiwa.com
www.topsailfishingcharters.com

"ALCOHOL,TOBACCO,AND FIREARMS should be a convienience store, not a Gov. agency."

Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 6:37 pm Post subject:

John 1 lady had a broke back the other lady a broke neck
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World of Outlaws / Carolina Kingfish Classic
Sneads Ferry NC

Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2009 11:00 pm Post subject:

I was not there when it happened, but have been mate for 6000-7000+ parasail passengers. According to a local captain I spoke to who was in contact with the USCG examiner in charge, the line snapped in a gust of wind when they were near a pier. They landed in the water, the parachute stayed inflated, and the wind them blew them into the pier where they were entangled and the waves beat them into the pilings, hence the broken backs and necks Back-Lash noted. As Capt. John said, you don't crash to the water if the line snaps, you are in a parachute, you float to the water pretty gently. I know the line on the boat I worked on was 7400# double braid that we replaced every year, pretty tough stuff to break. Other than that, I do not know anymore details.

Parasailing is one of THE most relaxing things I have ever done, I have been up close to, if not more than, 100 times, often pulling shenanigans like hanging upside down in the harness 300-400 feet over the water, or jumping out from 50-60ft up.

I only know of one "accident" I ever experienced. We were flying on a nice calm day outside of Beaufort Inlet and in the middle of a turn I noticed we were still turning when we should be straightening out, and turned to see the captain staring at me and just spinning the wheel. The steering cable broke in the sleeve. The people were probably 200 ft off the water and falling, I dove off and started swimming towards where they would be landing. They had just landed in the water when I got to them, and when I checked to see if they were OK, they had not realized it was not supposed to happen (you are supposed to land on the back of the boat under power of the winch)

"I've never been parasailing, people that I talked to that have done it say it's not fun and it's like a stressful roller coaster ride. While I fully understand this is a freak accident, chalk it up as another reason I won't be doing it in the future."

That could not be further from the truth, except for the freak accident. I have had ONE person in my parasailing career ever not have the time of their lives, even people who came down and began vomiting from motion sickness on the boat.
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