On April 16th, 2023, at approximately 1610 hours, a single vessel incident was reported on the Indian River near the Pineda Public Boat Ramp in Brevard County, Florida. A vessel with two occupants was on plane heading north on the Indian River just south of the Pineda Causeway when it was struck by lightning. 

The vessel’s operator sustained fatal injuries from the lighting strike. The vessel was disabled from the lightning strike. The vessel’s passenger sustained minor injuries during the incident but was able to call 911. 

Law enforcement arrived and found the operator with no pulse and purplish-blue discolored skin. Law enforcement transported both victims to shore and met with Brevard County Fire Rescue (BCFR). The operator was declared deceased, and the passenger was transported to Viera Regional Hospital. The operator was turned over to the Brevard County Medical Examiner’s Office for their investigation. 

No violations were documented during the investigation

PRE-INCIDENT

	Operator and Occupant launched on V1 from the Pineda Point Marina and navigated south on the Indian River around 0500 hours, heading towards the Sebastian Inlet. They exited the inlet heading east into the Atlantic Ocean to fish. V1 entered back into Sebastian Inlet and stopped at the Chubby Mullet (at the Sebastian Inlet Marina in Micco) for lunch around 1200 hours. V1 continued north on the Indian River stopping at multiple locations to fish. While V1 was fishing in the Ballard Park (Frigates/Eau Gallie River) area, hazardous weather approached from the east. V1 began making way north towards Pineda Point Marina through the thunderstorm.
 
INCIDENT

While V1 was being operated in a north/northwestern direction at a plaining speed, V1 was struck by lightning. Operator was standing at the center console and sustained two burn marks (upper left chest and lower right abdomen) on his person, and the fishing rod nearby was melted.


POST-INCIDENT
	
	V1’s motor was disabled, and it began drifting without power. Operator fell to the deck unconscious. Occupant, who was sitting next to Operator, lost feeling in her hands, and was unable to revive Operator. Occupant was able to notify 911 of the incident but was disconnected due to the weather. V1 continued to drift north under the causeway until an FWC vessel located it approximately ¾ of a mile north of the bridge. Both occupants were brought aboard the FWC vessel and taken to the Pineda Landing Boat Ramp to meet BCFR. The FWC vessel returned to V1 and towed it into the boat ramp.
Occupant was transported by BCFR to Viera Regional Medical Center and Operator was turned over to the Brevard County Medical Examiner’s Office for their investigation.

CONCLUSION

Based on the evidence and information gathered to date, the incident was due to V1 being struck by lightning while it was operating during hazardous weather. Operator sustained fatal injures as a result of being struck by lightning. 

Occupant temporally lost feeling in her hands. She was transported to the hospital where she was treated and released the same evening. Occupant was told she had minor hypothermia and was suffering from shock. She had no lasting physical injuries.

Operator was located unresponsive with no pulse by FWC Officers when they arrived to V1. Operator had two black marks on his frontside. One was on the top left of his chest and the other on the lower right abdomen. Operator was turned over to the Brevard County Medical Examiner. The Medical Examiner performed an autopsy on April 17th, 2023. The Medical Examiner’s autopsy report indicated the manner and cause of death was accidental from complications following a lightning strike. See the Medical Examiner’s report (#23-0375) for further details.

Indian River
MERRITT ISLAND                