Sea Plane’s Spectacular Crash

It’s amazing how a relatively minor accident can gain quite a bit of attention when a video camera happens to catch it. That’s what occurred on July 1 when Richard Parasol, 75, and James Whitbread, 60, were scooting around Richardson Bay in a Lake LA-4-200 float plane — some have surmised they were showing off a little for the crowd gathered for the Friday Night Jazz & Blues Concert Series in Sausalito’s Gabrielson Park — and caught a boat’s wake, resulting in a spectacular nose dive just off Horizons Restaurant. The men weren’t injured and a Good Samaritan boater plucked them from the wings of the sinking plane. Within hours, news stations were showing footage caught by Mill Valley resident Leif Christiansen. In fact, we’d be surprised if you missed it, but just in case, we’ll buy into the media hype on this amazing video, which you can see below. But the next time you think about doing something stupid, remember that nearly every cellphone out there is also a video camera and you might just become the nation’s next unwilling media darling.