PropellerSafety.com

Legal Shorts – Page 3

Clippard vs. Yamaha outboard flipped in propeller case settled

In May 2013 Timothy Clippard of Missouri was killed in a boating accident on Kentucky Lake during a bass fishing tournament. His fishing partner piloted the Ranger bass boat as they passed under a large bridge on the way back to weigh in. The 225 horsepower Yamaha outboard motor struck a barely submerged bridge support […]

Bean appeal in Barhanovich case heard by U.S. Court of Appeals for 5th Circuit

On September 16, 2012 Mark Barhanovich’s boat struck a dredge pipe off Deer Island, Mississippi, his 225 horsepower Suzuki outboard motor broke off, flipped into the boat, and he was killed by the propeller. As to what led up to the appeal, see our post titled, Barhanovich case: Suzuki released, Bean appeals The Expert Reports […]

$23 million Circle of Death propeller accident verdict upheld

Derek Hebert was on a Champion center console boat being operated by Daniel Vamvoras on 7 May 2005. They were between the Calcasieu River and Lake Charles County Club. The steering system failed and the boat began to spin (the Circle of Death). Derek Hebert was ejected, struck 19 times by the propeller, and died […]

Barhanovich case: Suzuki released, Bean appeals

The fatal propeller accident in which Mark Barhanovich’s boat allegedly struck a dredge pipe and the Suzuki outboard motor broke off, flipped into the boat and struck him with the propeller has resulted in perhaps the most complicated propeller accident case ever with no end in sight. Mr. Barhanovich was a cherished, well known citizen […]

Moreno vs. Ross Island Sand & Gravel trial: jury decision

Back on 29 September 2011, Mike Moreno, a professional bass angler, and his stepson, Jared Mitchell were prefishing the California Bass Federation State Championship tournament The were rolling along in a Ranger bass boat powered by a 250 horsepower Mercury outboard motor. About 8 am they struck a dredge pipe on the San Joaquin River […]

Angelopoulos v. Volvo Penta, Grady-White, et al: in Pre Trial Conference

A young girl, by the last name of Angelopoulos, then 12 or 13, was entrapped in Volvo DuoProp stern drive propeller on 30 June 2011 in Chesapeake Bay near Lynnhaven Pier in Virginina Beach. The vessel was a 24 foot 2000 Grady-White Sailfish. The young girl was reboarding the boat after tubing. It took about […]

Bean Pled Guilty in Barhanovich Criminal Case

Mark Barhanovich was killed 16 September 2012 when his 23 foot center console fishing boat struck a dredge pipe off Deer Island, Mississippi. The 225 horsepower Suzuki outboard motor broke off and flipped up into the boat, fatally striking him with its still rotating propeller. Mr. Barhanovich’s family settled a civil suit against the dredging […]

DJ Laz pleads No Contest

DJ Laz, South Florida radio personality, was operating the 42 foot boat involved in the fatal propeller strike of Ernesto Hernandez in May 2014. Ernesto and others nearby came to help push the large boat off a Nixon Beach sandbar near Key Biscayne during a Voli Vodka promotional event. On Wednesday November 4, 2015, DJ […]

New Zealand Diving Charter Fined in death of Bruce Porter

Bruce Porter was a member of the Western Underwater Dive Club. Eleven club members, including Mr. Porter, booked a dive charter vessel tour in New Zealand on 7 February 2014. Mr. Porter was from England and settled in New Zealand on Aukland’s North Shore with his wife in 2008. While diving near the entrance to […]

Propeller case settles for $12 million

On 9 August 2011, a father (Jared C. Adkins, then 39) and his son (Calvin Adkins, then 11) of Harrington Delaware were on a dive boat charter in the Florida Keys. They were on the Big Dipper, a 46 foot dive boat, belonging to the Florida Keys Dive Center in Tavernier Florida on Plantation Key. […]