Two teenage girls were slammed into a building while they were parasailing in Florida and remain in critical condition. INSIDE EDITION takes a look at the dangers of this popular vacationing activity.
The 911 call from a parasailing accident in Florida has just been released.
Caller: “We are at the commodore and a parasail just knocked into the top of it.”
The caller was distraught as she described the horror of what she was witnessing—two teenagers slamming into the 13th floor of her apartment building in Panama City.
Alexis Fairchild and Sidney Good are in critical condition today suffering from internal injuries as family and friends ask, “What went so wrong?”
Alexis and Sidney are inseparable friends, high school seniors from Huntington, Indiana. They were on vacation in the Florida Panhandle having a great time.
Alexis tweeted the morning of the accident: "Beach day!! It's seriously soooo beautiful here!! Going parasailing with @sidneygood!! #freakingout #pumped."
But somehow, the line connecting their tandem parasail to the motorboat got disconnected. People watched helplessly from the beach as the girls went flying into a high rise. They hit the balcony with such force the railing was bent and twisted. Then the girls disappeared behind a building where they crash landed on a car, smashing the windshield.
The tragedy has put renewed focus on a vacation pastime that can turn deadly.
INSIDE EDITION found several parasailing accidents on YouTube. Vacationers slamming into buildings and landing hard and out of control.
Last year, INSIDE EDITION's Lisa Guerrero investigated the largely unregulated parasailing industry in Cancun, Mexico. She found parasailers flying too high and dangerously close to the shore. There was a terrifying moment when the rope connecting Lisa to the boat appeared to malfunction.
For Alexis and Sidney, it was a fun vacation activity that suddenly turned to disaster.
