LONG NECK, Del.- Authorities have released the name of a 78-year-old man killed Saturday morning after a personal watercraft he was operating collided head-on with a small boat at Pot Nets Bayside in the Indian River Bay.
The man has been identified as Gerry Aster of Phoenix, Arizona.
According to Sgt. John McDerby of the Delaware Division of Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police, Aster was operating a personal watercraft (PWC) that collided with a pontoon boat at the entrance to the Pot-Nets Bayside community in Indian River Bay. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Witnesses told investigating NRP officers that a personal watercraft returning to Pot-Nets Bayside collided with the bow of a pontoon boat leaving Pot-Nets Bayside about 11:30 a.m. The impact launched the personal watercraft several feet over the pontoon boat before it came down in the water.
The operator of the pontoon boat, a 56-year-old Wilmington man, was flown to Christina Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition. Two passengers on the pontoon boat – a 53-year-old Newark man and a 10-year-old Bridgeville boy – were uninjured.
The accident investigation is continuing.
