A review of the major propeller safety events in 2013 including safety meetings, accidents, legal cases, deaths of those involved in the movement, statistics, patents, articles published, public service announcements, anniversaries, regulations, and other related events.

• 3 January 2013 PGIC exposed Yamaha’s Potential Coverup of Propeller Safety Documents and how they erased all online references to their new propeller guard for rescue outboards including their statements of its excellent performance. It appears Yamaha erased all references to their guard to prevent their extraordinary claims from being used in court against them and the industry. PGIC dared the boating media to cover the story and three months later they still refuse to cover the story.
• 28 January 2013 PGIC published a History of Boat Propeller Safety Issues & the Propeller Safety Movement.
• 31 January 2013 an inquest on the Isle of Wight into the propeller death of a young boy, Charlie Hutton, resulted in the Coroner calling for the leisure boating industry to promote propeller safety and awareness.
• February 2013 the biannual USCG accident mitigation meeting normally held this month at the Miami Boat Show was cancelled.
• February 2013 Royal Yachting Association (RYA) updated its 2009 position statement on the use of propeller guards. It was replaced with two separate propeller guard statements. One was a guide for recreational boaters, and the other a guide for RYA Training Centers.
• 11 February 2013 PGIC posted an article calling attention to the dangers associated with swim platform seats.
• 20 February 2013 U.S. Masters Swimming announced they will begin requiring propeller guards on boats associated with USMS sanctioned open water swimming events.
• 8 March 2013 Judge Mitchell Lundy Jr, a well known Chancery Judge, was fishing a Mississippi lake, the boat hit an obstruction, he was ejected, and part of one of his feet was amputated by the propeller. A few lawyers have been struck before, but this is our first recollection of a judge being struck.
• 15 March 2013 C.F. Bean (dredge operation) filed a Jones Act lawsuit against Mark Barhanovich (now deceased) in an attempt to limit their exposure in the accident in which Mr. Barhanovich is alleged to have struck a dredge pipe, the outboard motor flipped in, and Mr. Barhanovich was killed by the still rotating propeller. They are trying to limit any potential liability to the value of the barge and its contents.
• 15 March 2013 a bill was introduced in the Texas House of Representatives to honor the life of Kali Gorzell, a 16 year old girl killed in a propeller accident last July.
• 18 March 2013 Madi Abeid, a Cape Cod 7th Grader won a newspaper writing competition with her story, Boat Propeller Guards: a Smart Choice. She chose the topic due to her older sister being injured by a propeller last summer.
• 20 March 2013 Jerrie Barhanovich filed suit against C.F.Bean and Archer Western in the propeller death of her husband, Mark Barhanovich, when his boat struck a dredge pipe near Deer Island MS.
• 21 March 2013 University of New South Wales was fined $100,000 (Australian) plus $35,000 court costs by WorkCover NSW for not taking required boating safety measures on a 31 July 2009 field trip that resulted in a boat propeller accident.
• 12-14 April 2013 the 91st National Boating Safety Advisory Council (NBSAC) meeting scheduled for these dates was cancelled. The subcommittees did meet via webcast.
• 21 April 2013 Sarah Roderick, 8, fell from the bow of a rental pontoon boat on Lake Havasu and was struck and killed by its propeller.
• 5 May 2013 Nicholas Milligan and his 8 year old daughter, Emily, were struck and killed by his boat’s propeller after the boat ejected all six family members on a family outing near Padstow Harbor UK. His wife and four year old son were also severely struck by the propeller on their legs. Two daughters suffered minor injuries.
• 5 May 2013 we created and posted a list of pontoon boat bowrider / over the bow propeller accidents in response to the April 2013 Sarah Roderick accident.
• May 2013 Emerald Isle, North Carolina renamed a portion of the street the Coast Guard Station is on in memory of Terrell Horne III, killed by a propeller in a drug interdiction chase.
• 9 May 2013 Timothy Clippard of Missouri killed in a bass fishing tournament when the drive struck something going under a bridge, flipped up into the boat, and struck fatally struck him.
• 13 May 2013 USCG released their annual 2013 Boating Statistics report for 2013. There were 181 propeller injuries and 19 propeller fatalities reported to USCG that met their criteria to be listed in BARD during 2012.
• 17 May 2013 MAIB issued a kill cord (lanyard) warning in the wake of the Milligan accident in the UK.
• May 2013 an online petition calling for mandatory use of kill cords in the UK is gathering steam.
• 27 May 2013 Madaline Cole of the UK struck and killed by the propeller of a resort boat bringing in tourists to an island in Malaysia.
• 28 May 2013 Powerboat & RIB Magazine (UK) announced their “Attach Your Kill Cord” warning stickers are now in stock and will be sent out free with their July issue.
• Late May 2013 Public BARD 2012 was released by USCG.
