‘Deadliest Catch’: A Time Bandit Deckhand Once Sued Over Injury — And Won $1.4 Million
‘Deadliest Catch’: A Time Bandit Deckhand Once Sued Over Injury — And Won $1.4 Million
A deckhand on the ‘Deadliest Catch’ fishing boat the F/V Time Bandit filed a lawsuit after his hand was seriously injured in a fireworks explosion.
The fishermen on Discovery Channel’s reality series Deadliest Catch face no shortage of risks when they head out to sea. Intense storms, tough working conditions, and more mean the threat of injury is ever-present. But sometimes, accidents are avoidable. After a deckhand on the F/V Time Bandit seriously injured his hand in a 2013 fireworks explosion, he sued. A jury eventually awarded him more than $1 million in compensation.
An F/V Time Bandit deckhand sued after a fireworks accident
When you’re out at sea, it’s hard to find ways to blow off steam. One way the crew of some Deadliest Catch boats have kept themselves entertained? Fireworks battles. But the fun took a serious turn when Time Bandit deckhand David “Beaver” Zielinski seriously injured himself while attempting to shoot off an explosive.
In January 2013, Zielinski and the rest of the Time Bandit crew were celebrating the Seattle Seahawks’ performance in an NFL playoff game. The deckhand attempted to launch a Time Bandit-branded firework at another boat, ‘Wild’ Bill Wichrowski’s F/V Cape Caution. But disaster struck when the firework exploded in his hand. Zielinski had to be taken to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, to be treated for his injuries and was later flown to Seattle for surgery, according to a report from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
After the accident, Zielinksi sued two companies owned by Time Bandit captains, Johnathan and Andy Hillstrand. In court filings, Zielinski’s attorney said that the Hillstrands had told him to shoot off the firework, in part because they wanted to engineer a dramatic moment that could be featured on the Discovery Channel show.
The brothers should have known that having the explosives on board was dangerous, Zielinski’s lawyer said. But they took the risk “to better fulfill [the Time Bandit’s] mission including as a subject of interest in connection with the Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch television series.”
The aftermath of Zielinski’s accident was featured in ‘Deadliest Catch’ Season 9
