10: Car Hit By Boat On September 29th, 2019, an elderly woman
from British Columbia, Canada, was found dead in her vehicle after a devastating accident
at a boat launch.
This accident happened at Blaine Harbor, in Blaine Washington, which is just across the
Canadian/U.S. border.
The woman and her vehicle were totally submerged beneath a boat.
At 7:20 a.m. on the morning of a boat launch, a 911 call was made by the boaters, as they
had just discovered something shocking.
They reported to the officers that they had discovered a fully submerged vehicle just
after launching their own boat!
Soon afterwards, officers and local rescue divers swiftly rushed to the scene.
It was then that one of the rescue divers noticed someone inside of the vehicle.
Firefighters and paramedics arrived quickly to try and save the elderly woman’s life.
Sadly, soon after the vehicle was towed out of the harbor, and all of the water drained
out, the elderly Canadian woman was pronounced dead.
But just how on earth did an 87-year-old woman drown at the boat launch?After the police
conducted an investigation, they concluded in their report that it’s believed the 87
year old had gotten lost /while trying to drive from Kelowna, British Columbia, to North
Vancouver, British Columbia.
After getting lost, she drove towards the U.S. border to ask for directions.
But at this point it was late at night, and it’s believed that the lost 87 year old
made a few more wrong turns and accidentally ended up at the boat launch ramp, getting
caught in the rising tide and eventually totally submerged, just a few hours before the Blaine
Harbor Public Boat Launch.
9: Fire at the Launch In the heat of a Chicago summer last year,
one man was critically injured by a huge boat fire that began on a Saturday afternoon.
In Burnham Harbor, a group of men were trying to start up and launch an older boat.
They reportedly were using starter fluid to get the old boat up and running again.
Maybe they used a bit too much, because all of a sudden a spark from the old boat’s
engine must’ve ignited the highly flammable liquid.
At around 3:20 p.m., witnesses claim they saw clouds of smoke coming from the boat.
They also saw a man on the boat trying to put out the fire on his own with a fire extinguisher.
But he wasn’t able to put it out, and just moments later, the whole boat was completely
engulfed in a terrifying, giant ball of fire.
Apparently, the small fire had reached one of the old boat’s motors, which caused the
fire to grow and spread extremely quickly.
The flames reportedly reached up to 15 feet (4.5 meters) high!
All of the other boats at the launch had to quickly turn around and wait in the harbor
before being able to come back to the dock.
The firefighters quickly showed up and were thankfully able to put out the fire by around
4 p.m., before it was able to spread to the dock or any other ships.
The one man on the boat trying to put out the fire with a fire extinguisher was rushed
to the hospital in critical condition.
Luckily, he’s expected to make a full recovery.
The old boat, on the other hand, did not make it.
Sadly, it was completely destroyed and burnt to a crisp from the fiery disaster at the
Burnham Harbor.
8: Lifeboat Drill Gone Wrong In recent weeks, an important safety drill
on a British research vessel went horribly wrong!
The crew members on the research ship, which is named the RRS Sir David Attenborough, were
conducting a regular safety drill.
Normally, the crew members are supposed to attempt to board and launch the smaller lifeboats
from the main ship as quickly as possible.
However, the drill didn’t go totally according to plan.
Two crew members were in a lifeboat, awaiting the proper deployment, when all of a sudden
something went wrong and the lifeboat accidentally launched on its own!
Since none of the crew members were ready for the launch, the lifeboat began to roll
on its side and soon completely flipped over!
Scary!
Although the lifeboat safety drill is essential, it’s one of the more risky routines that
modern ships need to do.
In fact, just a few months before, a similar incident occurred in Vancouver, British Columbia
with a different boat, leaving two crew members significantly injured.
Luckily, it was just a drill, and the RRS Sir David Attenborough was docked in Loch
Buie, Scotland, instead of the frigid, polar seas where it normally conducts its research.
This could’ve been much, much worse.
Thankfully, the RRS Sir David Attenborough and its crew members will survive to research
the polar seas another day.
But actually, this isn’t even what the RRS Sir David Attenborough is best known for.
