17 killed in tourist boat crash

[pugz]

In Branson. This is so sad 😭. A storm came through with 60mph winds and the boat sank while trying to make it back to the dock.

There is a history of incidents with these Ride the Ducks boats.

17 dead after Southern MO boat capsizeshttps://www.kshb.com/news/state/missouri/crews-working-boat-crash-on-table-rock-lake

[jezebel]

I don’t understand why they don’t make people wear life jackets on these. Isn’t that generally a law on boats? I’ve only been on boats in the ocean.

[pugz]

Jul 20, 2018 11:20:02 GMT -5 jezebel said:

I don’t understand why they don’t make people wear life jackets on these. Isn’t that generally a law on boats? I’ve only been on boats in the ocean.

Every tourist boat tour I have done they show us where the life jackets are but we don’t put them on. In this case I assume the water came in too fast to get them and put them on

[eddy]

I am trying to figure out what happen. Did they drown inside of the boat thing? Like had no chance to escape? 17 is so many people.

I also want to know how long it takes to travel back to the shore. I think they said a T storm warning was issued 40 minutes before the incident. Does it take that long to journey back or did they not pay attention to the warning?

These are the storms that whipped through Iowa yesterday causing terrible tornados. They came on everyone quick.

[dbe100408]

Jul 20, 2018 11:20:02 GMT -5 jezebel said:

I don’t understand why they don’t make people wear life jackets on these. Isn’t that generally a law on boats? I’ve only been on boats in the ocean.

Lurker here. I believe our state law is that you must have a life preserver per passenger on board. I don’t believe it requires you to wear them, other than perhaps children. This is local-ish to me, and so terrible. I’m thankful they’ve accounted for all the passengers.

ETA: Any passengers under seven are required to wear a life jacket.
www.mshp.dps.missouri.gov/MSHPWeb/WaterPatrol/BoatingLaws_Education/boatingLifeJacket.html

[phunluvin82]

This is so awful

[sewf]

I have ridden the Ducks (multiple times in Branson and once in Boston) and have never worn a life jacket. The driver should have never gone out on the water if there was a chance of a storm, though. The size of the lakes down there, and the low speed of boat probably meant that it would take a little while to get back to shore. It shouldn’t have taken more than 20 minutes, though. I don’t think we ever went out too far.

[WanderingWinoZ]

this is really terrible...I have extensive experience with these boats & crashes, and I still don't understand why they didn't start putting on life jackets at the first sign of trouble. Maybe some people got trapped? The video looks really bad with waves blowing over the sides.

ETA: this is awful and heartbreaking, I feel so bad for the families. 

[WanderingWinoZ]

WRT to "getting back to shore" in the video, if there are 60+ mph winds & waves, the boat may not have a strong enough motor to go more than a few mile per hour into the wind/waves.

[sewf]

Jul 20, 2018 11:33:28 GMT -5 WanderingWinoZ said:

WRT to "getting back to shore" in the video, if there are 60+ mph winds & waves, the boat may not have a strong enough motor to go more than a few mile per hour into the wind/waves.

The boat motor on those things don’t allow you to go very fast as it is. Maybe 20 MPH, tops. I just wonder why they went out on the water if there was a chance of storms. Or at least why did they go out so far that they couldn’t get back in a shorter amount of time. When I have gone on the tours, you are not out on the water for more than 20 or 30 minutes, and most of that is slow because they let kids “drive”.

ETA: I know I am being kind of cold here. I just think of all the times I have gone and am wondering how it happened. I have to think about it this way because it’s devastating to think about with my heart because this was a big part of my childhood. I have pictures of myself driving the Duck in Branson when I was maybe 6 (not wearing a life jacket).

[sugarbear]

Is this a national company, or are they franchises? Seems like they need a time out to review their safety protocols. (I'm remembering the horrible accident caused by a Ride The Duck boat in Seattle a couple years ago.)

[pugz]

There was a huge storm on the radar with warnings of straight line winds so I do have to wonder if there is negligence on their part.

[Yankees21]

I can’t stop thinking about this 😭I’ve gone boating there several times. I read about another incident in 1999 with a duck boat that said the canopy trapped several people once it started to sink; I’m wondering if that contributed to such a high number of deaths. So tragic.

