Duck Boat in Missouri - Truly a sad disaster

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Lot of people talking about this today. It’s an extremely popular place to take the family and the duck boats are famous around here. But my word, what a tragedy. May they all RIP
 
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They need to do something with the tops/roofs on those boats. Some kind of easy escape opening or breakaway top needs to be added for these kind of unexpected events. Those things sink like a brick... there have been lots of deaths on those things.

Very sad.
 
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I agree. Quick inflatables at every seat and a way to escape. They look cool as hell but I always saw them as potential death traps. It doesn't seem like it should take a lot of money to do that but I really don't know.

9 people from the same family - all dead. It's incredibly sad.
 
I have lived and worked in and around Branson and Table Rock Lake for much of my life.
It hits extremely close to home.

There is no excuse for this tragedy.
None. Zero.
Completely avoidable but the company is cheap... now 17 people are dead.

These damn things need to be banned and if not, they must at the least all be required to make SIGNIFICANT changes... but its too little too late now.
Its disgusting how folks around here are acting like there is nothing anyone could have done.
 
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badnews said:
I have lived and worked in and around Branson and Table Rock Lake for much of my life.
It hits extremely close to home.

There is no excuse for this tragedy.
None. Zero.
Completely avoidable but the company is cheap... now 17 people are dead.

These damn things need to be banned and if not, they must at the least all be required to make SIGNIFICANT changes... but its too little too late now.
Its disgusting how folks around here are acting like there is nothing anyone could have done.
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Yeah - I can't help thinking that this thing was being used in a way much different than designed. My understanding is that it was designed for either river crossings or short landings off of ships. Using it as a pleasure cruiser in the middle of a lake or river with 20 people on board always seemed like it was asking for trouble.

I feel for the people and families. I normally think people are responsible for what they do and too often cry foul when they should have known better. In this case though, I really think they had a reasonable expectation that the vessel was worthy of the task.

And to be honest, that to me is more on the licensing agency than it is on the owners - as long as the owner was operating within the laws. These agencies have far greater assets than some small business owner. They are also charged almost explicitly with protecting the consumer in their licensing. And I'm pissed that so many lost their lives due largely to what I see as government bureaucrats collecting a fee without doing their basic duty.

Sorry - there are few ways to die that I can see being more painful than drowning or burning. Thinking about what these poor people went through is really hitting me. From joy and an expectation for a fun adventure to horror and then a slow death. It just haunts me.

My deepest sympathy to all actually involved.
 
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Yes this is a tragic situation, and yes one that was totally avoidable.

I just read that more than 40 people have died because of these things, yet nothing to date has been done to prevent more accidents.

From the article in the link below:

Jim Pattison Jr., the president of Ripley Entertainment, which owns the duck boat company involved, told "CBS This Morning" the boat "shouldn't have been in the water."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/duck-b...boat-accident-shines-light-on-past-incidents/
 
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RamFan503 said:
Yeah - I can't help thinking that this thing was being used in a way much different than designed. My understanding is that it was designed for either river crossings or short landings off of ships. Using it as a pleasure cruiser in the middle of a lake or river with 20 people on board always seemed like it was asking for trouble.
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I just read this, and you are right it was designed to get troops and supplies from a boat to shore and drive right up onto the beach. It was designed to be a short distance shuttle, not to cruise around on a lake.

The Star is reporting that the one that sank in this accident was built in 1944. Interesting stuff in this article.

IMO the canopies should not be a permanent part of the structure, they should be easily knocked out of the way so people can swim away rather than be stuck. If that canopy had been a snap on/off fabric top this may not have happened.

https://www.kansascity.com/news/state/missouri/article215268300.html
 
LesBaker said:
I just read this, and you are right it was designed to get troops and supplies from a boat to shore and drive right up onto the beach. It was designed to be a short distance shuttle, not to cruise around on a lake.

The Star is reporting that the one that sank in this accident was built in 1944. Interesting stuff in this article.

IMO the canopies should not be a permanent part of the structure, they should be easily knocked out of the way so people can swim away rather than be stuck. If that canopy had been a snap on/off fabric top this may not have happened.

https://www.kansascity.com/news/state/missouri/article215268300.html
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They have them on the Willamette River and I always thought it was a bad idea. And mind you, the ones I've seen there were open air. But go down on a boat in one of the largest rivers in the US and tell me most will survive? Yeah... no. What shocked me was that they had some on the Puget Sound. Are you kidding me? Huge ferry boats have had issues there. No fucking way I would get on one there.

But again, the people getting on those things have a reasonable expectation of safety. That goes double in this country where we are often over protected by government regulations and licensing. I really hope this tragedy puts a new eye on these floating coffins. I feel for those who have invested in the business end of this. I don't think they are as unconcerned about public safety as many will try to portray them. Should they do more? Quite likely. Are they evil? Likely not.

