On April 14, 2012 Operator and his son were headed south in LA 7885FX in the Commercial Canal.  Operator was operating the vessel from the port side of the console and Occupant was sitting on the starboard side.  The vessel was a 1999 36' Douglas Marine catamaran hull that was powered by twin 1400 hp Dart engines.  The vessel was a high performance racing type boat.  The subjects left from the Port of Iberia and head out to Vermillion Bay and the ICW.  Two different witnesses advised that they saw vessel pass them in Vermillion Bay at about 11:45 a.m and 12:00 p.m. , see attached.  The witnesses also advised that the vessel headed back towards the Port of Iberia.  This would put the vessel North Bound in the Commercial Canal.  The Port of Iberia Commission has video cameras that scan the waterways.  The video footage captured a large cloud of smoke in the area of the incident.  This footage indicates that the incident happened around 12:15 p.m.  The vessel impacted the west bank of the Commercial Canal at an angle near 75 degrees.  The angle of impact and the direction of the debris field indicate that the vessel was south bound.  

Upon arrival at the scene, LDWF Enf. Sgt. and Sr. Agent found no survivors and the vessel still in flames.  The vessel burned to the waterline and then sank.  On April 15th Leblanc Marine Services of New Iberia recovered the vessel.  LDWF Enf. Sgt took video footage of the recovery of the vessel.  Due to the amount of fire damage much of the physical evidence on the vessel was destroyed.  The hydraulic steering system was burned up to the out-drives.  The only remains of the throttle controls were the actual control levers.  Sgt. obtained photos of the throttle position.  However, the impact may have caused the levers to move.  The vessel was seized and held at LSP Troop I in Lafayette.  According to Iberia Parish Coroner's office, both subjects died on impact due to mult systems trauma.  According to the Coroner's Toxicology report, neither subject was impaired.  Due to the fire, the investigators could not determine if the vessel was equipped with a kill switch lanyard.  Based on the evidence obtained, whatever caused operator to lose control in inconclusive.  However, the vessel should have been operated at a speed that would have allowed operator  to maintain control of the vessel and come to a stop before the collision.
New Iberia                    