LA-9970-FV is a 14 foot aluminum jon boat powered by a 15 horsepower Nissan tiller steer motor. LA-9970-FV was being operated on John K. Kelly-Grand Bayou Reservoir in Red River Parish at approximately 11:00 p.m. The Reservoir was foggy that night, and the water was calm.  LA-9970-FV contained four (4) persons with only one wearing a PFD.  No navigation lights were present on the vessel, and the only source of light (a spotlight) had been turned to the off position.  LA-9970-FV was at cruising speed leaving a bay near Grand Bayou Resort's camping area when it struck a wooden pylon with a reflective No Wake Zone sign.  A passenger and the operator were ejected from the vessel.  it is believed that the passenger, seated on the middle seating area, struck the bow deck area of the vessel with his face and left leg causing injury and was ejected from the vessel; and another passenger was thrown into the vessel's middle seat causing contact with her left arm.  Both injured persons were medically treated at the emergency room in Christus Schumpert in Coushatta, Louisiana.  LA-9970-FV was damaged on the bow resulting in denting of the aluminum, separation at the welds at the bow deck, and separation of the welds at the bow support structure.
Coushatta                     