Date: Fri 30-Oct-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Lake-Zoar-boat-accident

Full Text:

Lake Zoar Accident Kills Boater

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

OXFORD -- While skimming southbound on Lake Zoar mid-day Saturday, October 24,

boater Frederick A. Altschuler, 57, of 329 Amity Road, Woodbridge, was ejected

from his speedboat and killed after apparently striking an object submerged in

the lake.

The state Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) law enforcement

division is investigating the cause of the accident.

The accident occurred about 12:11 pm approximately 1,000 feet north of the

Jackson Cove boat launch on the Oxford side of the lake.

State police said Mr Altschuler was alone in his racing boat and making a

southbound high-speed run when apparently the boat struck a submerged object

and swerved, ejecting Mr Altschuler from it into the lake.

Mr Altschuler was piloting a 1991 mid-sized, STV twin-hull, outboard-powered

racing boat, according to the DEP.

Mr Altschuler reportedly was rapidly recovered from the water by another

boater.

The victim was transported by Life Star helicopter to Yale-New Haven Hospital

where he was pronounced dead at 1:16 pm, according to DEP.

Mr Altschuler's body was transported to the chief state medical examiner's

office in Farmington for an autopsy. A spokeswoman for that office said Mr

Altschuler died of "cranial cerebral blunt force trauma," or a severe head

injury.

The cause of the boating accident is under investigation by DEP's boating

accident reconstruction team.

Sergeant Eric Nelson, spokesman for DEP's conservation enforcement unit, said

Tuesday Mr Altschuler was wearing a life vest, crash helmet, and face visor

when the accident occurred.

The speed limit on Lake Zoar is 45 miles per hour. Sgt Nelson said DEP

investigators will attempt to determine the boat's speed at impact in their

investigation into the accident. Speed may be determined by studying engine

gauges or by inspecting boat damage, Sgt Nelson said.

"We don't have an actual determination yet as to how it occurred," Sgt Nelson

said.

Investigators found a mostly submerged object floating in the water which the

boat may have hit, the sergeant said. The object was floating, but most of it

was below the water's surface, he said.

The investigation into the crash may take anywhere from a few weeks to several

months, the sergeant said.

Boat damage will be inspected. Laboratory testing may be required; scrapings

from objects in the collision may be obtained, he said.

Several witnesses to the accident have been interviewed, Sgt Nelson said.