[WanderingWinoZ]

Jul 20, 2018 11:40:20 GMT -5 sugarbear said:

Is this a national company, or are they franchises? Seems like they need a time out to review their safety protocols. (I'm remembering the horrible accident caused by a Ride The Duck boat in Seattle a couple years ago.)

IIRC, typically both- some are franchises and some are owned by the parent company

There are also a ton of other "duck boat" type of rides or tours by other companies beside "Ride the Ducks" that have similar names & rides.

[eddy]

I am also curious about their weather policy. I would assume a watch was in order before the warning? Watches normally are for long periods of time. We were under one all last night due to these same storms. So I am curious if they still run the boats if a watch has been called.

[sewf]

Also, this is an area that gets lots of storms. It isn’t like they never get severe weather. They should have known that the weather could deteriorate at any moment. I live about three hours northwest of Branson, and we know not to go out on the water then you have the potential for severe weather. I feel like this was absolutely negligence on the company’s part. Even if there was no watch when the tour started, it should have been obvious to the driver before getting on the water that it was not safe, even if it wasn’t too bad when the tour started.

[JayhawkGirl]

Jul 20, 2018 11:44:21 GMT -5 pugz said:

There was a huge storm on the radar with warnings of straight line winds so I do have to wonder if there is negligence on their part.

I am heartbroken for these families. Those poor families.

And I am stunned and angry the boat company went out in the water. This was NOT an out of nowhere Storm. We get those, sure. But this wasn’t that. They put their staff and customers in an entirely avoidable situation.

That storm line started in central KS up by the Nebraska border and marched across all day long. This was NOT a surprise pop up storm. We came indside at 3pm from this line passing through KC.

Locally to Tablerock, the storm watch (be aware, conditions favorable) was issued at 11:30 am and severe thunderstorm storm warning (its happening) went out at 6:32. The boat went into the water around 6:45, and the tragedy was shortly after 7. It makes no sense that they ever went in.

Radar and NWS info in this article:
www.kansascity.com/news/state/missouri/article215222260.html
“The National Weather Service in Springfield issued a severe thunderstorm warning Thursday evening for the Table Rock Lake area — nearly 45 minutes before a tourist boat sunk, killing 17.




ETA:

eddy

[karinothing]

This is so horrible. Honestly it has really made me change my views for life jackets for the kids on commercial vessels. I make them wear them when we are on private ones but it never occurred to me to wear them on ferries or stuff like this. I don't know that it would have helped in this situation but I certainly realize that it is risky to have not done it before this.

[jlt19]

I'm not even sure life jackets would have made a difference here. The windows are a strong plastic and I'm betting they were just trapped.

I also get how the company was negligent but I'm assuming these storms happen all the time so the crew felt like it was just another day. While they are to blame, I'm sure they are traumatised for life.

How absolutely devastating all around.

[mcmel]

When I was a kid my parents used to tell me these things were a death trap. I think it’s a mixture of so many things that makes these ducks so deadly when they go down. They attract families including very young children and older adults who may not be very good swimmers. Life jackets aren’t within arm’s reach. They have a roof and small windows preventing most people from escaping, even if you did have your life jacket on. What are the fatalities? 13/20 in the 1999 incident and 17/31 in this one? It’s astounding. Something has to change with these things.

[texasharleygirl]

One of my very dear friends was on one of the other Duck Boats at that same time. She said the weather changed at the drop of a hat. "The weather changed within minutes. It was hot and humid, then cold and windy. The rain came sideways into the boat and we all got wet. The sky grew darker and the water began making waves. I felt like I was in a movie scene. It was surreal. We were fighting for survival as our boat got tossed in the midst of the storm. We lost visibility and had no idea the other boat capsized"

I hate that there was a loss of lives, but I am thankful that she's okay; shook up pretty badly, but okay.

[karinothing]

Jul 20, 2018 12:17:15 GMT -5 mcmel said:

When I was a kid my parents used to tell me these things were a death trap. I think it’s a mixture of so many things that makes these ducks so deadly when they go down. They attract families including very young children and older adults who may not be very good swimmers. Life jackets aren’t within arm’s reach. They have a roof and small windows preventing most people from escaping, even if you did have your life jacket on. What are the fatalities? 13/20 in the 1999 incident and 17/31 in this one? It’s astounding. Something has to change with these things.

