Boat flips, throwing 11 in water off Outer Banks. One found under boat, rescuers say

An airboat flipped over half a mile west of the Outer Banks, leaving 11 people in the water, including one pinned under the boat, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

It happened around 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday, July 26, near Oregon Inlet, and at least two of the boaters were seriously injured, officials said in a news release.

“Upon arriving on scene, crews waded to the crash site to find the fan boat had flipped and re-righted itself,” Coast Guard officials said.

“Crews then began to triage and determined there to be (two) patients with more severe injuries, the others non-life threatening.”

The boater pinned under the boat was “immediately retrieved” and found to have “a potential chest and head injury,” officials said. The person was airlifted to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Virginia, while the other 10 were taken to shore by boat.

All 11 boaters were wearing life jackets when the 20-foot airboat flipped, officials said.

The accident happened in a section of the Pamlico Sound where waters are shallow, officials said. The sound is between the mainland and the Outer Banks.

Airboats, also known as fanboats, are “a flat-bottomed vessel propelled by an aircraft-type propeller and powered by either an aircraft or automotive engine,” Riverventures.com reports.

“They are commonly used for fishing, bow-fishing, hunting, and ecotourism,” the site says. “Airboats are a very popular means of transportation in marshy and/or shallow areas where a standard inboard or outboard engine with a submerged propeller would be impractical.”

The Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment in Nags Head is investigating. The airboat was towed to a marina in Manteo, officials said.

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