burbanite
08-22-2003, 06:46 AM
...before fatal crash, investigator says
Post staff report
A boat that crashed and apparently killed the Northern Kentucky man driving it had a mammoth 800-horsepower engine and might have been going up to 100 miles per hour at the time of the wreck, according to an investigator.
That's too fast for a pleasure boat, investigators said.
Witness interviews were helping investigators piece together what happened Sunday while the search for the missing man was scheduled to resume today.
Graham Codrington, 39, of Petersburg, presumably drowned in an accident Sunday in the Ohio River near Aurora, Ind., that injured his four passengers, including a 10-year-old boy who suffered broken bones. A search for Codrington's body was to resume today after searches late Sunday and most of Monday were fruitless.
The heavily-damaged, 22-foot boat apparently hit rough water and crashed about 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Investigators today were still trying to determine what type of rough water it might have encountered.
"We think it hit a wake, but we're not sure if it flipped over or went under the water," said Sgt. Bill Baumbauer of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, which is investigating the crash.
The boat was capable of going 100 miles per hour because of its 800-horsepower, V-8 engine, he said. "It's a marine engine, but it's built like an auto engine," said Baumbauer. "It's an extraordinarily powerful engine." Witnesses estimated the boat's speed "at between 70 and 100 miles per hour and they said he was really flying," Baumbauer said.
"That's too fast for any recreational boat. Racers go that fast, but they're wearing equipment that protects them."
Ten-year-old Matt Knapp suffered a broken tibia and broken fibula and also had neck and back pain. He was treated at Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati. The boy's father, Matthew Knapp Sr., suffered minor injuries and was not hospitalized. Heather Fitzgerald, 27, of Lawrenceburg, Ind., suffered a leg laceration and Mark Krumpelman, 27, of Petersburg, suffered a broken leg. They were treated at Dearborn County Hospital in Lawrenceburg.
The search for Codrington's body involved divers, dragging operations, sonar equipment and an underwater camera. "The river was moving too fast (Monday) and we had to take the divers out of the water," said Baumbauer. "It's possible the body could have gone pretty far downstream with the fast river."
Here (http://www.channelcincinnati.com/news/2395365/detail.html#) is a link to the video report. Open the video and choose "Full Window" to get a clearer picture of the boat involved.
And another....
The high-speed accident happened six weeks after another high-speed boating accident on the Ohio River. Six people were injured June 27 near Dayton when their boat was hit by a speedboat.
That incident remains under investigation, with authorities awaiting results of tests they did on a 40-foot speedboat owned by a Columbus man to determine if that craft was involved in the collision.
So far, no charges have been filed.
This is a pic of the boat allegedly involved in this incident, the boat ran over another one and then took off at speed...
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/61boat.jpg
Note the damaged drive unit.
Post staff report
A boat that crashed and apparently killed the Northern Kentucky man driving it had a mammoth 800-horsepower engine and might have been going up to 100 miles per hour at the time of the wreck, according to an investigator.
That's too fast for a pleasure boat, investigators said.
Witness interviews were helping investigators piece together what happened Sunday while the search for the missing man was scheduled to resume today.
Graham Codrington, 39, of Petersburg, presumably drowned in an accident Sunday in the Ohio River near Aurora, Ind., that injured his four passengers, including a 10-year-old boy who suffered broken bones. A search for Codrington's body was to resume today after searches late Sunday and most of Monday were fruitless.
The heavily-damaged, 22-foot boat apparently hit rough water and crashed about 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Investigators today were still trying to determine what type of rough water it might have encountered.
"We think it hit a wake, but we're not sure if it flipped over or went under the water," said Sgt. Bill Baumbauer of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, which is investigating the crash.
The boat was capable of going 100 miles per hour because of its 800-horsepower, V-8 engine, he said. "It's a marine engine, but it's built like an auto engine," said Baumbauer. "It's an extraordinarily powerful engine." Witnesses estimated the boat's speed "at between 70 and 100 miles per hour and they said he was really flying," Baumbauer said.
"That's too fast for any recreational boat. Racers go that fast, but they're wearing equipment that protects them."
Ten-year-old Matt Knapp suffered a broken tibia and broken fibula and also had neck and back pain. He was treated at Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati. The boy's father, Matthew Knapp Sr., suffered minor injuries and was not hospitalized. Heather Fitzgerald, 27, of Lawrenceburg, Ind., suffered a leg laceration and Mark Krumpelman, 27, of Petersburg, suffered a broken leg. They were treated at Dearborn County Hospital in Lawrenceburg.
The search for Codrington's body involved divers, dragging operations, sonar equipment and an underwater camera. "The river was moving too fast (Monday) and we had to take the divers out of the water," said Baumbauer. "It's possible the body could have gone pretty far downstream with the fast river."
Here (http://www.channelcincinnati.com/news/2395365/detail.html#) is a link to the video report. Open the video and choose "Full Window" to get a clearer picture of the boat involved.
And another....
The high-speed accident happened six weeks after another high-speed boating accident on the Ohio River. Six people were injured June 27 near Dayton when their boat was hit by a speedboat.
That incident remains under investigation, with authorities awaiting results of tests they did on a 40-foot speedboat owned by a Columbus man to determine if that craft was involved in the collision.
So far, no charges have been filed.
This is a pic of the boat allegedly involved in this incident, the boat ran over another one and then took off at speed...
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/61boat.jpg
Note the damaged drive unit.