When first launched, the United Kingdom government encouraged the public to pick a name for the
new research vessel.
The most popular option for the new boat’s name was “Boaty McBoatface”, but the United
Kingdom government made the decision to not go through with the public’s choice, and
instead named the boat after Sir David Attenborough.
7: Crash in the Bayou A deadly boat crash went down in the Bayou
Sara river, near Gunnison Creek in Satsuma, Alabama back in 2020.
This occurred at the Steele Creek boat launch, two boats tragically crashed into one another,
killing one man and injuring two other people.
According to a witness, an elderly man had started up his old boat and took it out for
a ride.
However, the old boat reportedly hadn’t been used in a few years, meaning it probably
wasn’t in the best or safest operating condition.
But this didn’t stop the elderly man from taking it for a ride at full speed on the
Bayou Sara.
Just after launching his boat, the 21-foot (6.4 m) 1990 Wahoo, there was almost immediately
a deadly collision.
The Wahoo rammed into and ran over a smaller red boat, a brand-new, 16-foot (4.8 m) 2020
Bass Tracker.
On the red Bass Tracker, there was an older married couple.
The captain of the Wahoo’s negligence killed the man in the red Bass Tracker and severely
injured two others.
In fact, an emergency helicopter had to be called to lift a woman from the red Bass Tracker
and take her to a hospital to treat her serious injuries.
Someone should’ve let this guy know that you can’t just start up an old boat and
safely take it out for a ride after not using it for a few years!
Boats need consistent care and maintenance to make sure that they can ride safely on
the water, without putting yourself and other boaters at risk.
Unfortunately, the authorities never release whose fault the accident was or just how badly
damaged the boats were.
Since we know that basically everyone involved needed to be taken to the hospital for treatment,
and we also know that the local Saraland Fire Department had to respond to the scene, we
can assume that the boats were sadly pretty much totaled.
6: The $10 Million Yacht More like $10 million down the drain!
On May 18th, 2014, on Anacortes island, Washington, a brand new luxurious 90 foot (27.4 m) long
yacht named Baden was being launched from the Fidalgo Marina boat ramp.
The launch was going smoothly at first, but suddenly the crew reportedly heard a loud
clunk accompanied by some crunching sounds.
Not a good sign for this high priced vessel.
For some reason, the crew convinced themselves that this was just not that big of a deal,
and they continued with the ominous launch.
They had hoped that the now tilted boat would simply readjust and find balance once it finished
its launch and was comfortably on the water.
However, pretty much the worst case scenario ended up happening instead.
As the costly boat continued to be forced through the precarious launch, it began to
capsize on its port side.
Port just means left in boat terms.
Once on its side, it began filling up with water quickly, and everyone had to evacuate.
Local emergency responders arrived and helped everyone out.
They even had to smash the $10 million yacht’s windows to help some crew members escape the
sinking boat.
Thankfully, nobody died in this $10 million death machine, and all injuries were just
minor cuts and scrapes.
Due to the extensive water damage throughout the yacht’s features and machinery, the
whole thing was considered a total loss.
Of course, the company who built the yacht, New World Yacht Builders, claimed that it
was a problem with the launching apparatus and not the boat itself.
And yeah, that's what I would claim too if I were the boat builder!
But then the launching company claimed they did nothing wrong either, and that they have
launched over 35 vessels from the same launch with no issues.
I just hope they had insurance!
5: Carnival Cruise Crash At the end of December 2019, the magnificent
Carnival Cruise Line ship named Glory was involved in a startling accident with another
boat, the Carnival Legend.
That’s right, it’s just about as ridiculous as you hitting your family member’s car
in the driveway!
It was in Cozumel, Mexico, where passengers were hoping to enjoy a warm vacation without
much stress.
So much for that!
In a horrifying video captured by those on board, the nose of the Carnival Glory made
direct contact with the hull of the other ship, both of which were owned by the same
company!
6 passengers suffered minor injuries, probably from the nose of the ship piercing the other
ship like a giant spear.
This was one of the slowest and loudest cruise ship disasters ever.
The nose very slowly ripped apart the front end of the other ship, creating a sound like
crunching metal.
