RSSAirboat Capsizes along Orange County Line
Last Friday afternoon, an incident in Brevard County landed several people in hospitals, one who was admitted as a trauma alert. According to the official statement from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, several different agencies became involved after an airboat traveling along the St. Johns River crashed and rolled over close to State Road 50, just at the county line of Brevard and Orange Counties. The accident was reported around 1:00 in the afternoon, after which a helicopter from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, members from the Brevard County Fire Rescue service, and the U.S. Coast Guard all began to search the area of the St. Johns river for the capsized boat.
It has since been discovered that the airboat belonged to the company known as Old Fashioned Airboats. It is not known whether or not it was operating on Friday afternoon as a part of a tour or whether or not someone had rented the airboat for their personal use.
The first group to discover the boat and its passengers was not any of the emergency response teams but another airboat company: Midway Airboat. After locating the airboat group from Old Fashioned Airboats, the airboat members from Midway Airboat pulled the crash victims aboard their airboat and ferried them towards the shore. They landed at a point near Christmas, and the one individual deemed to be seriously injured was rushed to Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne. It is not known what their condition is at the time of this writing, but, as was mentioned above, when they were admitted the hospital classified the individual as a trauma alert. Two other passengers were also transported to hospitals, although their injuries are considered to be minor.
Currently, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission as well as the U.S. Coast guard have investigators working on discovering exactly what caused the the commercially operated vessel to roll over with seven people aboard, whether or not it was the fault of the individual behind the wheel of the airboat, or perhaps if something in the water itself caused the boat to crash and overturn.
James O. Cunningham
Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.
Mr. Cunningham is an excellent and knowledgeable attorney.