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Duck boat sinks in Branson, at least 13 dead


Celery Man

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I read an article a few minutes ago about one of these boats sinking in 1999, said that people were pinned to the boat canopy because of their life jackets ....13 died....said it filled up with water in a matter of seconds

Transportation safety board recommended that they have a secondary way of the boat staying afloat (no idea what that is) ...but, recommendations weren't followed 

and this company was run out of Pennsylvania after a couple of incidents 

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38 minutes ago, 'stache said:

The canopy had to cause problems though.  If the boat sinks and they're caught under the canopy, I'm not sure a life jacket would help.

That's my guess as to what happened.  The boat started going down and the canopy trapped most of the people.  Even if they would have had lifejackets, it wouldn't have mattered.

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Turning around and going down wind to beach it wherever you hit shore. Could that boat have been able to survive the turn?

That boat looks like a deathtrap regardless. No outside deck of any kind.

And this vapid fat old people just sitting there eating and getting fatter. Wow.

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6 minutes ago, Parliament said:

Turning around and going down wind to beach it wherever you hit shore. Could that boat have been able to survive the turn?
 

The other POS duck boat completes a successful U-turn rather easily at 2:30. But then he spins it back into oncoming waves and keeps on plowing into the maelstrom like the Edmund Fitzgerald. 

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4 minutes ago, smuggs said:

The other POS duck boat completes a successful U-turn rather easily at 2:30. But then he spins it back into oncoming waves and keeps on plowing into the maelstrom like the Edmund Fitzgerald. 

Hopefully, we get a Gordon Lightfoot song out of this. 

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1 hour ago, 'stache said:

The canopy had to cause problems though.  If the boat sinks and they're caught under the canopy, I'm not sure a life jacket would help.

 

48 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

That's my guess as to what happened.  The boat started going down and the canopy trapped most of the people.  Even if they would have had lifejackets, it wouldn't have mattered.


Are these WWII ducks or repros? The USCG recommended original DUKWs be fitted with air-tight compartments or have the hull filled with foam. Also easily removable canopies to prevent people from becoming trapped. Repro ducks should have been built to those standards. 

Were the people instructed to put on lifejackets at the first hint of a storm?

Riding duck boats is a lot of fun. But the emphasis is on the scenery, the novelty of amphibious vehicle and jokey narration. On a perfectly calm lake the WWII ducks are not responsive and clumsy. At one point the boat operator had a little boy steer the duck. while commenting, "You don't even know where we're going,"  to laughter. One tour takes the passengers through a DUKW graveyard. The tour company is constantly on the lookout for vintage DUKWs to scavenge parts to keep their fleet intact.

hmRtvIip_o.jpg

A modern duck in Alaska was a big improvement. I do not recall ever having a lifejacket demonstration. 

Edited by Stoogey
Goofed.
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2 hours ago, midtown said:

I'd make it.  No doubt about it but I've also won numerous ocean and lake 1 and 2 mile swims.  And I know how to shed clothing asap.  And my kids are excellent swimmers.   I doubt anyone on that boat had that type of swim experience. 

Swam4Texas?

26 minutes ago, Parliament said:

Turning around and going down wind to beach it wherever you hit shore. Could that boat have been able to survive the turn?

That boat looks like a deathtrap regardless. No outside deck of any kind.

And this vapid fat old people just sitting there eating and getting fatter. Wow.

I found this part sickening.  How could they not at least attempt to do something to help?  Us Americans can be a selfish people.  

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Counter to survival instinct, not to mention there were olds and kids. 
Thoughts like: "The boat is the safe place, the water is scary. My kids are with me. I'm old and fat." doesn't lead to a lot of bail out and head for land with the water flow thoughts. 
 

I get that, but at some point you have to be aware of the situation. If you’re underwater you need to rerack and change the current course of action you’ve chosen.
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7 minutes ago, T’Boo Ted Marshall said:


I get that, but at some point you have to be aware of the situation. If you’re underwater you need to rerack and change the current course of action you’ve chosen.

If you are with family, I think your first thoughts are going to be to try and save them. When you do that, you don't have a shot for yourself. Even if I was by myself, I think I would automatically direct my energy to trying to save children or old people.

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It bottles the mind that the operators thought they should go out or that the people chose to get on. I understand that they prob trusted the operators or thought the boat was more sea worthy than it was. 

Terrible and so easily preventable 

Edited by Lhorn
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36 minutes ago, po elvis said:

If you are with family, I think your first thoughts are going to be to try and save them. When you do that, you don't have a shot for yourself. Even if I was by myself, I think I would automatically direct my energy to trying to save children or old people.

what about hot babes

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26 minutes ago, midtown said:

I've only been on one of those things ever and it was about 6 years ago in Seattle.  It was much smaller and much more open. 

Didn't know Seattle has ducks. Surplus WWII DUKWs. 

gnJ5Xf7N_o.jpeg
 

1 hour ago, Doc Reeves said:

Newsflash to people who don’t sail: Duckboats are death traps. 

 “She’s not very fast, but she’s better in water than any truck and she’ll beat any boat on a highway!” – Roderic Stephens, Jr., naval architect.

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8 minutes ago, Orca of Peace said:

probably thousands of duckboat rides annually across the country and one fatal error right?  It's safer than flying. 

OK, i'm not sure of the stats, but seriously though it's not THAT bad is it??

Apparently more people die every year in golf carts than duck boats, according to the Feds' stats. But they could have been skewed by Tiger Woods' ex chasing him around the course and indiscriminately running over hundreds in 2010.

Edited by phdhorn
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5 minutes ago, Orca of Peace said:

probably thousands of duckboat rides annually across the country and one fatal error right?  It's safer than flying. 

OK, i'm not sure of the stats, but seriously though it's not THAT bad is it??

 

Well, you have a hell of a lot better chance of survival getting off a sinking boat then you do a plane crash so there's that. 

 

In all seriousness we were in Chicago last summer and were doing a boat tour on Lake Michigan as soon as we got away from Navy Pier the fog rolled in out of nowhere. The captain immediately apologized and said it wasn't safe, we turned around and were given a full refund. Don't fuck with mother nature especially when you have other people's lives in your hands.  

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