By Mike Hudson
On a typical, nondescript summer morning, a fire department
water rescue team mulled through their morning preventative maintenance and
checklists for its personal watercraft (PWC), which includes confirmation of
hull integrity, including the insertion of the bilge’s hull plugs. After the
checklist was completed, the rookie on the team was ordered to wash and rinse
the inside and outside of the primary PWC, which requires the removal of the
bilge plugs. Later that day, the team was dispatched to a water rescue “job”
for multiple children caught in a rip current at a neighboring beach. Normally,
the unwritten rule is to check the plugs before launching the PWC, but the crew
deviated from that step and the craft was hastily launched into the four-foot
surf; soon after, the engine compartment flooded, rendering the craft
inoperable. Read More
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