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The roof of the Duck is a death trap. Especially if you are already wearing a life jacket as well as without. There is a rim all around that makes it impossible to get out underwater. There is no roof on the old military versions. I suspect that is exactly why.
As an experienced boater, I didn't feel comfortable riding one of those things. Out of a family of 9, only 1 survived. She described what it was like coming home to total silence. All of her kids and grandkids were gone.
And here I am feeling sorry for myself after losing all my tools, some vehicles, and my shop in a fire. I can't even begin to imagine what that dear woman has had to endure.
Coincidentally me and my wife were in line to ride the duck boats that sank. We were in Branson for our honeymoon. My wife was pregnant at the time and we had to leave because she was feeling sick so we left to go eat to help her feel better. We decided to go out shopping instead, both our phones were dead and the last thing our families heard from us was that we were getting on the duck boats. We got back to the hotel room about 2am and finally got our phones charged and was surprised when our phones were overloaded with texts and missed calls. It was at that time we seen on the news on tv what had happened. It was gut wrenching going back the next day and still seeing the vehicles of the families that passed away was parked there with us.
Life is often cruel, but occasionally fate steps in with what seems like an afterthought. I worked in California in the spring of 2001 and met a lovely woman there. We corresponded through the summer, and she came to visit me in Maine when she had a few days off in the fall. It was raining the day she was booked to fly out out and both of us wanted her to stay another day, but she had a non refundable ticket. I phoned American Airlines a few times telling them white lies but they wouldn't budge. I tried one more time just before leaving for the airport, and happily an agent with a kind soul agreed to rebook her on the same flight for the following day. We we're snuggling on the couch later that afternoon when the TV broke into 9/11 coverage and we found out that the connecting flight from Boston she'd missed had crashed into the twin towers. We married and have 3 kids, but we both felt guilty that some poor soul flying standby may have taken her seat. Later we found out the flight was only half full.
I have a similar story. It saved my life at 9 years old. It was when my mom used to bowl and had a bowling meet she had to go to . I was at home with my grandma on the west side of Indianapolis and she had to go to Martinsville in indiana to said bowling meet. Well i was originally supposed to go but at the last minute i decided not to. That last minute decision saved my life. My mom got t-boned by a drunk driver who was chased down by a canary yellow truck. But the entire passenger side of my moms car was pushed into the middle console area. If i would've went i wouldve been crushed on the impact. My mother lived but she still has spasms in her lower back that hit her every once in a while and she still has residual pain at times and will for the rest of her life. Shes in her 50s now but it was still scary knowing that fate saved me. And an angel protected my mom. As one survivor to another by split decision it never makes the situation any less harrowing. My heart goes out to those gone and those blessed by an angel.
@@bakugobaby3100 I was T-Boned back in 2010. The passenger side of the truck was reduced to about 12 inches. The whole cab was move 3 feet off of the frame. 100% fatal if there had been a passenger. I suffered a permanent injury to my left arm from the seatbelt, but with no belt I think I would haven seriously or fatally injured. I moved with the cab, no belt and the passenfer side would have come to me.
On an item called out in this video, there is a reason airline safety briefings tell the passengers to never inflate their life vest inside the plane. After a water landing, the inflated vest can trap you inside the fuselage. This occurred after the water ditching of a hijacked plane that ran out of fuel. Many passengers on Ethiopean Airlines 961 survived the crash but died because they prematurely inflated their life vests. Kudos to Brick Immortar for another excellent and in-depth video.
That's what I was going to say. From the sheer bulk of them in those photos, I'm nearly certain those were cork vests, not inflatables. The worst possible thing to put under a non-detachable roof.
@@jbradhicks Yeah... they would have been much better served had they had the airline style life vests. They would have been much better served with better briefings, policies and safety culture leading to not going out onto the lake at all, but that is obvious. Hindsight is always 20/20, after all. My heart goes out to all the people affected by this senseless needless tragedy.
@@amiman.yesiam.8791 Which makes it even more important to not put it on until you have a clear escape route and are out from under the overhead fixture.
As I began watching the video, I was hoping the Captain would tell the passengers tp put on their life jackets, especially the children and infant. Imagine my horror in learning the fate of those who did put on the life jackets. Brick's demonstrations on being trapped on the ceiling, absolutely chilling. Your comment on life jackets for water landings is an eye opener.
I'm an aviation student. Safety negligence to this degree is absolutely astonishing to me. An aviation accident of this magnitude would typically result in a phonebook of regulations, recommendations, and many other directives. So many concepts of safety taught to me were mentioned in this video. Thank you for researching and sharing this story. May the victims of this tragedy rest in peace. ❤️
A sunken boat is not as catchy as an aviation disasters engulfed with flames. As such, it does not give as much political capital to those career politicians to act, despite way more people have died in a boat than on a plane
Flying a plane, sailing a boat, or playing poker all involve the same question: are the conditions right? If the answer is not a resounding yes, you stop right there.
