Coroner's Finding: Long, Anthony Edward
Deceased
Anthony Edward Long
Demographics
73y, male
Date of death
2018-03-10
Finding date
2019-10-11
Cause of death
drowning
AI-generated summary
Anthony Edward Long, aged 73, drowned following the capsizing of his recreational fishing vessel at Ansons Bay, Tasmania on 10 March 2018. The vessel capsized due to poor maintenance: a missing outboard pod inspection plate, unsealed pod drainage holes, and a non-functional bilge pump allowed excessive water ingress, destabilizing the vessel. Mr Long did not wear a life jacket despite being told to do so during the emergency, and was not a competent swimmer. A companion, Mr Benneworth, wore a manually-inflatable life jacket but failed to inflate it, possibly due to panic and unfamiliarity with the manual inflation process (he usually used self-inflating jackets). Both men had significant underlying ischaemic heart disease. Critical lessons: always wear and properly maintain life jackets; regularly review inflation procedures for unfamiliar PFD types; maintain boats meticulously, especially bilge systems and hull integrity; and recognize panic impairs decision-making during emergencies.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- not wearing a life jacket
- vessel poorly maintained with missing inspection plate
- unsealed outboard pod allowing water ingress
- non-functional bilge pump
- panic impairing decision-making
- unfamiliarity with manual life jacket inflation process
- not a competent swimmer
- underlying ischaemic heart disease
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