A 12-year-old Northport boy fell overboard during a boating safety course Tuesday, striking a propeller that caused him fatal injuries near the Centerport Yacht Club.

According to Suffolk Police Assistant Commissioner Justin Meyers, three students were participating in a sailing lesson around 3 p.m. Their boat was intentionally capsized as part of the lesson, and all of the students were wearing life jackets at the time.  

Two of the students remained with the boat, but the third, the 12-year-old, was in the water. Police say the 18-year-old instructor, who was in a separate Zodiac boat, pulled the boy from the water.

The instructor turned, accelerated the boat and may have run into a wave, police say. The boy again fell into water and against boat's propeller, which caused massive injuries to his chest.

Meyers says the instructor pulled the boy back into the boat and performed CPR until EMTs arrived at the scene. He died soon after at Huntington Hospital. The instructor was also taken to the same hospital for treatment of shock, police say.