On Monday at approximately 10:00 am, Sgt. was contacted by his Lt. in reference to a news release about a boat incident on WWLTVcom. which read as: NEW ORLEANS- the Coast Guard airlifted a person out of a capsized boat Saturday.  It happened about 200 yards offshore of Grand Isle at about 7 p.m.  Saturday.  Officials said the boat was heading to Caminada Pass when a gust of wind caused the boat to capsize.  A  helicopter rescued one person, dropping him  off on the beach, while the remaining three people on the boat reportedly jumped off the pontoon into waist-deep water and waded ashore, according to officials.  The helicopter had a malfunction during the airlift, but were able to manually override the hoist and finish the lift.  There were no reported of  injuries.  Officials said a radio beacon alert helped crews find the boat.  

Sgt. then contacted the operator, Operator1 of Jonesboro LA. , and confirmed that he accident had occurred as reported.  Operator1 advised Sgt. that he would be back on the island on Tuesday, and agreed to meet with Sgt. to complete the accident investigation.  Sgt. then located Operator1's  vessel (LA7610GA), which was upside down in the surf, about 20 yards from the Grand Isle beach.  Sgt. then noted the GPS location as N29 12515 90 01.838, and photographed the vessel, which had both motors attached, but were missing the propellers.  On Tuesday, at approximately 3:00 pm, Sgt. met with Operator1 and interviewed him. 

Operator1 advised Sgt. that he was driving his vessel back to Grand Isle from offshore when he and his 3  passengers got into some bad weather.  Operator1 stated that the wind started blowing at approximately 15-20 mph. Operator1 stated that waves were rough at about 4-5 feet, and that it started raining.  Operator1 advised Sgt. that his 3 passengers had moved to the right side  of the vessel to avoid the rain.  The shift in weight, along with the wind and waves caused the vessel to capsize. Operator1 stated that they had to swim out from under the overturned vessel and climb onto the pontoons, where they drifted for 6 hours until the vessel washed up onto the Grand Isle Beach at approximately 9:00 pm. The vessel was equipped   with 5 type1 PFD's, but were not used because they were in the center console, which was under water.  Operator1 was wearing the kill switch lanyard, and the vessel was equipped with a remote steering.  Sgt. then photographed the vessel, which Operator1 had recovered earlier that day.  The vessel is a total loss, with the top separated from the bottom hull. Only one motor 200hp Honda was  recovered, the other 200hp Honda was stolen during the night.  The center console was gone, along with all the electronics.
Grand Isle