Man Dies After Boating Accident On Willamette River In Newberg

NEWBERG, Ore. — A man who was injured in a boating accident on the Willamette River at Rodgers Landing has died from their injuries.

The man and a juvenile were behind a boat being pulled on an inner tube when they were run over on Monday afternoon.  They were wearing personal flotation devices.

A LifeFlight helicopter brought the more seriously injured one to a hospital in critical condition.  Authorities said Thursday that a 20-year-old from Brooks has passed away from his injuries.  The other victim is still getting medical care and is not being identified due to their age.

The Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office is investigating what led to the crash.  The operator of the boat is a 17-year-old from the Brooks area who does have a valid Oregon Boater Education card and they were accompanied by their parent.

“It was my understanding that he has operated a boat before but doesn’t have a lot of experience towing the tuber,” said Yamhill County Deputy Sergeant Sam Elliott.

The boat’s owner had not applied for a Towed Watersports Education Card as required by SB 1589 and ORS 830.649 since April 15th, 2022.  It is required to engage in any towed watersport activity in the Newberg Pool section of the Willamette River.

Kim Haughn with Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue explains the operator, “Ended up turning one direction and correcting back the other direction, which swung the inner tube around which caused them unfortunately to run over the two folks that were on the inner tube.”

There are no signs that the boat operator was impaired.