A 24-year-old employee of a commercial watersports company died yesterday after he fell from a parasailing rig in waters off Maunalua Bay in East Honolulu.

The man, whose name was not released yesterday, was an employee of Hawai'i Kai-based SeaBreeze Watersports.

A police report last night said the man dived into the water while parasailing. When he failed to surface, people on the boat called 911. A company official told KGMB9 last night that the employee was trying to ride down the parasailing rope like a zip line when the rope he was holding broke.

Kathy Takahashi, SeaBreeze general manager, said the victim had been with the company for a year and a half and performed many duties, including driving the van and working on the boat and in the office.

"We're really mourning the loss of somebody we cared deeply about," Takahashi said. "We're in shock. We're grappling with this right now."

Earlier in the evening, Takahashi said she was not sure why the employee would have been taking a parasail ride. She said a typical ride would take a customer 200 to 300 feet in the air, but initial reports said the employee was about 40 feet up.

"We don't know the whole story right now," she said last night. "We're just learning that he may have gone up, which is a little unusual. I'm not sure why or anything else right now."

SEARCH FOR CLUES

The Coast Guard is investigating the incident because it involved a death on board a vessel in U.S. waters. Lt. John Titchen, Coast Guard spokesman, said investigators planned to interview the crew of the 35-foot power boat, as well as the four passengers who were on board at the time of the incident.

Titchen said witnesses reported that the victim was in the air when he somehow got out of the safety harness and fell.

"We're not sure how and that will be part of the investigation," he said. "We are conducting interviews at this time and are trying to piece together the circumstances."

Emergency personnel responded to a call for a missing parasailer at about 2:30 p.m. Lifeguards launched a rescue sled and were able to spot the man submerged in about 20 to 30 feet of water about a quarter-mile offshore, said Bryan Cheplic, city Emergency Services Department spokesman.

The man was recovered and placed on the sled, where lifeguards began CPR. He was brought to shore and transferred to an ambulance. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Cheplic said.

SeaBreeze was founded in 1986. Takahashi said it was the company's first incident that involved a fatality.

The only other fatal parasailing accident here occurred on March 11, 1988, when a 31-year-old Japanese tourist fell about 100 feet to her death off Waikiki. In its report, the Coast Guard said that Masami Kumagai of Nagoya contributed to the accident because she was not properly seated in the rig.

But the Coast Guard also said that Kumagai may not have received a proper safety briefing because it was given in English only.