# Motor Rig Flip in GC



## Rightoarleft (Feb 5, 2021)

This seems like such a freak accident but then I remember all the times I've nearly flipped in some riffle. Moving water has a way of keeping us on guard for half of what gets you. The other half reminds us it doesn't matter.


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## 2tomcat2 (May 27, 2012)

Thoughts and peace going out to all involved


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## Electric-Mayhem (Jan 19, 2004)

I just can't for the life of me figure out what would cause a big motor rig to flip in that rapid. I mean...pinned.... sure. But full on flipped?

A friend guessed maybe a microburst...but even that seems unlikely. I speculate that maybe it was a combination of a throttle sticking, not being able to kill the motor or raise it and it driving hard into a wall or something.

Regardless...super sad to hear and it must have been especially hard since the rescue crews and Helicopter couldn't come into to support till late the next day.


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## Blade&Shaft (May 23, 2009)

No doubt flipped on the monkey balls, the huge rocks in the middle of the current a few hundred yards after the main rapid. They would definitely flip and/or wrap you, but you’re usually well away from them to the right... unless you weren’t under power or were asleep at the wheel...


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## gnarsify (Oct 5, 2020)

Rumor I heard is it is upside down and pinned on the rocks just below Kwagunt. I'd guess motor cut out and they broadsided those big rocks and got pinned. Wonder if we'll ever hear the full story?


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## Blade&Shaft (May 23, 2009)

We’ll hear the whole story


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## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

Peace to all involved.

Part of why we do this is the thrill of the risk. 
Water is powerful.


Blade&Shaft said:


> Motor rigs don't flip often in the Grand Canyon and when and if they do someone is likely gonna get hurt.


Yeah. 

I hope the deceased understood this and that their families can find peace.


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## jamesthomas (Sep 12, 2010)

Yep, it’s a dangerous game. Condolences to all involved. I’m sure it sucks for everybody.


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## Tanaman (Nov 13, 2020)

What really sucks is having to be wet, cold and injured and nobody to help for almost 24 hrs.
Everybody loves the wilderness until something like this happens… then it becomes a living hell.
I’ve been there watching someone die waiting on a helicopter and can tell you it’s the worst feeling in the world.


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## Poky (Jun 27, 2011)

This is from the Rafting Grand Canyon Facebook page.


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## Blade&Shaft (May 23, 2009)

Well, since Tom Martin knows it all, I suppose that says it all


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## Poky (Jun 27, 2011)

Here's another account from American Whitewater:

*Accident Description*


RRFW Riverwire - Motorboat Flip In Grand Canyon Causes Fatality
From Tom martin via FB

On April 27, 2021, Grand Canyon National Park issued a press release about a motorized tour boat flip with one fatality and injuries on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park. The incident occurred on April 26 “near Kwagunt Rapid.” The release noted that “Due to adverse weather conditions, the park helicopter was not able to immediately respond.” Eyewitnesses have since come forward with details of the event.

The river trip consisted of two motorized tour boats operated by river concessionaire Canyoneers. The trip launched at Lees Ferry, Arizona on Saturday, April 24, 2021. On the evening of the 25th, the trip camped at Little Nankoweap Camp, river Mile 52.1 where high winds buffeted the camp that night and passengers reported not sleeping very well. The winds subsided in the early morning hours and the trip departed the camp as normal. The two craft became separated as they proceeded downriver and the two motorboats ran Kwagunt Rapid at river mile 56.3 without incident, then started motoring down a long straightaway where the river is 200 feet wide. By this time the lead boat was out of sight of the second boat.

According to passengers aboard the craft, one of the crewmembers was doing an interpretive talk at approximately 9:30 am when he suddenly realized the craft was about to collide with a large boulder on the left side of the river at river mile 57.0. He shouted out in alarm to the crewmember who was operating the boat’s motor. The 37-foot-long craft hit the boulder as the guide shouted “High Side,” a term used by river runners to keep a boat from turning over by shifting the passenger weight. Though receiving no prior instructions about the use of the term on this river trip, some of the passengers responded to the command and moved to the rising side of the boat. Unfortunately, the motorboat rolled upside down anyway, throwing all the passengers and crew into the 48-degree river water.

All passengers and crew were wearing lifejackets and suddenly found themselves in the Colorado River floating downstream adjacent to or under the overturned craft. The C-Craft has a central walkway with large storage boxes lining the walkway and at the back end of the walkway. The front end of the walkway is the upturned front of the rubber pontoon. When upside down, this creates an area difficult to get out of.

Some of the passengers floating in the river were able to reach the left bank of the river, others reached the right bank, and some stayed near the boat as it traveled almost a half mile before entering an eddy along the right shore where water circles downstream then back upstream out of the main river flow. The individuals floating alongside the boat were able to exit the river here, except for two individuals under the boat. Three individuals were swept on downriver in the main current.

Accounts vary on how long the C-craft circled in this eddy, ranging from between 30 and 45 minutes. The boat eventually came close enough to shore that the passengers were able to grab the boat and get it to shore. A passenger on the trip happened to be a retired wildlands firefighter. Taking off his lifejacket, he was able to swim under the boat and retrieve the two trapped passengers. By the time they were taken from the water, they were hypothermic. Sleep kits fastened to the side of the overturned boat were retrieved and the two individuals were placed in sleeping bags with other passengers for the next few hours so they could regain their body temperature.

Meanwhile, one individual who was swept downstream became unresponsive and did not recover after receiving a long period of cardiopulmonary resuscitation provided by one of the crew members.

According to eyewitnesses, the next river trip to arrive was a commercial river trip operated by Wilderness River Adventures. It was an oar trip accompanied by a motorized boat carrying the trip’s supplies. This trip used its satellite phone to notify the National Park Service of the incident at approximately 11:00 am. Adverse weather on the South Rim kept the NPS helicopter from responding to the event. The Park Service launched two rescue boats and the concessionaire launched a motorboat. Both arrived on scene the following morning, as did the NPS helicopter.

In the afternoon of April 26, the Wilderness trip assisted in moving almost all the passengers and crew downriver to the river camp at 61.6 Mile where the first Canyoneers boat waited. The reunited group camped for the night where they were, making the best of the situation through a cold night. Some passengers went without sleeping bags, or sleeping pads, or tents,. Some chose to sleep under nearby ledges. All passengers and crew were transported by rescue motorized tour boat to Phantom Ranch located roughly thirty miles downstream of where the accident occurred by late in the day April 27, where the National Park Service provided food and lodging at Phantom Ranch for the night. All the passengers and crew were extracted by NPS helicopter on the morning of April 28.

Large motorized tour boats make hundreds of trips through Grand Canyon yearly and flips of these boats are rare but do occur. The concessionaire operating this craft, Canyoneers, had a river related fatality on one of their river trips in 2018 and a Canyoneers motorized tour boat flipped in Crystal Rapid in 1989. The company is not answering questions about the accident, and all the river concessions are referring inquiries to Grand Canyon National Park where Park officials refused to comment further on the accident after releasing the April 28, 2021 press release. The name of the deceased, a 60-year-old female, has not been released.


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