Three lawsuits settled after wrenching airboat crash in Collier County
Less than two years after two airboats collided head-on at a popular Collier County attraction, three passengers have settled their lawsuits.
The lawsuits list Wooten's Everglades Airboat Tours, Everglades Jack's - another brand listed under owners Aashish Patel and his father George Patel - and airboat operators Thomas Lee Brookbank and Steven Smith as defendants.
The crash happened about 3:15 p.m. Dec. 13, 2024, and injured 24 people, 16 of them taken to hospitals, according to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission incident report. The report indicates the State Attorney's Office was notified, but no charges have been filed.
Alssya Windom, Roxanne Brooks and Richard Brown along with Megan Brown reached their three separate settlements between Feb. 9 and Feb. 23. Court records do not show how much each of the three lawsuits settled for.
According to the separate lawsuits, the plaintiffs suffered injuries including a broken tailbone, fractured ribs, a fractured bone in her left arm, radial nerve palsy, a joint dislocation and loss of consciousness.
The lawsuits said Smith did not warn the passengers that the impact between both vessels was imminent.
Windom in December 2024 told the Naples Daily News and The News-Press that her son's team had finished playing at the American Youth Football national championships. The championships stretched between Dec. 9 and Dec. 14 of that year at Paradise Coast Sports Complex, in Naples. Her son's team played its last game Dec. 11, 2024.
According to Windom, all 20 people aboard the airboat she was in were affiliated with the youth football program. She clarified that the passengers aboard the second wrecked airboat were not affiliated with the program.
An employee for Wooten's Everglades Airboat Tours on June 24 answered a phone call for comment but soon after ended the call.
Windom, who at the time of the crash was a flight attendant and seven months pregnant, said the pregnancy went well and she is now back traveling on airplanes. She explained the attorneys are still working to resolve how much money each passenger will get.
This article originally appeared on Marco Eagle: Three lawsuits settled after wrenching airboat crash in Collier County
Reporting by Tomas Rodriguez, USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida / Marco Eagle
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This story was originally published June 25, 2026 at 8:26 PM.