In the last seven years, parasailing accidents in the U.S. have caused 11 passenger deaths and 52 injuries, the most recent of which occurred last month in Panama City Beach.
The high number of injuries and fatalities prompted the U.S. Coast Guard to issue a marine safety alert for parasailing operations Monday, advising operators in the largely unregulated industry to engage in safe practices.
“What the Coast Guard does when there are items of significant marine interest, they publish one of these to help remind operators of what’s going on,” said Lt.John Authement, supervisor at Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment Panama City. “It is very much in the forefront of what we’re doing.”
With 14 parasail boats registered in Panama City Beach and 25 in the Destin area, local officers are now working to educate companies and their employees about safe parasailing operations.
Authement said Coast Guard representatives have been delivering copies of the recent safety advisory, which provides a checklist of safety issues to help prevent casualties.
The “Know your ROPES” guidelines remind operators to check towlines, observe and monitor weather conditions, prepare for emergencies and maintain equipment.
“The ‘ROPES’ actually covers a very large part of the mishaps,” Authement said. “Accidents are almost always caused by weather and equipment.”
The Panama City Beach accident seriously injured two Indiana teens who were sent crashing into a condominium building after a towline detached from the Aquatic Adventures boat “Why Knot.” Aquatic Adventures representatives were not available for comment Tuesday.
Preliminary results from a Coast Guard investigation into the accident cited severe weather coupled with the boat’s close proximity to shore as contributing factors, and urged parasail operators to closely monitor conditions before sending passengers into the air.
Authement said local companies have been very receptive to the safety advisories so far.
“No one wants this to happen again,” he said. “I think everyone is on the same page. We want to see the safety in the industry improve.”
As a result of the alert, the Coast Guard is also providing officers to assist parasail companies with safety training.
“Were making ourselves available to all the operators to foster safety training,” Authement said. “We’re trying to engage the industry as much as possible to make them more aware of the safety issues.”