WILMINGTON, N.C. – The Coast Guard stopped a runaway boat near Pamlico County Saturday.
Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector North Carolina received calls about a 14-foot jon boat spinning in circles with no one aboard around 10 a.m.
The boat was between Goose Creek and Dixon Creek near Pamlico County, North Carolina, say officials.
Watchstanders in Wilmington launched a response crew from Station Hobucken to assist, and when the crew arrived they discovered that a boater had been thrown from the jon boat, which caused the tiller of the boat to turn.
A good Samaritan in the area rescued the boater that had been ejected from the boat, before Coast Guard officials responded.
The crew approached the boat and stopped it from spinning. The good Samaritan transferred the ejected operator back on board, and the Coast Guard escorted him safely to the nearest dock.
“All boaters should wear kill switches,” said Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class JC Tyus, the Coast Guard coxswain for the case, referring to switches that can be worn on the wrist and can automatically disable an engine. “If the boater was wearing a kill switch, he could have stopped the boat.”
No injuries were reported.
