(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A Florida boat captain who was at the helm when a parasail slammed into a Florida Keys bridge over Memorial Day weekend has been charged with manslaughter in the death of an Elk Grove Village mother.
Daniel Gavin Couch, 49 is also charged with violating commercial parasailing rules. The Monroe County state’s attorney’s office said he didn’t have a marine radio on his boat to learn the weather conditions.
Attorneys for the family of Supraja Alaparthi allege that Couch immediately lost control of the boat and the parasail due to high winds and that he then cut the cord...sending the parasail with her and her ten-year-old son and nine-year-old nephew into a bridge in the Florida Keys.
Kasey Platt was out on a boat with her husband, and spoke to CBS2 about how he helped the family.
"I like to believe that, you know, he's got a lot of pride that he's carrying - knowing that ultimately, I think he saved one, if not two, young children's lives - so I think that outweighs the sorrow and the sadness," she said.
Alaparthi's family filed a wrongful-death and personal injury lawsuit against Lighthouse Parasail Inc.
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