GMA: Parasailing Throws Caution to Wind
May 8 -- It sounds like a thrilling ride in the sky: Carried aloft by a wing-shaped parachute and pulled along by a powerboat, you are flying over the water like a bird.
And parasailing can indeed be a smooth sailing experience.
The Parasail Safety Council estimates there are 1,300 parasailing operators worldwide, generating $250 million in gross revenues annually. Rides generally cost between $35 and $50 a pop.
The Fun Has a 'Dark Side'
But as Good Morning America's Consumer Correspondent Greg Hunter discovered, the fun can end quickly if things go wrong.
There have been several accidents involving parasailing recently: Three friends in Florida had a near-death experience while parasailing; a father and daughter were forced to bail out in the middle of the ocean; and a Michigan woman was nearly blown away in the Bahamas.
Even within the parasailing industry, the question has arisen: Are these simply freak accidents, or is there a problem?
"There's a dark side to parasailing that the normal customer doesn't understand," says Mark McCulloh, a parasailing expert.
The industry is not regulated and there is no organization that oversees operators. And, says McCulloh, there are too many unsafe operators.
"Money and greed play a very, very big role," he said.
Runaway Parasail Turns Deadly
LaNita Walker says it's even worse than that: "I see it as a dangerous industry, waiting for more people to die."
Walker's 26-year-old daughter, Tosha Walker of Upper Marlborough, Md., was parasailing with a friend in bad weather in the Bahamas when the tow rope connecting them to the boat broke.
"She started screaming hysterically that, 'We're going to die! We're going to die!'" Walker says.
The runaway parasail dragged Tosha and her friend through the water.
"Tosha could not see the waves coming," says Walker. "[Her friend] kept calling to her, and she answered a couple of times, and then she didn't answer anymore."
