Ride The Ducks Boat Capsizes in Storm

runner1960 · July 20, 2018, 01:56:29 PM

Wow, What a tragedy. I have never ridden the Ducks and with all the safety instances probably never will. I know there will be a lot of questions and whataboutisms before this is all sorted out.

I am no boat captain but after seeing the videos I have just a few questions. Hopefully someone more versed than me can lend some insight.

1. Obviously the ducks are underpowered for the type of swell they were in. You can see that in how they were struggling.

2. Would it have been a better outcome if the captain had turned the Duck and headed with the waves and just beached the Duck ? It looked like they were closer to shore behind it. Maybe he was afraid of it getting swamped during the turn ?
3.Hopefully they ordered Life Jackets on during this ? I cannot believe they would not. One video shows another crew member standing over the captain.

I am not judging anything here, these are just things that popped into my head while watching the videos.

HumphreyHawk · July 20, 2018, 02:06:46 PM

Thoughts and prayers with Branson today

I wonder if HFE sold this attraction because they where worried about the liability of an accident like this. I'm not saying anyone predicted this....but it wouldn't surprise me if they dropped it to prevent the company from getting in trouble because of something like this.

Big respect to the Ripley's CEO for speaking with the media today. He could have just sent out a press release but he went on live and you could hear how shook up he was. Took on the hard questions and was very honest in his answers. Even agreed that the driver should not have took it into the lake.

Horrific thinking about how quickly that could happen. All of us locals probably understand that the sky can be blue one minute and be horrific crazy just a few minutes later with one of these fast moving midwest storms. I'll be patiently waiting for the investigation/timeline of how they got themselves in that situation. It's pretty easy to judge them right now that they should have seen the storm coming.

I can't image Ripley's reopening the tour....if it survives....would be with new owners and a bunch of safety minded changes. Good luck with the marketing campaign if it does reopen.

I have a friend camping at an RV park offshore....they had a tree go down next to there RV. Gave them a big scare and they talked about the storm coming from out of the blue.

sirwillow · July 20, 2018, 02:35:32 PM

Such a horrible, sad moment.

The "captain" survived, but the driver didn't. That was Bob Williams, who is well known around Branson, as well as being a local minister. Well loved guy that I've heard wonderful things about.

There was a storm watch posted, and severe thunderstorm warnings went up about 40 minutes before it happened, but it's likely that the 2 ducks that were on the water had left base to start their trip before that. No clue if the warnings were relayed to them when on the road or not, but based on them both being on the water I have a feeling they weren't.

I know when it hit our place, it went from a beautiful, gorgeous day to incredibly fierce winds almost instantly. If they didn't know before hand, then it would have caught them completely by surprise on the water. It tore down branches and trees around us, and you can see in the videos how harsh it was on the water.

I'm afraid that even if everyone in it put on life jackets it wouldn't have helped. As others have pointed out, the flaps were all down and sealed, which only left the back door open and no other way out when it went down. And it looks like once it started to capsize it went down pretty quick. :-(

I know reddit is ablaze with all of those who know better than everyone else. And had a couple out of line comments on my video I did that I had to delete. Hurting for everyone that is affected by it.

Duelist · July 20, 2018, 05:49:41 PM

Just saw where 8 of the deceased were from the same family. I don't have the words. Prayers up for all the deceased and their loved ones.

Okiebenz · July 20, 2018, 05:58:26 PM

Big difference between planes crashing and these things.

Yes, these are underpowered on the water even in the best conditions. The one duck that got out was pure luck. It sank pretty close to the ramp but the water there is 80 feet deep I heard the new say.

It was actually 9 members of a family from Minneapolis. 11 were on vacation so 2 survived. I can't imagine what they are going thru.

I was witnesses on that were on the other boat I believe say that the weather looked really bad before they even got on the water but they ran the boats anyway.

Here is a story about how the NTSB warned about those being unsafe. I bet there will be some big changes such as removing the canopys if they don't shut down completely.

http://amp.kansascity.com/news/state/missouri/article215219170.html

Okiebenz · July 20, 2018, 06:04:58 PM

Wow, how sad. So there are still a bunch of cars in the duck parking lot from the people who died and it looks like people are putting flowers and such on them. This is unbelievable.

Gilligan · July 20, 2018, 09:47:14 PM

All I can say is that I arrived at the IMAX at 6:15 with clear, sunny skies. My hubs commented that there was cloud cover to the north over Springfield when we were talking about hoping it would rain. At 6:33 I got a weather text alert on my phone and was surprised to see it. At 6:48 we were looking at a radar that showed a heavy line of storms moving in. I believe at 7:03 the boat sunk. It happened that fast! It's a tragic, tragic event that breaks my heart thinking of the pain families are dealing with.

Swoosh · July 21, 2018, 12:25:57 AM

I feel so bad for the family of 11 from Indiana that had 9 perish and only 2 survive. Sounds like it was the mother and one of her nephews. I pray the two don't suffer from survivors' remorse. Such a horrible tragedy all around

sanddunerider · July 21, 2018, 06:32:14 AM

Quote from: Swoosh on July 21, 2018, 12:25:57 AM
I feel so bad for the family of 11 from Indiana that had 9 perish and only 2 survive. Sounds like it was the mother and one of her nephews. I pray the two don't suffer from survivors' remorse. Such a horrible tragedy all around

So true, I cant even fathom that..

