10902
From: Captainj, [DNS_Address]
Subject: NTSB’s Initial Review of Video Recordings Reveal Duck Boat Captain Was
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Monitoring Storm... The National Transportation Safety Board announced Friday that it has completed its initial review of video recovered from the DUKW “Stretch Boat 7” that sank July 19 near Branson, Missouri, revealing a preliminary timeline of events leading up to the sinking. The “Ride The Ducks” amphibious vehicle had 29 passengers and two crewmembers aboard for a tour when it capsized and sank on Table Rock Lake during severe weather. One crewmember and 16 passengers died in the accident. Recordings from the Stretch Boat 7’s final moments were included on an SD card and a removable hard drive from the boat’s digital video recorder camera system that were recovered by divers before the duck boat was salvaged and immediately turned over to NTSB investigators. In total, the boat’s cameras recorded five channels of video: four outward facing and one inward facing. Audio was also recorded. All media recovered was sent to a NTSB laboratory in Washington for analysis. The NTSB’s initial review of the recorder, posted below, provides information which is preliminary and will be supplemented or corrected during the investigation. The times presented below are as-recorded by the DVR and have not yet been validated against local time. The information also does not contain analysis and, as such, no conclusions regarding the cause of the accident should be made from this preliminary information below: The NTSB’s initial review findings from the video are below: The audio quality varies widely throughout the recording, affecting the intelligibility of what is spoken. About 18:27:08. The captain and driver boarded the previously empty vehicle. The driver sat in the driver’s seat and the captain sat in the side-facing seat to the right of the driver. (The captain operates the duck on water and the driver operates duck on the road.) About 18:28:00. The crew was told to take the water portion of the tour first, by an individual who briefly stepped onto the rear of the vehicle. About 18:29:13. As the passengers were loading, the captain made a verbal reference to looking at the weather radar prior to the trip. About 18:33:10. The driver stated a passenger count of 29 and shortly after, the vehicle departed the terminal facility. The captain narrated the tour while the vehicle was in motion. Starting about 18:50. In the vicinity of the boat ramp, the captain began a safety briefing regarding the water portion of the tour. The briefing included the location of emergency exits as well as the location of the life jackets. The captain then demonstrated the use of a life jacket and pointed out the location of the life rings. The captain moved into the driver’s seat and the driver moved into the seat directly behind. About 18:55:20. The captain announced to the passengers that they would be entering the water. The boat entered the water. The water appeared calm at this time. Between about 18:56:22 and 19:00:38. The captain allowed four different children to sit in the driver’s seat, while he observed and assisted. About 19:00:25. Whitecaps rapidly appeared on the water and winds increased. About 19:00:42. The captain returned to the driver’s seat. The driver lowered both the port and starboard clear plastic side curtains. About 19:01:01. The captain made a comment about the storm. About 19:03:15. The captain made a handheld radio call, the content of which is currently unintelligible. About 19:04:15. An electronic tone associated with the bilge alarm activated. About 19:05:21. The captain reached downward with his right hand and the bilge alarm ceases. About 19:05:40. The captain made a handheld radio call, the content of which is currently unintelligible. In the final minutes of the recording. Water occasionally splashes inside the vehicle’s passenger compartment. (The low frame rate and relatively low resolution make it very difficult to be more precise in the preliminary review.) About 19:07:26. An electronic tone associated with the bilge alarm activated. 19:08:27. The inward-facing recording ended, while the vehicle was still on the surface of the water. Next, a NTSB recorder group consisting of technical experts from the NTSB and parties to the investigation will convene at NTSB headquarters to begin validating the recorded data and developing a detailed transcript of the sequence of events. Additional agencies participating in the NTSB’s investigation of the accident are the U.S. Coast Guard, Missouri State Police Highway Patrol, Ride the Ducks, Branson and the National Weather Service. |
10914
From: Captainj, [DNS_Address]
Subject: U.S. Coast Guard Convenes Marine Board of Investigation into Fatal
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Duck Boat Sinking... The Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard has convened a formal Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) into the loss of the U.S.