Indian-American man sues boat captain, Florida resort for his wife's death while parasailing

An Indian-American man, Srinivasrao Alaparthi, has filed a lawsuit against a Florida resort, a parasailing boat’s captain and his first mate, alleging negligence and wrongful death after his 33-year-old wife died while on a vacation last year.

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“It is terrifying,” said Srinivasrao Alaparthi on Thursday, recalling the accident which left his 10-year-old son and nephew injured, reported The Washington Post.

On May 30, 2022, Alaparthi, his wife Supraja, their son, and nephew went parasailing while vacationing in the Florida Keys when the weather turned bad. Minutes after the parasail lifted into the sky, the boat’s captain cut the towline connecting it to the boat, and the wife and the two boys plunged into the water. The wind propelled the parasail, dragging the family through the water for two miles — until they slammed into the concrete pillar of a bridge.

In a 68-page lawsuit filed this week, Alaparthi alleged that the boat’s crew should have done any number of things that would have prevented the fatal accident. Instead, he stated that the crew failed to check the weather forecast, which would have shown an incoming storm. They resorted to cutting the towline before trying to regain control of the rogue parachute and didn’t radio the US Coast Guard for help as the independent chute dragged his wife to her death.

“I can’t help but think that if the people we trusted from the parasailing company and Captain Pip’s Marina had done their jobs, my wife would still be with us today,” said Alaparthi. “We trusted these companies, but they let us down in the worst possible way.”

In September last year, the boat's captain was charged with manslaughter and multiple boating violations. He has pleaded not guilty.

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