On 7/7/2023, I, State Game Warden, was notified about a possible boat crash on Lake Tyler East that occurred the previous day.  I arrived and met with the landowner who showed me his boat house.  The boat house had substantial damage to the side as a result of a direct impact from a vessel.  A portion of the north facing side of the house was missing.  There were pieces of the piers and siding that had been brought to the shore.  The second bay of the boat house also had damage where the boat pushed through.  I was able to see structural damage to the support piers of the boat house as well.  I spoke with a witness who lives next door.  He stated that he heard the crash and went outside to see a pontoon boat with an adult male, adult female, and 2 juvenile children pushing away from the boat house.  He did not see any injuries and began attempting to contact the boat house owner.  The operator of the boat, arrived back on scene to help pick up debris.  I interviewed him about the crash and he stated that his grandson was skiing and his adult daughter was acting as his observer.  Operator stated that they were traveling south, along the bank, a safe distance from the shore.  As some point, he stated that he looked back to see how his grandson was doing and inadvertently drifted to the right.  Operator stated that before he knew what happened, the boat then struck the boat house.  Operator suffered a minor scratch to his nose during the collision, but there were no other injuries.  They then took the children home a short distance away and returned to the boat house to help secure debris.  Operator stated that he thinks that when he looked over his right shoulder, it caused his boat to drift, causing the collision. Operator's pontoon boat suffered damage to all three (3) pontoons, rips in the upholstery, a gouge in the floor, and loss of the canvas top.  

End of Report.
0874 TYLER EAST
TYLER                         