(AP) CORNISH, N.H. – A judge has cleared the town of Cornish, N.H., of wrongdoing in a lawsuit filed by the family of a woman who drowned in 2006 when an airboat sank during a rescue attempt.
The Cornish Rescue Squad strapped Virginia Yates, of Rockingham, Vt., to an airboat to bring her across the Connecticut River. She had slipped and fell on a dock in Springfield, Vt., But the boat sank and Yates drowned.
Her family filed a negligence lawsuit against the boat manufacturer, the rescue squad and four area towns claiming they have a responsibility to oversee the execution of their town’s emergency management plan.
WCAX reports a judge dismissed the town of Cornish from the lawsuit, saying just because it funds the rescue service does not mean it’s responsible for the drowning.
Information from: WCAX-TV, http://www.wcax.com