.
I have a very small family, If we lost 9 members at 1 time., It would wipe out the entire family...... $:-\$ $:-\$

Terrible.....

sanddunerider · July 21, 2018, 08:34:51 AM

A list of names has been released....

So, So very sad.. Looks like the family of 9 were great grand kids, children, cousins, grandparents, parents uncles.., Four generations. SMH

Its just unbelievable..

.

(copy and paste below)
https://www.facebook.com/pg/All-Access-Branson-134293326599920/posts/?ref=notif

sirwillow · July 21, 2018, 12:14:55 PM

Quote from: Gilligan on July 20, 2018, 09:47:14 PM
All I can say is that I arrived at the IMAX at 6:15 with clear, sunny skies. My hubs commented that there was cloud cover to the north over Springfield when we were talking about hoping it would rain. At 6:33 I got a weather text alert on my phone and was surprised to see it. At 6:48 we were looking at a radar that showed a heavy line of storms moving in. I believe at 7:03 the boat sunk. It happened that fast! It's a tragic, tragic event that breaks my heart thinking of the pain families are dealing with.

There are a lot of people who don't realize how fast it moved in. Not only that, but the strong winds, which were the real problem, were 11 miles ahead of the storm, and those don't show up on radar. Brandon Beck of KY3 posted the radar photos of it. I know it caught us by surprise at home- sky looked mostly clear when we were getting hammered by the winds.

Just sad and tragic in so many ways. The loss in that one family is unimaginable. I'm sure it will be investigated, examined, and analyzed thoroughly, and lots of people will point fingers and put blame without knowing the details and circumstances. But I know a lot of people are hurting, and that should be remembered first and foremost right now.

History Buff · July 21, 2018, 01:23:42 PM

As much as a storm may be unexpected, contrary to popular belief, they don't pop-up without some science applied. They may not have realized it was coming, or didn't keep an eye on forecasts, watches, and warnings and just trusted their instincts and eyeballs, but this storm did not just pop up at the lake.

Here's a quote and image from our guy on the Missouri/Oklahoma/Kansas border. You decide.

QuoteMy heart goes out to all people that are affected by the duck boat incident Thursday evening. We all know how thunderstorms are around this part of the country. That same thunderstorm is the one that gave our viewing area the terrible afternoon severe thunderstorm. There was ample warning time that this storm was working toward Table Rock. This is just a reminder that no matter what time of there year it is, we always need to be weather aware. Terrible tragedy, very sad!

That cell did not just show up on the radar 6:33. That's just when the image was copied and pasted. Also, that bow-shape on the front end of the radar indicates high winds.

Don't get me wrong. I don't believe anyone did anything wrong and as much human loss as there was, I pray that everyone recovers from any guilt they are currently feeling, but new cautions must be put into place and adhered to in regards to the weather. We often think that SDC is overly cautious regarding lightning strikes, but this is why.

HumphreyHawk · July 21, 2018, 02:55:00 PM

An NWA weather guy posted about the weather timeline.....showing that they severe weather warnings for the area was released 30 minutes before the accident:(

A family of 4 from Arkansas lost 2 members. The Mom didn't go....sister made it but the Dad and brother didn't. Just heartbreaking

History Buff · July 21, 2018, 03:19:20 PM

Quote from: HumphreyHawk on July 21, 2018, 02:55:00 PM
A family of 4 from Arkansas lost 2 members. The Mom didn't go....sister made it but the Dad and brother didn't. Just heartbreaking

Heartbreaking indeed. Here is what the church posted - a request from the minister. It really brings things home.

QuotePlease pray for the Smith Family of the Osceola church of Christ. Last night Steve (the father and husband) and Lance (his son) died in the tragic Duck accident in Branson, Missouri. Steve was a deacon at Osceola, and I had just baptized Lance, who was 15, late last year. This past Sunday I finally was able to get Lance to do a devotional and break out his shell! Attached is one of the last photos of him I know exists. He was like a son to me, and I will miss him greatly. He was the perfect example of humility and compassion! He cared about everyone. My heart breaks, but I know where they are, and I know that I will see them again!

I hope some of this brings peace to their family, friends, and the rest of us who look along with astonishment at the personal tragedy experienced by the surviving mother and daughter.

sirwillow · July 21, 2018, 06:11:31 PM

Well, for those of us that were wanting to give them the benefit of the doubt that maybe somehow they didn't know the storm was coming, hadn't looked at radar, and got caught by the nice weather when they went out on the water...

CNN and Wall Street Journal had an interview with the surviving adult in the family of 11. She says they were told a storm was coming, and they actually changed the route to go to the water first in an attempt to beat the storm. Still a lot of investigating to do, and we're still in the early stages where a lot of misinformation can come out. But that would not be a good thing.