On 07/20/2012 at approximately 1230 hours nro received information pertaining to a boat accident that had occurred on the neosho river in neosho county, kansas near chanute that had involved his son.  subject said the accident had occurred at least 60 days before the contact date.
Nro contacted subject and received contact information for the vessel occupants and owner / operator.
Nro interviewed the occupants, photographed the vessel, photographed the accident site, and recorded gps coordinates for the accident location.  Nro discovered one of the occupants had been injured and went to the hospital the evening of the accident.  Nro informed the operator that he was legally obligated to report the accident immediately.  The following is a summary of the events leading up to, during, and following the accident.

On 04/13/2012 at approximately 1730 hours four subjects accessed the neosho river east of chanute, ks in neosho county below the highway 39 river bridge.  The subjects put a vessel on the water and boarded it.  The subjects planned to fish by hanging setlines upriver.  The occupants tied one line above a riffle and began upriver to the north.  The vessel was just settling into plane when the vessel struck the end of a submerged vertical pipe.  The vessel came to an immediate stop.  Occupant1 was sitting on a seat on the bow at the time of the collision and was ejected forward into the water.  Operator was operating the vessel and slid forward into the steering wheel, dash, and windshield.  The impact broke the glass out of the windshield and drove the steering wheel into the dash.  Occupant2 was sitting behind Operator.  Occupant2 slid forward, impacting and landing on top of Operator.  Occupant3 was sitting backward on a cooler facing downriver at the time of the collision.  Occupant3 slid toward the front of the vessel impacting the dash and windshield with his back and head.  The impact broke the glass out of the windshield.  Occupant1 climbed back on board the vessel.  The vessel was stuck on the pipe.  By accelerating the motor and turning the vessel the occupants were able to get it unstuck.  Operator motored the vessel to a nearby gravel bar to inspect the damage.  The occupants were sore, but did not call for medical services.  Operator operated the vessel back to the ramp and loaded it onto its trailer.

At approximately 0700 hours occupant3 went to the neosho memorial regional medical center emergency room due to pain in his back where he had impacted the vessel.  The acting physician determined the impact had broken the transverse processes on the l1, l2, and l3 vertebrae and bruised the muscles around his ribs.
Operator drove occupant3 home from the hospital.

Closer inspection of the vessel on the trailer yielded the following damages:  two broken windshields, gouges and cracks in the hull, and the steering column and wheel had been shoved forward into the dash but remained functional.

Operator had purchased the vessel a year prior for $1500.  Operator paid $100 to fix the damages to the hull and replaced the glass with plexiglass for no cost.


Operator said he had not consumed any alcoholic beverages prior to operating the vessel, but he thought the passengers had consumed some.

Nro asked Operator why he did not report the accident when it occured.  Operator said he never thought of it.

Chanute                       