Neither ship was taken out of commission afterwards, but hopefully whoever was driving that ship
at least had their license revoked!
What would you do if you were on a cruise ship when an accident like this happened?
Would you panic?
Would you run for the lifeboats?
Or would you whip out your phone and start taking a video?
Tell me your thoughts in the comments below.
Then, remember to subscribe to Talltanic if you haven’t already for more insane videos
just like this one!
4: The SS.
Principessa Jolanda This massive cruise ship, which was built
in Italy in the early 1900s, cost a fortune for its builders and was one of the only transatlantic
vessels equipped with electric lighting and telephones inside the cabins.
It was one of the most technologically advanced ships of the early 1900s, which makes what
happened next all the more disappointing.
On September 22, the ship launched in front of a massive audience, including government
officials and journalists.
The ship moved down the slipway, heeled sharply to port, and sank within just 20 minutes.
Even with efforts by tugboats and workers at the shipyard to save the vessel from drowning,
it just couldn't be done.
The shining new passenger ship capsized and was swallowed by the water.
Unlike the more famous sinking of the Titanic, all of the guests and workers on board were
able get off the ship and escape in their lifeboats.
There were absolutely no casualties.
But still, it was a huge blow for Italy and a massive waste of money.
As for why the ship sank in the first place, most agreed its center of gravity was too
high.
When the ship started heeling, it took in water through the portholes, its center of
gravity moved around, the ship just kept tilting deeper and deeper, and it was eventually underwater.
3: The Boat that Got Away A man trying to enjoy a relaxing day of boating
at Smith Mountain Lake in February 2021 ended up dead after mishandling a boat launch.
The story, which took place in rural Virginia, is actually quite tragic.
According to NBC News, a man named Richard fell into the water about 25 feet (7m) after
launching his boat.
But he wasn't actually in the boat at the time.
For whatever reason, he had been pushing the boat from the boat launch into the water,
and when he tried to scramble up onto the boat once it was finally floating, he couldn't
get on.
A horrified bystander watched helplessly as Richard tried to scramble onto his vessel,
to absolutely no avail.
The boat simply kept drifting deeper and deeper into the cove.
Richard finally gave up once he started drifting too far.
He turned around and tried to swim back to shore.
That was when the horrified bystander entered the water to try and save him.
But unfortunately, even after more bystanders got involved and they were able to drag Richard
back to shore, it was too late for him.
One of the people performed CPR, a rescue squad was called to the scene, but it was
all for nothing.
Tragically, Richard perished that day, never to drive his boat again.
2: No Warnings In Chicago, there is a road that drives right
into the river at Sunset Bay Marina, and over the years it’s claimed the lives of several
people.
It's unmarked, there is no gate before it, and there is no warning.
The danger here is that people unfamiliar with the area don't always know that they’re
driving towards a ramp that enters the water.
Just recently, in November 2019, two young men drove straight down the boat launch, crashed
into the water, and died.
According to CBS Chicago, this happened on a dark and rainy night when the young men
had been following their GPS directions.
For whatever reason, their GPS led them down a street they didn't recognize, into an unlit
part of the marina, and straight down the unguarded and unmarked boat launch.
These men didn't intend to launch a boat, but they wound up launching themselves and
their own car into the water!
Unfortunately, without a way out of their car and without anyone to rescue them in time,
the young men died at the scene.
1: Run Over by a Boat A woman in Kansas died in July of 2020 after
being gravely injured in a boating accident that involved her literally being run over
by her own boat on the ramp down into the water.
According to the initial reports, the incident happened when the unidentified woman was somehow
hit by her own vessel.
Police reports didn't mention exactly how the accident happened, though we do know it
took place around 6:00 PM, the busiest time of day when boats are returning back to shore.
It's possible that in the chaos of so many people coming back to the dock, the woman
mishandled her own boat, lost control, and was run over by it.
Even though there were a lot of people there to help the poor woman while the police were
on their way, her injuries proved too much to handle.
Even after she was taken to hospital, the woman failed to recover and ultimately succumbed
to her wounds.
Have you ever seen a boat launch fail?
Let me know about it in the comments and thanks for watching.
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