A 77-year-old man has died after the boat he and another man were piloting had engine trouble and crashed into rocks at the southern Outer Harbor breakwater.

Key points:

  • Two men were spotted in the water after the crash at the southern Outer Harbor breakwater
  • A 77-year-old man was found unresponsive and a 66-year-old man was winched to safety
  • Police are preparing a report on the man’s death for the coroner

Police said both the Windsor Gardens man and a 66-year-old Smithfield Plains man fell from the 15-foot fibreglass boat into the water when it crashed against the rocks, about 20 kilometres north-west of Adelaide.

The alarm was raised just after 6:15pm yesterday.

Officers in the police helicopter spotted the two men in the water after the boat had sunk.

The Smithfield Plains man was winched safely up into the helicopter.

The Windsor Gardens man was found unresponsive in the water, and Police Water Operations recovered the man’s body a short time later.

His death is not considered suspicious.

Police are preparing a report for the coroner.

The 66-year-old was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.