• 2 June 2013 We published a history of the kill cord & propeller safety movement in the UK
• 9 June 2013 We called for use of a standard key on kill switches vs. the current 7 different keys.
• 26 June 2013 We posted an interactive timeline of boat kill cord and propeller safety developments in the UK. We thought it came out very nice.
• 26 June 2013 David Cass fell from the front of a pontoon boat in Minnesota and was struck and killed by the propeller.
• 28 June 2013 USCG requested public input on a 2010 study on Estimating Benefits of Reducing Recreational Boating Accidents: Alternatives Sources of Information on Fatalities, Injuries, and Property Damages.
• July 2013 Diver Alert Network (DAN) Europe renewed its 2004 propeller safety program for divers and relaunched it for 2013-2014 as Watch Out! Propellers Can Kill!
• 11 July We posted historical coverage of the August 1953 Boni Buehler propeller accident, perhaps the highest profile propeller accident of all time.
• 11 July 2013 Gowrie Group, parent of Burgee Insurance Program, recommends propeller guards be installed on outboards used by yacht and sailing clubs for teaching junior sailing, coaching sailing, running races,and supporting recreational water sports.
• 14 July 2013 the John Mansour accident in Michigan (not yet identified as a propeller accident) called attention to the need for better visibility of tubers on the water (two children dead, one in critical condition after being struck by a boat while they were being pulled on a tube behind a PWC. We later responded with a call for college researchers to investigate ways of increasing the visibility of towed sports on the water and provided information for their use.
• 20 July 2013 was the one year anniversary of the Charlie Hutton and Kali Gorzell propeller fatalities on different sides of the Atlantic.
• 27 July 2013 William Feehan, 11 of Tennessee, was killed by a rented pontoon boat propeller in Arkansas. He fell from a tube, his dad circled to pick him up, and he was fatally struck by the propeller.
• 2 August 2013 Helimeds (an ITV show in Wales) aired their re-enactment of Cian William’s 2012 boat propeller accident and his rescue via a life flight helicopter.
• 8 August 2013 Tyler Murphy, college baseball recruit, struck by boat propeller in California.
• 22 August 2013 Samantha Maywell, known as Mermaid Samantha at Weeki Watchee Springs State Park in Florida was on the Gulf of Mexico with some fellow mermaids on a pontoon boat enjoying the day when she fell from the stern and was stuck by the propeller.
• 24 August 2013 Aaron Tepfer, 10 of New York, fell from a tube and was climbing back into the boat when his leg became entrapped in the propeller. Aaron died from his injuries early the next morning.
• An August 2013 academic study published in the Journal of Pediatric Surgery on children water-associated trauma urged, ““manufacturers should be strongly advised to consider redesigning some of the components of watercraft known to induce major injuries in victims in these accidents, including preventing exposure to propellers for instance.”
• 12 September 2013 we published a tribute to all the Rescuers, First Responders, Paramedics, Surgeons, and Others that have helped save so many propeller accident victims.
• 15 September 2013 we published a two part article on Blunt Trauma & Biomechanics of Boat Propeller and Propeller Guard Strikes we had been crafting off and on for a long time.
• 16 September 2013 Michael Meyer v. Carnival Cruise Lines et al. settled regarding his cruise shore shore excursion catamaran propeller accident in St. Lucia. We posted extensive coverage of this case in early November 2013 in part due to its similarities to the recently filed Schulman case.
• September 2013 U.S. Coast Guard Cadence (marching drill chant) contest semi finalist honors Terrell and Rachel Horne. Terrell was killed by a boat propeller in a raid on alleged smugglers off the coast of California very early the morning off 2 December 2012.
• 30 September 2013 British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) broadcast an investigation in the use of boat kill-cords (kill switch lanyards) following the Milligan accident there.
• 17 October 2013 Casey Schulman’s father, David Schulman, filed suit in her behalf against Semester at Sea following her December 2012 propeller fatality in Dominica while on a shore excursion. Semester at Sea is sponsored by the University of Virginia.
• In late October we started posting extensive coverage of the Michael Meyer v. Carnival Cruise Lines, et al case as it has many similarities to the upcoming Schulman vs. Semester at Sea case.
• 22 November 2013 Princes Club Water Sports Park in the UK was fined 35,000 Pound Sterling in the propeller death of Mari-Simon Cronje. The Club’s owner was also ordered to pay 100,000 Pound Sterling in costs. The Judge said he would have fined the club more, but he was not able to fine them for more than their worth.
• In mid December we posted a chart and an extensive paper on preventing outboard motors from flipping into boats after striking floating or submerged objects.
• 26 December 2013 article in the Daily Post about Cian Williams noted Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has retreated from their previous comments about how they were going to investigate ways of guarding propellers. MCA now says traditional approaches would be more effective, including the use of kill cords, more training for skippers, and increasing the awareness of swimmers.