Why do they even have roofs? I guess so you can go on tours in the rain?

[mcmel]

Jul 20, 2018 12:19:03 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Jul 20, 2018 12:17:15 GMT -5 mcmel said:

When I was a kid my parents used to tell me these things were a death trap. I think it’s a mixture of so many things that makes these ducks so deadly when they go down. They attract families including very young children and older adults who may not be very good swimmers. Life jackets aren’t within arm’s reach. They have a roof and small windows preventing most people from escaping, even if you did have your life jacket on. What are the fatalities? 13/20 in the 1999 incident and 17/31 in this one? It’s astounding. Something has to change with these things.

Why do they even have roofs? I guess so you can go on tours in the rain?

I guess so? Keep the sun off you as well? I feel like taking off the roof or making it very minimal, making life jackets mandatory for 16 and under, and putting all life jackets directly in front of each passenger would greatly reduce these numbers, but I’m no expert.

[Susie]

Jul 20, 2018 11:20:02 GMT -5 jezebel said:

I don’t understand why they don’t make people wear life jackets on these. Isn’t that generally a law on boats? I’ve only been on boats in the ocean.

Most states require life jackets for kids under 12-13 (depending on the state) but not adults, depending on the size of the vessel.  Like someone else said though, in this case I'm guessing even if they had PFDs on, people were trapped inside.  What they needed almost as much as life jackets were those little hammers for breaking car windows open.

ETA:  I mean most states require kids under 12-13 to WEAR life jackets, but not adults.  Obviously the boat is required to have enough PFDs for everyone on board.

[WanderingWinoZ]

Usually the roof is a solid metal part, but the windows/sides are open (no glass). THey typically have clear plastic that can be rolled down to cover the window sides if it's cold or raining.

eta

[boiler717]

How horrific. We were going to do this in Boston next week but I think we’ll skip.

[lilibet]

My grandparents lived in a part of Arkansas that had ducks so I remember the really bad incident 20 ish years ago. I've been terrified of them since. The last few family vacations I went on were to Branson and I always refused to ride them.

Going off the shots of the radar they should never have been out there. I feel so bad for everyone involved. I can't imagine being one of the people who watched this sink from the Branson Belle.

[lilac05]

Jul 20, 2018 12:01:48 GMT -5 @rainbowdash said:

With as many tours as they do daily, it should not have been any trouble to cancel or postpone this trip.

Unfortunately, until last night, the decision probably didn’t feel that simple.  If they cancel a trip, they have to deal with irate customers.  Customers don’t think anything bad would *actually* happen, and they just care about getting their pictures and experience in before they go home and they don’t want to disappoint their precious children.  Many times, there are storm watches and no storms actually hit.  Sometimes there is even a storm warning and the storm turns and misses an area.  When that happens, if they have canceled a trip, people get even angrier.  Of course, that’s not even touching the loss of income for canceled trips.  

I’m sure they’ve gone out during thunderstorms many times before.  This time, tragedy struck.  

It’s kind of like the people who stand out on their porch and watch/film tornadoes.  Its been done before and it’s been OK...until it’s not.

I’m not in any way defending their decision to send boats out.  It was irresponsible, dangerous, and lead to the tragic loss of 17 (edit #) precious lives.  The people who made that decision will pay for it, literally and figuratively, for the rest of their lives.

[aliciabella]

Jul 20, 2018 11:23:09 GMT -5 eddy said:

I am trying to figure out what happen. Did they drown inside of the boat thing? Like had no chance to escape? 17 is so many people.

I also want to know how long it takes to travel back to the shore. I think they said a T storm warning was issued 40 minutes before the incident. Does it take that long to journey back or did they not pay attention to the warning?

These are the storms that whipped through Iowa yesterday causing terrible tornados. They came on everyone quick.

There was a video of it and the whole boat just went down. I don't think any amount of life preserves would have saved them. If anything, the captain should have started to evacuate people but it happened so fast. It is horrible.

[wawa]

Jul 20, 2018 11:20:02 GMT -5 jezebel said:

I don’t understand why they don’t make people wear life jackets on these. Isn’t that generally a law on boats? I’ve only been on boats in the ocean.

No. You are required to have a sufficient number of life jackets. And kids have to wear them. Adults are not.