Crime & Safety
Accident Off Dewees Island Kills Two
FAA examining accident involving boat rigged with parasailing apparatus.
Two people were killed Wednesday evening in a water accident off the coast of Dewees Island near Isle of Palms.
It happened just after 6:15 p.m. Wednesday, according to the FAA. Witnesses said an inflatable boat, with a hang glider-type wing and a propeller attached, lost control and crashed.
The Post and Courier identified the victims as Mount Pleasant residents Lucas Smith and Carly Donohue.
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Read more about the Dewees Island crash.
Charleston County EMS Colonel Don Lundy said medical staff at the scene pronounced two people dead. He did not know their names, ages or gender.
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Isle of Palms police are leading the investigation, according to U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Christopher Evanson, a Jacksonville-based spokesman.
The craft was a lightweight Zodiac boat that was outfitted with a parasailing apparatus, Evanson said. Something went wrong with the watercraft, but he did not have any other details.
"An FAA safety inspector will be on the scene tomorrow morning to begin the investigation," said Kathleen Bergen, an Atlanta-based FAA spokeswoman. "I would not characterize this as a 'plane' crash. It was not a registered aircraft."
Other media reported that two people were killed in the crash that was first believed to be a small plane.
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