Powerboat racer critically injured at Key West championship, 

2 days after crash that killed 2

 

KEY WEST, Fla. — An offshore powerboat racer was critically injured Friday during an accident at the Key West World Championship, where two racers were killed in a boating crash on Wednesday.

Super Boat International officials said Friday night that racer Joey Gratton of University Park, Fla., was being airlifted to Ryder Trauma Center in Miami.

His racing partner Stephen Page, the owner and driver of Page Motorsports, was admitted to Lower Keys Medical Center. Racing officials said he was in good condition.

The 38-foot Superboat 850-class Skater catamaran rolled over twice at checkpoint 1 of the 6.5-mile course, on the final lap of the seven-lap race.

“It was the classic rollover type of accident; something we’ve seen before at turns,” said John Carbonell, president of Super Boat International, the event’s sanctioning body. “We’re investigating the accident, but preliminarily it appears they may have gone into the turn a bit too fast.”

The accident followed a crash on the first day of racing that killed Robert M. Morgan of Sunrise Beach, Mo., and Jeffrey Tillman of Kaiser, Mo. They were the throttleman and driver, respectively, for Big Thunder Marine.

Both offshore racers injured Friday were pushing hard to keep up with J.D. Byrider, piloted by Ohio racers Tony Marcantonio of Dover, and Mark Kowalski of Hinkley.

Page was able to extricate himself from the boat, but rescue divers had to pull Gratton out. Carbonell was awaiting medical and safety reports before providing further details on rescue efforts, but said medical boats are positioned at turns, because of the potential for accidents.

At the time of the incident, sustained winds were about 15 mph, with gusts to 23 mph, according to forecasters at the Key West National Weather Service. Wave heights were about 2 to 3 feet.

Wednesday’s crash had caused some racers to adjust their strategies on Friday.

“It was a terrible tragedy and everybody had it on their minds,” said Randy Scism of Wentzville, Mo., throttleman for the CMS boat that has the lead in the Superboat Unlimited standings.

Scism said he and owner/driver Bob Bull of Macks Creek, Mo., set up CMS very conservatively to maximize control rather than speed during the second race day.

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UPDATE

3rd powerboat racer dies after another crash at Key West championship

In this photo, provided by Super Boat International, medical and safety boats surround Page Motorsports, after it rolled over Friday, Nov. 11, 2011, during the second of three race days at the Key West World Championship. According to race officials, driver/owner Stephen Page is in Lower Keys Medical Center in satisfactory condition, while throttleman Joey Gratton was airlifted to Miami's Ryder Trauma Center in critical condition.

Power boat racer Joey Gratton dies

Racer Joey Gratton lived a life of extreme sports, and the inherent danger ultimately claimed his life hours after an offshore powerboat accident in Key West.

Gratton, a 59-year-old veteran powerboat throttleman and a renowned motocross racer, died overnight Friday at the Ryder Trauma center in Miami. He was the third racer killed in the Key West World Championship this week.

Gratton was critically injured Friday when the Page Motorsports boat flipped twice at the course's first turn. His partner, Stephen Page, the boat's owner and driver, was released from the Lower Keys Medical Center on Saturday.

Gratton and Page were three-time world champions and captured the national championship seven times since they teamed up in 1999, according to the Page Motorsports Facebook page.

Gratton lived in University Park with his wife, Priscilla. The pair has 29-year-old twin sons, Blake and Brock. Gratton was also part owner of the Buccaneer Pawn Shop in Bradenton.

A memorial service in his honor was held in Key West Saturday afternoon. Lucy Nicandri, director of Sarasota's Super Boat Grand Prix, said all the racers and crews gathered, many men with tears in their eyes.

Nicandri said Gratton was an all-around athlete, a mentor and generally one of the nicest guys around.

“He always had a big smile and a positive attitude,” he said. “He'd want the guys to get out there Sunday and race and do their best.”

A sportsmanship award presented each year at the world championships will be presented Sunday to all racers and to the families of the three racers who were killed this week, Nicandri said.

