The following accident occurred on April 9, 2011, at approximately 1600 hours. 

The operator of Vessel I had apparently loaded up the vessel, a Hovercraft, with large amounts of food, clothing, supplies, and many pieces of US Mail, and was preparing to transport these items to his residence on an island.  Witnesses on shore saw the operator preparing to launch, heard the engine stop, and heard the operator cursing.  One witness stated that his tone of voice then became distressed, and when the witness looked up, the operator was in the water.  The witness called 911, and her husband waded into the water to help the operator. By the time the witness reached the victim, he was floating face-up in the water.  Emergency responders transported the victim to the local hospital; he was pronounced dead with the cause of death determined to be drowning.  Upon investigation, it was determined that the vessel was overloaded by at least 37 pounds according the the capacity plate.  The pull cord to the vessel's engine was broken, and the separated half of the cord was in the victim's hand when he was recovered.  When investigators replaced the recovered vessel into the water to check the stability, it began to take on water quickly and was removed for fear of sinking.
Moultonborough                