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Did weather play a role when out-of-control parasail sent 3 people into a Keys bridge?

By David Goodhue
In this Sept. 24, 2012 photo, two people parasail over the Miami Beach,Fla. area. Soaring high above the ocean off South Beach, tethered only by a rope to a boat hundreds of feet below, riding in a parasail is at once exhilarating and oddly peaceful, even quiet. For millions of people, that’s the takeaway from a once-in-a-lifetime experience. But every year there are accidents, some of them fatal. The Parasail Safety Council, which tracks injuries and deaths from the activity nationwide, reports more than 70 people have been killed and at least 1,600 injured between 1982 and 2012, out of an estimated 150 million parasail rides during those 30 years. Despite the inherent risk, few federal or state safety regulations exist for parasailing. In Florida, which has by far the largest number of parasail operators at about 120, repeated efforts to enact new rules following fatal accidents have landed with a thud. Florida is seen by safety proponents as a national bellwether because of parasailing’s popularity in the state.
In this Sept. 24, 2012 photo, two people parasail over the Miami Beach,Fla. area. Soaring high above the ocean off South Beach, tethered only by a rope to a boat hundreds of feet below, riding in a parasail is at once exhilarating and oddly peaceful, even quiet. For millions of people, that’s the takeaway from a once-in-a-lifetime experience. But every year there are accidents, some of them fatal. The Parasail Safety Council, which tracks injuries and deaths from the activity nationwide, reports more than 70 people have been killed and at least 1,600 injured between 1982 and 2012, out of an estimated 150 million parasail rides during those 30 years. Despite the inherent risk, few federal or state safety regulations exist for parasailing. In Florida, which has by far the largest number of parasail operators at about 120, repeated efforts to enact new rules following fatal accidents have landed with a thud. Florida is seen by safety proponents as a national bellwether because of parasailing’s popularity in the state. AP File

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Parasailing tragedy in the Keys

A woman was killed and a child was seriously injured when their parasail was cut loose from a boat and was dragged across the waves before crashing into the Old Seven Mile Bridge.

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Did weather contribute to the tragedy that killed a mother and injured two children when police say a boat captain cut the cable to their parasail?

Here’s what we know:

A good Samaritan boater who rescued the three people at the bridge said the weather around 5 p.m. on Memorial Day, right before the crash into the Old Seven Mile Bridge, was calm, but that a storm was approaching.

“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,” said John Callion, a Marathon tarpon guide.

Callion said. He then saw the cable snap and the mom and children dropped into the water, with the wind propelling the parasail as it dragged them across the surface.

According to the National Weather Service in Key West, a cluster of scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms pushed off the mainland early Monday afternoon.

The winds from those storms reached the Middle Keys after 4 p.m., said Jonathan Rizzo, National Weather Service Key West’s warning coordinator meteorologist. That led to wind gusts in the area up to 32 mph, he said.

This story was originally published June 1, 2022 at 11:46 AM with the headline "Did weather play a role when out-of-control parasail sent 3 people into a Keys bridge?."

Parasailing tragedy in the Keys

A woman was killed and a child was seriously injured when their parasail was cut loose from a boat and was dragged across the waves before crashing into the Old Seven Mile Bridge.

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