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Ex-Astronaut And Coronado Native Alan Poindexer Killed In Jet Ski Accident

Alan Poindexter
NASA
Alan Poindexter

Former NASA astronaut and Navy Capt. Alan G. Poindexter died Sunday from injuries suffered in a jet-ski accident in Florida. The two-time space shuttle astronaut was 50-years-old.

Poindexter was a 1979 graduate of Coronado High School in Coronado, according to his NASA biography.

Poindexter was riding on a jet ski with his grown son Samuel when it collided with a jet ski driven by Poindexter's other son Zachary. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Stan Kirkland told the Associated Press:

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“They were both moving and for some reason Capt. Poindexter stopped his watercraft and Zachary for some reason didn’t see him stop... Zachary’s watercraft went up and struck Capt. Poindexter.”

Kirkland said Poindexter was still conscious and able to speak immediately following the accident. He later died at Baptist Hospital in Pensacola.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating the accident.