PropellerSafety.com

Archive for pontoon boat

Two Young Girls Killed by Boat Propellers a World Apart

November 2024 saw two promising young girls thousands of miles apart killed by boat propellers. Both girls attended well known private schools and had promising futures ahead of them. 11-year-old Brooke Mejeur was on a 20-foot pontoon boat on Lake Osborne in Palm Beach County Florida Saturday November 2, 2024. Two adults and three minors […]

Updated list of over the bow Pontoon Boat propeller accidents 2021

Its been over 3 years since we updated the List of Over the Bow Pontoon Boat Propeller Accidents, many of which result from bow riding / bowriding. We tried to limit the list to only over the bow prop accidents on pontoon boats. There are numerous other ways to get struck by the propeller of […]

Pontoon Boat propeller warning from Aiden Mckitrick’s mother

Back on May 5, 2016, three year old Aiden McKitrick fell from the front of a pontoon boat and was entrapped on the propeller. We posted coverage of his accident at that time. Now (early March 2017) about ten months after Aiden’s accident on Lake Ray Hubbard in Texas, his mother is speaking out with […]

State of Maryland files against boat rental operation in propeller fatality

9 year-old Kaden Frederick was on the bow of a rented pontoon boat Wednesday afternoon August 17, 2016 near Ocean City, Maryland. The pontoon boat was running about half speed as he dangled his legs over the bow. Three others sat on the bow beside him. We previously covered the accident. Kaden fell over the […]

NBSAC public comment on recent propeller accidents

In advance of the October 21-22, 2016 National Boating Safety Advisory Council (NBSAC) 96th meeting, the U.S. Coast Guard requested public comments on items on the agenda. The announcement was published in the September 26th Federal Register and the public was given 5 days to respond. One of the topics to be presented at the […]

Pontoon boat propeller accident cluster: 6 media reported accidents in 8 days

Pontoon boat propeller accidents tend to pileup in the summer months. But the recent cluster of 6 media reported pontoon boat propeller accidents in 8 days should be a wake up call for change. As always, these are media reports, exact circumstances may not be correct and things may change by issue of actual official […]

Aiden McKitrick, age 3, stuck by Pontoon boat propeller on Lake Ray Hubbard

Aiden McKitrick, a three year old boy, was on a pontoon boat with his father, Austin McKitrick, Thurday evening May 5, 2016 on Lake Ray Hubbard, near Dallas Texas. About 8:30pm they were near the Rush Creek Yacht Club and Aiden was playing near the pontoon boat gate. The young boy, Aiden McKitrick, fell overboard […]

Preventing Pontoon Boat “Over the Bow” Propeller Accidents

Children and adults have been falling off the bow of pontoon boats and being stuck by the propeller for decades. A typical scenario involves children sitting on the bow, outside the fence, with their feet dangling in the water as the boat moves forward. They hit a larger wake or wave and are pulled overboard […]

Prevent Pontoon Over the Bow Propeller Accidents by DESIGN

This post is a subpart of our larger coverage of Preventing Pontoon Boat Over the Bow accidents. Engineering & Design In our opinion, DESIGN is one of the most overlooked and under utilized tools to prevent pontoon boat over the bow propeller accidents. Traditionally engineers identify hazards then apply the Product Safety Hierarchy to make […]

Our List of Pontoon Boat Over the Bow Accidents Updated 8 July 2014

We recently spent some time updating our list of Pontoon Boat Bowriding propeller accidents. Since our October 2013 update, we have become aware of or identified about 15 more over the bow pontoon boat propeller accidents. They are mostly 2013 and 2014 accidents. Several of the new 2013 accidents come from the recently released 2013 […]