Wednesday afternoon an airboat carrying three U.S. Geological Survey researchers flipped over and started a vegetation fire in the Everglades in northwest Miami-Dade County in Florida. None of them were injured as they were ejected. They were rescued by another airboat of researchers.
In a video at WSVN.com, a reporter said the fire was 10-15 acres and no agency was taking suppression action.
Glad no one was hurt. This is a first of it’s kind that I know about, that is a airboat wreck starting a wild fire.
Running an airboat feels easy but they are very dangerous to operate by the in-experienced operator. So many things can go wrong very quickly. Part boat, part airplane. As a low time operator a few years ago I put a couple of dings and dents in them my self. Even the high time experienced operator needs to pay full time and attention to running them.