NTSB: 2018 duck boat tragedy could have been avoided

LIBERTY, Mo. — A duck boat sinking on a Missouri lake that killed 17 people two summers ago likely would not have happened if the U.S. Coast Guard had followed recommendations to improve the safety of such tourist attractions, federal safety regulators said Tuesday.

The National Transportation Safety Board released the findings of its investigation into the July 2018 tragedy, when a Ride the Ducks vehicle sank during a severe and sudden storm on Table Rock Lake near Branson.

The accident had a ripple effect among similar duck boat companies, including Pittsburgh’s Just Ducky Tours, which experienced a strong downturn in business following the accident.

If the Coast Guard had followed recommendations for small passenger boats that the NTSB made after a similar boat sank in Arkansas in 1999, killing 13 people, the Missouri boat “likely would not have sunk,” said Brian Young, an NTSB accident investigator.

Young also said the agency’s staff believes Ride the Ducks should have suspended water operations that day because of the severe weather forecast.

Among the files released Tuesday was a letter the NTSB received from the Coast Guard agreeing that canopies and side curtains should be removed from amphibious tour vehicles known as stretch duck boats.

NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said at a telephone news conference that although the Coast Guard’s recommendations don’t have the force of a regulation, he’s “very optimistic” the agency is committed to improving small passenger boat safety. Duck boats should not be allowed to operate again until the recommendations are fully implemented, he said.