Parasailing accident leaves two Indiana teens in critical condition [VIDEO]

Parasailing accident leaves two Indiana teens in critical condition [VIDEO] - Two Indiana teens remain critically injured after smashing into a building, power lines and parked cars during a freak parasailing accident. Now three days later troubling allegations have emerged about the parasailing company’s past.

The parents of Sidney Good and Alexis Fairchild, both 17 and from Roanoke, say their daughters are now able to make small hand gestures to communicate three days after they were horrifically flung across the shoreline of Panama City Beach, Fla.

“Both girls sustained head trauma as well as multiple severe lacerations. Alexis has severe back injuries and Sidney has neck trauma. However, we are fortunately seeing some positive signs from both Sidney and Alexis,” their parents said in a joint statement Thursday.

Fairchild underwent surgery on her spine to repair her extensive injuries and immediately after offered her parents an encouraging wave, her parents said. Sidney similarly offered a thumbs-up.

“Thank you again to all who are thinking of and praying for our girls. Your prayers are working!" the girls’ parents said.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which is handling the incident, says strong winds from a developing storm snapped the rope connecting their sail to the boat below.

But, as one Florida attorney reveals, the accident wasn’t the first involving parasailing company Aquatic Adventures.

Attorney Waylon Thompson told WJHG about an Aquatic Adventures customer who, run over by a jet ski in 2010, received a $650,000 settlement in a lawsuit.

Eerily similar to Monday's incident, he said, was a 2009 accident in which two teens, also from Indiana, were flung into the ocean after their parasailing rope snapped.

Thompson suggested employees’ desire for commission overpowered their better judgment in taking passengers onto the water in such bad weather.

On Monday, helpless witnesses watched as both girls twice smashed into the high-rise condominium. At least one witness captured it all on video.

Only one of the girls was conscious when rescuers made their way to the scene, according to the News Herald.

Hours before embarking to the beach, Fairchild tweeted in excitement about parasailing, which she admitted being a little nervous about too.

“Going paraceling (sic) with Sidney Good !! #FreakingOut #Pumped,” the teen tweeted from her account.

A request for comment from Aquatic Adventures by the Daily News wasn’t immediately returned. Previous messages released by the company expressed its sorrow for the incident.

Thursday an employee answering the phones for the company said it was not offering parasailing trips or any other water sports due to bad weather.

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