Two Die in Weekend Boating Accidents

A Quincy fisherman died late Sunday afternoon after he and a friend were ejected from their vessel on Lake Iamonia, north of Tallahassee.

{sidebar id=1}Johnny Carlton Brandon, 49, of Quincy, was transported by LifeFlight to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, but he did not survive. Fellow passenger Aaron Dienger, 37, Tallahassee, was pulled from the water unharmed. He credited his survival to Good Samaritans who came to the boaters’ aid.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is investigating the fatal boating accident.

Brandon and Dienger left the public boat ramp near Highway 12 on Lake Iamonia around 5 p.m. Brandon was operating the 12-foot homemade boat from the front of the craft using stick steering.

Dienger told FWC investigators that they turned abruptly, throwing him and Brandon overboard. Both men were wearing heavy clothes. Brandon reportedly wore boots. Neither man wore a life jacket, but the jackets were on board their vessel.

Leo Mosley, his sister Crystal Mosley, and friend Brian Dodson of Havana, were fishing nearby and heard the men hollering for help. They pulled both men on board their boat, but Brandon was unresponsive.

In an accident Saturday in the Keys, 72-year-old Francisco Anaya died while fishing near Duck Key when he fell overboard trying to untangle fishing line from his boat’s propeller. The Long Key resident was not wearing a life jacket.

Florida has registered eight boating fatalities since Jan. 1. Seven of the fatalities could have been prevented by simply wearing a life jacket.

This article originally published on March 24, 2008.

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