A 51-year-old man is deceased and two others safe, a 14-year-old girl and 52-year-old man, after their boat sank Sunday morning in Copano Bay, just north of Rockport.
The Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi Command Center received a distress call from a 24-foot center console boat taking on water at approximately 9:30 a.m. The three anglers donned life jackets and abandoned the boat, which sank shortly after the distress call was made.
A Station Port Aransas rescue boatcrew and a Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi MH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter crew were dispatched to assist. The helicopter crew arrived on scene shortly after the boat sank and found two people clinging to a platform in the bay and another floating and unresponsive in the water nearby. They hoisted the unresponsive man and the 14-year old girl aboard the helicopter and began CPR on the man. The helicopter transported both to Spohn Memorial Hospital in Corpus Christi. The man was pronounced dead shortly after arriving to the hospital. The rescue boatcrew picked up the other survivor who had no injuries.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is conducting the investigation into the cause of the accident.
“We launched our rescue helicopter and boat crews immediately after receiving the distress call,” said Lt. Cmdr. Nathan Allen, the search and rescue mission coordinator for the case. “We are fortunate to have recovered two of the victims without injury, but are sad that the one man was unresponsive upon arrival. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the deceased man.”
