Father, Son Die As Boat Capsizes on Fishing Trip in Glacier Bay, Alaska

A father and son, identified as 75-year-old Larry Roger McWilliams and 48-year-old Gary Roger McWilliams, died Monday, May 30^th, after their fishing boat overturned in Glacier Bay National Park. The cause of the vessel capsize remains a mystery, as the weather was clear and calm at the time of the incident.

Four addition passengers aboard the privately-owned, 21-foot aluminum vessel made it to safety. Tom VandenBerg, who was aboard the vessel at the time of capsize, reported that a fellow passenger swam to a nearby island and flagged down a passing boat. He credited this effort as the sole reason that the four survived.

The fishing boat overturned about 10 miles from park headquarters, and officials swiftly dispatched large and small search vessels to the site after receiving word of the incident. Two passengers were found by charter boat operator, Jim Kerns, while others remained in the water. The crew of a tour vessel, the Wilderness Discoverer, pulled the father and son from the water to perform CPR, but were unable to revive the two.

The four surviving passengers were treated for varying degrees of hypothermia, one of whom was flown by the Coast Guard to receive critical care in Juneau.