Much more information and observations from the scene of this sad accident appear in the Channel 7 newscast at:
http://www1.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/MI58599/
Some comments about parallels between high wind problems in kiting and parasailing:
You can't operate a parasailing boat against the wind much into the 20 mph range with a parachute up. Beyond that the winch isn't powerful enough to pull the people down if the wind goes up very high. If it is blowing 30 to 45 mph, you are dragging downwind with the people aloft with no real option. The girls were doomed to injury before the boat even hit the beach because of this.
The wind was onshore, the boat was close to shore (Onshore and Poor Distance, sound familiar?), it was dragged on to the beach. Now anchored (just like in manlifting or if you grab a kiter in an immanent lofting) the parachute strums like crazy whipping the two girls all over the place. A man was put into the hospital from just this alone on the west coast a while back without hitting anything. Eventually the 1/2 inch 12,000 pound strength Spectra line broke. The girls were hurled at high speed downwind (just like a lofted rider getting slingshotted away from people trying to hold him). They hit building roofs and a tree breaking it (as kiters have done before more than once).
Ignoring bad weather was the primary cause with quite a few other lesser contributing factors. The same can be said about many kiting accidents and incidents.
Lots of guys have been messed up in storm related loftings in the area. I was treated to a highspeed dragging there over 125 ft. over ground in 2000 with a 5 m two line kite in a squall gust. Wake up time, weather counts whether you notice it or not.
and
Quote from Globe Kite:
"When i'm not kiting, I work on a parasail boat out of Ocean Cty, Maryland. Recently, we had a fairly new line snap in 20 knots of wind. Luckily the wind was blowing offshore, otherwise the parasailers would have been guaranteed a one way trip into a high rise....
The wind had picked up dramatically while we were letting line out and we decided to fly it out rather than bring them in and put up a smaller shoot. WIth about 500 feet of line out, a weak point gave out and the chute took off downwind. Luckily offshore. The couple in the chute hit the water but because of the strong wind speed the chute never deflated and continuted to pull them offshore. We immediately took off in pursuit and I - the mate - had to jump into an inflated shoot being yanked offshore by gusty winds. The riders weren't hurt. Had the winds been onshore you would have been reading about us in National news. It was wild how fast everything happened."