I'm good with them operating them in kind with their design. I even think that would be really cool. Go from land into shallows and back out with a big splash. Launch them off an LCVP. That would be really cool as you could do it in swimming depth water and you could even hand out WW2 style life vests.

The way they were used here is just wrong to a tragic end.
 
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RamFan503 said:
They have them on the Willamette River and I always thought it was a bad idea. And mind you, the ones I've seen there were open air. But go down on a boat in one of the largest rivers in the US and tell me most will survive? Yeah... no. What shocked me was that they had some on the Puget Sound. Are you kidding me? Huge ferry boats have had issues there. No freaking way I would get on one there.

But again, the people getting on those things have a reasonable expectation of safety. That goes double in this country where we are often over protected by government regulations and licensing. I really hope this tragedy puts a new eye on these floating coffins. I feel for those who have invested in the business end of this. I don't think they are as unconcerned about public safety as many will try to portray them. Should they do more? Quite likely. Are they evil? Likely not.

I'm good with them operating them in kind with their design. I even think that would be really cool. Go from land into shallows and back out with a big splash. Launch them off an LCVP. That would be really cool as you could do it in swimming depth water and you could even hand out WW2 style life vests.

The way they were used here is just wrong to a tragic end.
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I agree with you entirely.

When you look at the canopies on those things a change has to be made. I don't know if you saw the video of this boat starting to go down but it was obvious they were going to be trapped by it.

I couldn't tell if the people on board had life jackets on, I hope that's required, I would assume it is.
 
This is turning out to be a horror show.

The family that lost 9 people included a woman who lost her husband and three children.

The boat company knew a storm was coming.

The Captain of the boat said the passengers wouldn't need life jackets, so the family didn't get them.

This is fucked up. This should not have happened.

Good grief why go out when a storm is coming and why would you as Captain not make sure EVERYONE including the kids had a lifejacket.

Hopefully this will produce change.
 
My understanding is that they were notified of the storm a half hour before it hit while they were already underway.

If the other is true, that is idiotic. Every fishing trip or tour boat I’ve been on went through a demonstration much like an airline on the where’s and how’s of life jackets - as well as the throwables. There is no room for complacency when taking the lives of the public in your hands.
 
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"Nothing like this has ever happened here before "
- RTD Branson statement.

Oh, well since nothing bad had ever happened THERE, SPECIFICALLY, I guess its no big deal.
Nevermind the fact that 13 people died in another tragic RTD accident in our neighbouring state of Arkansas less than 20 years ago.
Or the 5 people in Seattle a few years ago, or in Pennsylvania...

When I go out to build an outdoor stage and roof system, we have sight ops monitoring weather and keeping us informed so that our patrons and staff are protected from potential weather events.
Again, all of this was avoidable. Lax attitudes and a cheap operation are the killers in this case.
 
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I guess we don’t really know what was going on inside the boat when those waters got rough like that... but it seems like there should have been awareness to grab life vests.

I know the captain probably owns that, but I can’t imagine why people weren’t doing that on their own?

Probably need to give the investigators time to look into this.
 
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CGI_Ram said:
I guess we don’t really know what was going on inside the boat when those waters got rough like that... but it seems like there should have been awareness to grab life vests.

I know the captain probably owns that, but I can’t imagine why people weren’t doing that on their own?

Probably need to give the investigators time to look into this.
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Have you seen the video of the boat slowly going under? I agree with your feeling there.

I can tell you there is NO way I would have stayed on that thing. I would have grabbed people and life vests and started getting them out.

It's a disturbing video, but it's on the web and worth viewing for insight.
 
I don't care what the pilot of the boat was saying I would have gotten up and distributed life vests to my family members and others.

When I was watching the news that morning they said there were predicting heavy storms in Missouri with possible tornadoes.

Why were they even open that day much less putting boats in a lake?
 
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How did nobody on that boat try to get off at any means possible? I would smashed a window, something. No way I go down that easily without a fight. Fucking tragic.
 
No life jackets? I nearly drown in the Susquehanna river when I was 20. In the summer the river is usually low enough to comfortably wade. But I hit a deep pocket with undertow. Now when my 11 year old son and I are on the water, wading or in a boat, we always wear a life preserver....even if the water is only knee deep.

As to the duck boats; I cannot understand the attraction. But, any legislation that would be restrictive to the business would like affect their ability to stay open. That can be a hard line for legislators to cross. Maybe that is why nothing had been done to date. Hopefully this tragedy spurs lawmakers to force some changes or keeps tourists from trusting the companies that run the boats and forces them out of business.
 
Elmgrovegnome said:
As to the duck boats; I cannot understand the attraction. But, any legislation that would be restrictive to the business would like affect their ability to stay open. That can be a hard line for legislators to cross. Maybe that is why nothing had been done to date. Hopefully this tragedy spurs lawmakers to force some changes or keeps tourists from trusting the companies that run the boats and forces them out of business.
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This is a SUPER easy to solve issue..........replace the canopies with snap off Sunbrella covers.
 
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