High-flying water rafts recalled after numerous injury reports

COLUMBUS (AP) -- SportsStuff Inc. said Thursday it is voluntarily recalling 19,000 Wego Kite Tubes, a brand of airborne rafts pulled by boat in a new phenomenon that has seen at least two U.S. deaths this year.
The Omaha, Neb.-based company's announcement came a day after the Ohio Department of Natural Resources warned thrill seekers that airborne sports are illegal on state lakes. The Army Corps of Engineers has banned the extreme sport on lakes in several states.
Tube kites are inflatable rafts tethered to the back of a powerboat. When the user pulls on the handles, the tube becomes airborne, making the rider into a human kite.
"Once these kite tubes are airborne, you have no control over them," said Jane Beathard, an ODNR spokeswoman. "You can't steer them. You're basically riding the wind."
Ohio officials first spotted people riding tube kites this summer on state lakes and have seen about six so far. It is not illegal to use them if they don't leave the water's surface, only if they become airborne, Beathard said.
For now, watercraft and park officers are letting people off with warnings, but at some point airborne users will be charged with minor misdemeanors, said Brian Bishop, law enforcement staff officer with the state Division of Parks and Recreation.
In Ohio's first reported tube kite injury, a man was 15 feet above East Fork Lake in southwestern Ohio, pulled by a boat going 30 mph. The tube flipped and he hit the water face-first, suffering internal injuries, Beathard said.
On June 24, a man was pulled unconscious from Delaware Lake in central Ohio after his tube kite flipped while he was gliding 15 feet above the water. He broke a rib and punctured a lung, said Bob Dorinsky, law enforcement administrator for Ohio state parks. Days later, a similar accident happened on Indian Lake in Logan County.
"When you're going 30 to 35 mph in a boat from 15 to 40 feet in the air, then come crashing headfirst into the water, it would be like hitting concrete," Dorinsky said.
There have been 39 injuries reported nationwide, according to a news release from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.