Sixteen years ago, after another duck boat accident with multiple fatalities, the National Transportation Safety Board came out with a list of recommendations that other duck boat operators could follow to keep their passengers safe. The boat that sank in Missouri didn't have any of the suggested modifications.
One of the recommendations was to add reserve or back up buoyancy to keep the vessels afloat if it starts taking on water. It also said until that change happened the canopies should be removed, because they can trap people who are trying to escape.
Rob Goley with SAFE Boats International spent 20 years with the Coast Guard. He says whenever you modify a vessel from its original construction, you run the risk of unintended consequences. Duck Boats were originally designed to transport supplies and soldiers during World War II, and now they are a popular tourist activity.
He outlined three areas of concern when it comes to Duck Boats. Two are modifications that were not part of the original construction when it was used by the military.
1. The canopy: The World War II vehicles did not have canopies. This was added as a comfort for tourists. The NTSB specifically said in a report from 2002 that the canopy trapped some people trying to escape the 1999 accident in Arkansas.
2. The plastic window covering
3. Oversight
"(The) Coast Guard does a great job of trying to catch problems before they become accidents, but there are a lot of vessels and only so many inspectors," Goley said.
Ride the Ducks in Seattle has addressed the windows safety issue by having an automatic window lift. So in the event of an accident, they can raise them, and passengers aren't trapped by them.
But all of these businesses throughout the country are independently operated, and it's now up to lawmakers and regulators to act on what we already know would make these vessels safer for passengers.
