Couple killed in motorboat crash

SANDPOINT — A Sandpoint couple was killed and a third person was injured Saturday when the motorboat they were in crashed into the U.S. Highway 95 Long Bridge.

Darby Campbell, 30, and his 34-year-old wife, Amber, died in the collision, the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office said on Monday. A passenger in the boat, Gerred Campbell, 31, also of Sandpoint, was rescued and taken to Bonner General Hospital, where he was treated and later released.

The collision happened at about 11:20 p.m., after the Independence Day fireworks display at City Beach.

Sheriff’s Lt. Cary Kelly said Darby Campbell was driving the boat westbound toward the Pend Oreille River and had safely passed under the railroad bridge and the Long Bridge, but reversed course and turned back toward Lake Pend Oreille.

“They decided to go back to Sandpoint and meet somebody. So they turned around and went back, and that’s when the accident happened,” said Kelly, supervisor of the sheriff’s marine patrol.

Instead of going through one of the navigable passages beneath the bridge, the boat crashed into one of the sections of the bridge where there is a series of structural crossbeams that are connected to the bridge pilings.

Kelly said it appears the Malibu water skiing and wakeboarding boat struck the bridge supports at speed and the couple, who were in the forward seats, was killed instantly. Gerred Campbell was in a rear seat facing the opposite direction of the couple, a position which Kelly said probably saved his life.

Kelly said Gerred Campbell was thrown backward into the boat’s forward seating area.

“If he had been facing forward, he would have gone head-first right into the beams,” Kelly said.

The crash remains under investigation, although Kelly said speed is a likely factor.

“They were going well in excess of the speed limit at night, which is 25 (mph),” Kelly said.

No-wake zones in Bonner County extend 200 feet from bridges.

Kelly said it’s too soon to say if alcohol played a role.

“It’s not clear and we’re going to wait until the toxicology reports come back,” he said.

Crews extracted the boat from beneath the bridge on Sunday and it’s slated to be thoroughly inspected today to determine if there was a mechanical malfunction, such as a stuck throttle.

“We want to cover every base and go over the boat in detail just to make sure there’s not something amiss,” said Kelly.

A preliminary examination indicated the boat’s navigation lights were operable, although that lighting array would have provided no forward illumination.

“It’s a real tragedy for the families and everybody involved,” said Kelly. “It’s one of those things you wish you could have prevented somehow.”