OUTLAW EAGLE MANUFACTURING

[Black Fly]

Klondike Jet put their boat into a bridge pier in Edmonton, and sent 3 to the hospital. Concrete isn't very forgiving!

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Alberta/2006/06/26/1653518-sun.html

[YKX]

River revellers in a jet boat dodged disaster yesterday after the machine's steering apparently went wonky and the boat slammed into a pillar under the Quesnel Bridge.

Chad Bengry was walking his dogs near the North Saskatchewan River, just east of the bridge, when he heard a loud bang just before 4 p.m.

At a clearing, he saw a red, six-metre boat against one of the huge pillars that holds the bridge up. There were seven people inside.

He thought the boat had stalled. It turned toward him and that's when he saw a badly smashed windshield and a huge dent in the boat's bow.

A couple of canoeists gave the boaters some oars and helped the boat to the shore, a few hundred metres downstream.



"A girl was yelling to help, to pull them in," recalled Bengry.

One man was bleeding from the head and looked pretty bad, said Bengry, who figured he may have been tossed into the windshield.

"It was bleeding pretty good. He didn't know where he was.

He was rushed to hospital by ambulance with serious head injuries. Two more people were secured on stretchers by EMS as a precaution for neck or back injuries.

And three more boaters were taken to hospital for less-serious injuries.

Police Sgt. Mike Cook said the boat was trying to negotiate the space between the legs of one of the pillars - perpendicular to the river - below the bridge, when the boat's steering reportedly failed.

Cook couldn't say just why anyone would try that risky manoeuvre; it wouldn't leave much room on either side of the boat.

"It's not something I would do, and it's not something I train for on the police boat," said Cook, a police boat captain.

No one was thrown from the boat and everyone was wearing a lifejacket, Cook said.

Alcohol wasn't believed to be a factor. Police seized the boat for a mechanical inspection. The boat's driver was licensed.

Cook said the collision would be investigated like any other involving a motor vehicle.

The boat belongs to a local river tour company, said Cook, but its passengers - aged mid-20s to 50s - were friends of the owner, out for a ride at the end of the day.

Shelly Evjen, a nursing attendant, helped some of the injured people on the river's edge. She said she'd never seen anything like it.

"Nor would I want to see that again."

[Dano]

I've only been jet boating for 3 years now, but I have never once even thought about going anywhere near any cement bridge pillar. What's up with playing with those things?

[TOP DAWG]

I do stupid things sometimes, OK allot but nothing like that. If I did try that I would certainly never do it with any passengers on board never mind 6. That's plain dumb.

[Hines]

hey dawg i have to agree a little silly just hope nobody got hurt to bad maybe see you in peace four the race.

[Kev-o]

Dawg, I hope to make it to the whitecourt but can't make it to the mighty peace. Do you think the DODGE will be up to a swamp show by then?

[shallowman]

was that accident with a sportjet
I have talked to many boaters as I put in plastic wear rings for them
and if you take that housing apart be VERY careful not to push the steering arm left or right or up and down as it has a chicken sh#t knuckle joint that will expand and then all of a sudden your boat will turn left but not to the right as I know of at least 10 people that this happened to and one case it was a brand new never apart boat
I have taken mine apart and checked this and it was ready to go
so all I did was pull back the rubber bellows and crimp the end better
the knuckle joint is on the main housing near the transom
It is something that should be improved on from Mercury

[Black Fly]

No, not a sportjet. I know that boat was built with a Hamilton 1031 pump, but I don't know if it still has that pump in it. If it was replaced, it would have been with another Hamilton.