Family to Get $5 Million for Boat-Race Death

The organizers of a 1985 boat race on Lake Irvine in which a 9-year-old girl was killed said Saturday that they have reached a $5-million settlement with the girl’s family. The National Drag Boat Assn. also announced plans to revive the racing series that was suspended after the accident.

Brandon Branchflower was watching the boat race with her parents and younger brother when a hydroplane-style drag boat careened out of control and veered onto the shore, instantly killing the girl and sending spectators fleeing in all directions.

Branchflower’s family filed suit against organizers and sponsors of the race, alleging that they were negligent in failing to take adequate safety precautions. A portion of the settlement, lawyers said, will be set aside for her younger brother, who witnessed the accident.

The National Drag Boat Assn. organized the ill-fated race in April, 1985, and another the following year. But its racing series throughout California was canceled in 1986 when sponsors withdrew from the events after the girl’s death.

Saturday, Rob Grasso, president of the association, said the series would be restarted because the Branchflower suit has been settled.

“This was the first time we’d ever had a serious incident like this,” Grasso said. “I just have to be confident that we’ll continue to do that, and hopefully there won’t be another accident. . . . It’s just another factor that will always be in the back of our minds when we go to make safety regulations.”

The Branchflowers, who live in Burbank, have declined to comment.

“They’ve just been through too much,” said a woman who answered the phone at the Branchflower home and identified herself as the girl’s grandmother.

Thomas M. Indovino, a lawyer for the racing association, said that the manufacturer recalled the steering mechanism in the boat as a result of the accident. Indovino, who was at Lake Irvine on the day of the accident, said he suspected a faulty steering mechanism almost immediately.

Indovino, a former boat racer and world record holder, said the driver of the boat in the accident was “also a victim.”

“I felt he did everything he could possibly do to avoid the accident,” he said. “He was faced with a situation where he had no steering. . . . He turned the engine off. He put out the parachute and it was just too late. . . . Outwardly, he appeared to be in shock.”

Indovino said that about 10 defendants named in the suit agreed to buy an annuity, which will make payments totaling $5 million to the family spread over their lifetimes.

Among the parties to the settlement, Indovino said, are:

* Casale Engineering, the makers of the steering mechanism.

* The National Drag Boat Assn.

* The driver of the boat.

* The companies that were hired to provide security during the race.

* Irvine Boat and Tackle Inc., which operated the facility on the lake.

* Adolph Coors Co., which promoted the race.

James Lange, the driver, could not be reached for comment.

Grasso said Lange is still “terribly upset” by the accident and that, although Lange has returned to racing, he has never fully recovered from the shock.

Grasso also recalled his own shock after learning that a girl had been struck.

“It really struck home,” Grasso said, who was at the event in 1985 but did not see the accident. “I locked myself in the car and sat there for an hour or so and just tried to clear my head.

“What happened to the Branchflowers. . . . I just felt so sorry for them.”