Mother, daughter die in parasailing accident

By RACHEL WEBB
Scripps Howard News Service
July 12, 2001

FORT MYERS, Fla. - A mother and daughter vacationing died in a parasailing accident after the harness carrying them snapped in an afternoon storm.

Taylor Straney, 13, and Lisabeth Hope Bailey-Straney, 37, of Vine Grove, Ky., died within hours of each other after falling 200 feet into shallow water in the Gulf of Mexico shortly before 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Taylor Straney was taken by ambulance to Healthpark Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, said Lt. Daryl Amberson, of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Her mother died several hours later at Lee Memorial Hospital.

Investigators say a combination of equipment failure and bad weather likely caused the accident. "Obviously, high winds are not good conditions for parasailing," Amberson said.

Gary Morse, spokesman for the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said the two were vacationing in Fort Myers Beach with Bailey-Straney's other daughter, Kristen Bailey, 17.

Kristen Bailey, of Lawrenceville, Ga., was in the boat with a friend and saw the accident.

Beachgoers noticed the boat operators struggling to reel the pair in as the weather became more severe and winds picked up around 12:30 p.m. After several tries, the harness carrying the parasailors snapped, and they fell into the water - less than 4 feet deep.

Several other passengers were on the parasail trip, too. Deanna Galati, and Sarah Collins, both 17, said Bailey-Straney calmed their nervousness about parasailing, telling them it was safe and even encouraging them to go first, which they did.

Collins and Galati said they had an uneventful ride, but the weather worsened as mother and daughter rode in the tandem parasail harness.

"The wind all of a sudden just came up with no warning and the water got really choppy," Collins said.

Collins and Galati, both of Pittsburgh, said the boat's captain tried to bring the pair down and radioed his office for help. Through the ordeal, Collins said, the boat's crew - both employees of AA Parasail and Waverunners, Etc. Inc - remained calm. "They did a good job," she said. "They did everything they could. They didn't panic."

Kevin McFadden called 911 from his 12th-floor hotel room when he saw the scene grow chaotic. The parasailors were nearly at eye level from his vantage point.

McFadden, an avid parasailor, said waves forced the boat closer to shore as the operators tried to bring the parasailors down. The boat's captain tried several times to move into the gulf and the mother and daughter were gesturing wildly with their arms and legs.

After the harness snapped, McFadden said, the two hit the surface flat on their backs. "It looked like the chute ripped through the middle," he said. "The girls went right down."

Few regulations govern the parasailing industry. Parasailing companies must have two employees on every trip, customers must wear life preservers and they can only parasail during certain hours. Parasail captains must also be licensed by the Coast Guard.

Lt. Stephen Ward, of the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office in Tampa, said the boat's captain was licensed. The Coast Guard does not inspect parasailing boats or equipment.

"This is the first parasail fatality I've heard of on the west coast of Florida,' Ward said. "We need to speak to the operator and look at the weather conditions, the status of the captain's license and to witnesses and sheriff's deputies."

If the captain is found at fault, punishment could range from revoking his license to civil penalties.