 

 

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Two powerboat racers killed during Key West event

 

 

Rescue personnel work on extracting offshore powerboat racers Robert M. Morgan of Sunrise Beach, Mo., and Jeffrey Tillman of Kaiser, Mo., after their 46-foot catamaran was involved in a violent accident during the first of three race days at the Key West World Championship on  in Key West, Florida

Two racers were killed when their boat barrel-rolled and landed upside down in Wednesday’s opener of the Key West Super Boat World Championships.

Big Thunder Marine owner/throttleman Bob Morgan of Sunrise Beach, Mo., and driver Jeffrey Tillman of Kaiser, Mo., were pronounced dead at Lower Keys Medical Center on Wednesday afternoon.

Big Thunder, a 46-foot Skater with four 1,200-horsepower engines, crashed in Key West Harbor during the race’s third lap in front of spectators at Mallory Square.

Paramedics jumped from helicopters and pulled the victims onto a rescue boat, which transported them to an ambulance on shore. The boat’s cockpit was crushed and one of the sponsons torn off.

“Our hearts and prayers go out to their families,” Rodrick Cox, a spokesman for Super Boat International Productions, said.

At almost the same time, racers aboard Motley Crew, a 36-foot Skater with twin 525-horsepower engines, crashed a short distance offshore. But driver Scott Roman and throttleman Ron Roman, both of New Jersey, were not seriously injured.

A memorial service for Morgan and Tillman is scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday in the race pits at the Truman Waterfront. The second race of the three-event series will go on as scheduled Friday and Sunday, according to race director John Carbonell.

Wednesday’s fatalities are the first ones at the Key West world championships since 1995, when one racer died and three were seriously injured in separate crashes. 

 

Morgan, the affable owner of the Big Thunder Motorsports Park and Marina Complex on Lake of the Ozarks, won two Key West world titles in his career – in 1998 and 2001—and had previously survived a few close calls on the race course. Big Thunder rolled over at 80 mph during a turn in the final lap of the 1999 championships and caught fire during the 2004 series.

Morgan and Tillman, a Lake of the Ozarks developer, last August competed aboard Big Thunder in the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout, reaching speeds of over 170 mph.

Race teams from as far away as the Ukraine, Australia, and Europe are competing alongside U.S. entries this week in an event widely considered the Indianapolis 500 of offshore powerboat racing. 

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AND AGAIN

 

 

Cessna Citation 550 Aircraft went off the end of the runway on landing, at Key West, Florida

Arnold's Towing arrives at Key West Airport 

to remove the aircraft from the runway. 

 

Key West – The pilot and co-pilot of a twin engine jet which crashed at the Key West airport Thursday told investigators the plane’s brakes failed upon landing.

Their story is similar to that told by the pilot and co-pilot of a plane that crashed in Key West on Monday night.

Pilot Jose Tomas Batista, 55 of Hollywood Florida, and Co-Pilot Frederico Andres Machado, 43 of Fort Lauderdale said they were en route from Fort Lauderdale and the flight was going well until them attempted to apply the brakes upon landing in Key West and nothing happened.

The FAA and the NTSB were both on the scene Thursday and will be the agencies assigned to investigate the cause of the crash. All three passengers – Paula Carriero, of Fort Lauderdale, Fred Davis of Toms River, New Jersey and William Daughenbaugh of Linville, New Jersey – walked away from the crash. There were no injuries.

ALSO SEE

http://todaysdailypoop.blogspot.com/2011/11/gulfstream-aircraft-on-landing-went-off.html

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Gulfstream Aircraft on landing went off the end of the runway and into a fence. Key West, Florida. 

 

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick returned home today, a day after he broke a rib and shoulder when his plane ran off the runway in Key West, Fla.

Hendrick Motorsports said the brakes failed when the Gulfstream G150 landed at Key West International Airport on Monday night. The plane is co-owned by Jimmie Johnson and normally shuttles the five-time defending NASCAR champion and his family to and from races.