-flagged amphibious duck boat, Stretch Duck 07, which occurred July 19, 2018 with the loss of 17 lives. The “Ride The Ducks” amphibious vehicle had 29 passengers and two crewmembers aboard for a tour when it capsized and sank on Table Rock Lake near Branson, Missouri during severe weather. One crewmember and 16 passengers died in the accident. A commandant-directed formal Marine Board of Investigation is the highest-level investigation in the Coast Guard. The investigation into the Stretch Duck 07 is only the fifth Marine Board of Investigation to be convened in the last decade. Previous MBIs have investigated losses including the F/V Destination, SS El Faro, Deepwater Horizon, and Alaska Ranger back in 2008. “Our hearts go out to the victims as well as the families and friends that have been impacted by this terrible tragedy that occurred in Branson,” said Capt. Wayne Arguin, chairman of the Marine Board of Investigation. “The Coast Guard will conduct a thorough and detailed investigation to identify all potential causal factors associated with this tragedy.” The marine board consists of five members who will investigate all aspects of the casualty including, but not limited to, the pre-accident historical events relating to the accident, the regulatory compliance of Stretch Duck 07, crewmember duties and qualifications, weather conditions and reporting, and Coast Guard oversight. During the course of the MBI, panel members will decide the factors that contributed to the accident; whether there is evidence that any act of misconduct, inattention to duty, negligence or willful violation of the law on the part of any licensed or certificated person contributed to the casualty; and whether there is evidence that any Coast Guard personnel or any representative or employee of any other government agency or any other person caused or contributed to the casualty. In advance of the investigation’s findings, Rear Adm. John Nadeau, assistant commandant for prevention policy, sent a Marine Safety Information Bulletin to all Officers in Charge of Marine Inspection (OCMI), as well as vessel owners, operators, and masters, to review routes and conditions, review company operations manuals, conduct extensive crew training and drills, and encourage companies to have a proactive approach to vessel oversight. Both the NTSB and the Coast Guard have agreed that the NTSB will lead the marine casualty investigation effort with the Coast Guard joining as an equal partner, in accordance with Joint Federal Regulations. |
Responses:
None
10907
From: Captainj, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Families of Victims Sue Duck Boat Tour Operator for $100 Million
URL: http://gcaptain.com/families-of-victims-sue-duck-boat-tour-operator-for-100-million/
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The families of two of the 17 people killed when a World War Two-style tourist “duck boat” sank on a Missouri lake during a storm earlier this month have sued the tour operator, calling the accident the “result of decades of unacceptable, greed- driven, and willful ignorance of safety.” Relatives of Ervin Coleman, 76, and 2-year-old Maxwell Ly, his great nephew, of Indianapolis, on Sunday sued tour operator Ripley Entertainment Inc, which operates under the name Ride the Ducks, and vessel manufacturer Amphibious Vehicle Manufacturing LLC, alleging they “recklessly risked the lives of its passengers for purely financial reasons.” The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Kansas City, Missouri, seeks $100 million in damages. There were 31 passengers aboard the duck boat on Table Rock Lake, outside Branson, Missouri, on July 19 when hurricane- strength winds churned up the water and sunk the craft, causing one of the deadliest U.S. tourist tragedies in recent years. The boats, modeled on the amphibious landing craft used in the D-Day invasion, have a checkered history including more than three dozen fatalities on water and land, including the Branson sinking, according to the complaint. “This tragedy was the predictable and predicted result of decades of unacceptable, greed-driven, and willful ignorance of safety by the Duck Boat industry in the face of specific and repeated warnings that their Duck Boats are death traps for passengers and pose grave danger to the public on water and on land,” the complaint said. Robert Mongeluzzi, an attorney for the families, told a news conference, “The quest for justice includes doing everything within our power to ban duck boats once and for all,” according to a statement. Mongeluzzi represented the families of two people killed when a duck boat crashed into a barge and sank in Philadelphia in 2010, winning a $17 million settlement. Seven other members of Coleman and Ly’s families were killed in the incident, and Mongeluzzi’s law firm said in the statement that its lawyers plan to file lawsuits on behalf of other victims. Ripley Entertainment declined comment on the lawsuit, but said it was “deeply saddened” by the incident. The suit alleges that Ride the Ducks endangered passengers by letting the boat out onto the water after the National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the area, and that passengers were not told to put on life jackets. It also cites a 2017 report from a private inspector who concluded that duck boats were prone to engine failure in bad weather. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the accident. A duck boat sank in Arkansas in 1999, killing 13 people and prompting the NTSB to recommend changes to duck boats’ design to make them less prone to capsizing. Monday’s lawsuit alleges that Ride the Ducks ignored these warnings due to cost. |
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[10912]
10912
From: marja, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Families of Victims Sue Duck Boat Tour Operator for $100 Million
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I'd sue as well...what were they doing out on that boat when the weather was so unstable , craziness... I've been on a large sailboat here on the SF Bay steering the boat numerous times, all of a sudden the ocean kicks up, the waves are huge and the wind is blowing... it can be scary as the boat is sideways into the ocean... |
Responses:
None