RedactedNarrative: Operator who did not have a boating safety certificate and was inexperienced was operating was a passenger where proceeding fast approximately 40-45 mph south on the river and make a left turn hitting a large wake from another vessel, fish tailed and both parties went into the water.  Passenger stated that operator said she knew how to operate PWC's and he decided to take a ride with her.  Very early on he realized she was timid on steering so he reached over and took the steering controls while she was doing the throttle.  Officer noticed that the steering column was broken and hanging by the wires.  Officer suspected there had been a problem with the steering column.  He check to see if there were any recalls on this particular pwc model GT1 130 and there were not but he did discover that there had been on models GT1 SE130 for possible defective steering column/handlebar.  In the safety recall letter it stated that this potential problem may break under rough riding conditions when could cause the operator to loss his balance and hit the personal watercraft resulting in  injuries and death.  Cause of accident was operator inexperience and operating in a negligent way by jumping or attempting to jump a wake of another.  He also concluded that the steering column damage was consistent with defect recall letter.