“As everybody is aware, there was a brake issue with the airplane landing,” Johnson said. “All four on board are OK and are home back in Charlotte. We are just beyond thankful that everything turned out well with the crash and there weren't any major injuries down there. It certainly was a scary event — I can only imagine.”

Hendrick, his wife, Linda, and the two pilots were all released from Lower Keys Medical Center this morning and returned to Charlotte. Linda Hendrick sustained minor cuts and bruises. The two pilots were not injured.

The plane apparently skidded off the 4,800-foot runway and came to a stop along a 600-foot unpaved safety area that had been added in May.

“If we hadn't done that, it likely would have been a different story,” county airport director Peter Horton said of the safety area that is meant as a runway overrun space.

The FAA incident report listed the damage to the aircraft as undetermined. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

Hendrick is the most successful team owner in NASCAR, and fields cars for Johnson, four-time champion Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin. The team recently celebrated its 199th career victory in the Sprint Cup Series.

In 2004, a plane Hendrick owned crashed en route to a race in Martinsville, Va., killing all 10 on board. That included Hendrick's son, Ricky, his brother and twin nieces.

Photographs of the crash show the plane largely intact and with its nose resting on the ground about 20 feet in front of a chain-linked airport boundary fence.

Johnson said he spoke to Hendrick today.

“It's been a long night for him — he's trying to get some rest and we just touched base and I know that he's OK,” Johnson said. “It's just nice to hear his voice and hear him say he's fine and OK and Linda is as well along with the pilots.

“We don't have a lot of answers at this point. There's a lot of really good, smart people working on getting answers to these questions so we can all understand what exactly took place.”

NASCAR driver Greg Biffle was uninjured this year when his plane's right main landing gear failed and the wing hit the runway during a landing at Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Ky.

Biffle's team owner, Jack Roush, has survived two plane crashes, including one last year in Wisconsin in which he lost his left eye.

 

In a photo provided by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, a firefighter sprays a Gulfstream jet after a crash landing Monday night, Oct. 31, 2011, in Key West, Fla. 

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Not quite James Bond -- but still

A futuristic adventure puts thrill-seekers above the waves

James Bond meets the Jetsons in the waters off Key West, where sci-fi dreams of jet pack transportation are becoming reality.

A company called Jetpack Adventures is offering flight instruction and fly time about 2 1/2 miles off Key West, in the waters northwest of Wisteria Island.

The company ferries clients on a six-passenger boat from the Galleon Resort Marina to a catamaran anchored offshore. Once on board the catamaran, novice flyers strap on a JetLev R200 flight pack reminiscent of the one that Sean Connery wore in the James Bond movie "Thunderball."

The jet packs are strapped to the flyer's back and include a foot bar for balance and two handles in front for steering. A 30-foot hose tethers the apparatus to a floating module with a pump that uses seawater as a propellant. Water is sucked through the hose, then forced back down from the pack, creating lift. Flight controls allow individuals to take off, make soft turns, hover and land as the module is dragged behind.

"The flight instructor has a remote-control throttle at first, until the person becomes proficient at operating it," said Erik Adams, operational manager for Jetpack Adventures. "People need to set aside about an hour and a half to two hours for the instruction and fly time."

The company began operations on June 15, and Key West is the only location in the country that offers these futuristic flying devices. A second location will soon open at Hawks Cay Resort and Marina on Duck Key.

An introductory flight is $249 plus tax, Adams said, adding that discounts are available for locals and military personnel.

Jetpack Adventures has a showroom in Fort Lauderdale, where they sell the latest in-water recreational vehicles, but the flight training center is here in Key West, Adams said.

"It's off the hook," Adams said, excitement in his voice as he described the experience.

The ferry to the flight zone leaves the Galleon every 90 minutes, starting at 10 a.m., and reservations are strongly recommended, Adams said.

Reservations can be made by calling Jetpack Adventures at 305-294-2000. For more information, visit http://www.jetpackadventures.com.

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