Colo. man killed in Jet Ski accident

A vacationer died Thursday evening after his Jet Ski collided with another personal watercraft on Flathead Lake.

The cause of death was blunt force trauma, said Sgt. Ernie Freebury, a deputy coroner with the Flathead County Sheriff's Office.

Larry Engelken, 58, was on vacation from Morrison, Colo., with a group of friends. Four of them rented Jet Skis from Marina Cay on Thursday and went riding in the Bigfork Bay area.

Three from the group were riding abreast, with Engelken in the middle, when he suddenly turned his craft to the right. To avoid a collision, the friend riding on Engelken's right side also turned away abruptly, which rolled the bottom of his craft out of the water.

Engelken hit the exposed hull of the other Jet Ski hard enough to cause significant damage to his own handlebar area, Freebury said.

Both Engelken and the other man were thrown into the water.

Engelken's friends were not able to get him to shore on one of the Jet Skis, but they called for help and kept his head out of the water until a sailboat from Flathead Lake Lodge arrived to render assistance.

Engelken was not a guest at the Flathead Lake Lodge, which does not rent personal watercraft, said the lodge's owner, Doug Averill.

An emergency room doctor, however, was a guest at the lodge, and was on board the boat that pulled Engelken out of the water, Averill said.

The doctor initiated CPR, which continued until after Engelken's arrival at the hospital.

"[The doctor] was fantastic," Averill said. "He stayed with [Engelken] the whole time."

Engelken was transported via helicopter to Kalispell Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead about an hour and a half after the 3:45 p.m. accident.

The man on the other Jet Ski suffered only minor injuries, Freebury said.

It did not appear alcohol or criminal negligence played a part in the accident, he added.

Further particulars of the accident are still being investigated by Fish, Wildlife and Parks service.

Boats from the Flathead Lake Lodge have conducted a number of rescues on Flathead Lake this summer, Averill said.

"We do emergency response almost daily, it seems now," he said.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com