On above mentioned date and time, operator was operating a 22 foot Baha.  Operator had recently purchased this vessel.  Operator boat had 6 passengers on board, and was operating on Old River in Pointe Coupee Parish.  Operator said he had been operating the vessel for approximately 15 minutes when the engine died.  Operator and his passengers all say they smelled gas fumes after the engine stopped.  Operator stated that they opened the engine cover and turned on the blower to remove the fumes prior to restarting the engine.  According to Operator the engine restarted and they began to idle.  Operator and his passengers all stated a short time after restarting the engine, "the boat blew up."  All of the boat's occupants ended up in the water.  Most remember jumping in but some are not sure how they got in to the water.  West Felieician Sheriff's Deputies were near by in a boat, and were able to pull all the boat's occupants from the water and safely return them to the boat dock for medical treament.  The flash blast immediatly extinguished itself.  There was minimal obvious damage to the vessel itself and in the engine compartment.  Up on closer inspection of the engine compartment, it was found that the bilge area was full of gasoline.  Operator did state that they saw water in the bilge.  The water that Operator and the boat occupants saw was gasoline.  The engine leaked a large amount of fuel in to the bilge and at some point there was a spark that ignited the fumes from the fuel in the bilge and resulted in the flash blast.  PFD's were on board but not in use and alcohol is not suspected as a contributing factor.
Morganza                      