@@LIONTAMER3D on two of the mentioned it's clearly true but as far as poker goes bro you tend to make your own conditions either bad to worse or good to better there is how ever skill in knowledge in all 3 that will bring attention to you of your conditions I just wanted to put that out there ... Love , peace and chicken grease have a good day
Seeing the names of the deceased, I realized they were mostly older or very young. How horrifying. For one, this means this was probably a pastime for grandparents to take with their grandkids, and for two, it means that the ones who died were the weakest and most vulnerable. They couldn't fight their way out of the boat.
Yeah, this was really bad -- the way the most vulnerable seemed almost targeted by horrible fate in this deathtrap...I want to be angry at somebody about all this, but it's so tragic and cruel all I can do is feel terrible for a bunch of people. I can't stand that helpless feeling. Also, the idea that something so stupid could cause so much pain. Anyway, they're getting rid of many of these WWII duck boats (for many reasons, mostly safety and liability), and several companies now market updated amphibious bus designs which promise much better safety, economy, etc. Ironically, there is movement away from these dangerous old surplus buckets for the exact same reason that they came into favour with tour operators in the first place: money. Lower costs. More profit. I think I'm most pissed off because those people died because of greed. I mean, a really beastly-stupid greed.
Back in 2011 when I was in my teens I rode one of these with my grandmother, we took a bunch of pictures but they were lost because we left the disposable cameras in the car and the heat ruined the film, so I don't know if we rode the same Duck.
Been to Branson, and my Mom was really wanting to do the Duck boats. We got there, my Brother-in-law took a hard look at them, and said “Nope!” Mom was throwing a bit of a fit, and I’ll never forget him saying, “I don’t want to have to decide which one of you I save when that damn thing flips”- and what he meant was, he didn’t want to watch us drown because he would have saved my sister. My BIL is a great swimmer and surfer, but I am only a mediocre swimmer, and my sister could only manage a dog paddle - and Mom can’t swim at all. We didn’t go. The following year, the accident happened.
Some would be upset about him being so blunt about who he'd save first but I applaud him for his honesty. Like... yeah, I'd risk my life to save my nieces or nephews. With that said, I'd save my daughters first. (To be clear, I'm not saying that I wouldn't save my son. I just don't have one.)
I hope your brother-in-law is still out there giving the best advice possible and I hope you still listen to him. I'm glad you all listened to that voice of reason, including him...
Here in Seattle we had the ride the duck tours but our family never took a tour as our father was a first sergeant in the USMC, he said back then they weren't safe 30 yrs ago and they had good maintenance there's no way we're getting on one, thank you Dad for possible saving our lives
Its well known in the marines that our vehicles have killed more of our own guys than almost anything else in the last 3 or 4 decades. 9/10 its obviously from human error, but when you have such a complex piece of machinery and you forget to properly take care of it, it stops taking care of you.
I never knew what reserve buoyancy in boats was until a few years ago. Not having any in a cramped vessel like that which can hold so many people is frightening. Once water started flowing over the deck it must have been underwater in 3 seconds.
A Seattle ride the ducks also hit a bus full of college freshman on Aurora Ave bridge some years ago and several people died. RtD had been skipping maintenance. I would never take my family on one.
I took one with an out of town friend. Pretty sure we were given life vests. This was a few years before their crash and the poor maintenance came to light. Would never do it again. Way too close to the water, felt dicey as heck.
Thank you for making this. I was working as a crewmember on the Cleopatra (operated by London Duck Tours) on the 29th September 2013 when it caught fire on the river Thames and we had to abandon into the water. If you ever plan on making a video on that incident and would like to speak to me about it, please feel free to reach out.
I used to encounter Frog Tours' ropy surplus wagons in London in the early 2000's They were far from confidence inspiring, knowing how treacherous the Thames can be!
We did this in Branson, the pto for the prop went out as soon as we hit the water, we drifted towards the show boat and out in the lake with no control. While sitting with life jackets on and all the kids crying I realized it was a death trap with limited space to escape. Terrifies me now knowing the lack of reserve buoyancy. Hearts out to the family for this tragic event.
I was actually on the showboat when this happened, absolutely insane. I remember being so disappointed that we didn't get to go out on the water because of the storm and then i saw the duckboat struggling. My heart truly goes out to those who lost their lives. I was hoping the company would be shut down but no of course not... A vacation I'll never forget and a tragedy that everyone needs to remember.
The worst part is that they brought it back four years later, same location. All the locals including me are disgusted by it, but the tourists don't seem to care or even be aware of what happened. All the people who work or live in town can recall exactly what happened that day, how the storm seemed to come out of nowhere, and hearing the news about the duck boats... it kind of affects our perspective towards the renewed ride.
@@jeremyparks9648 well yeah, that's explained in the video, but from my perspective the only warning I got was a coworker saying "hey did you hear there might be thunderstorms this afternoon?" which happens every other day. Hence why I said it seemed to come from nowhere, while speaking from my own perspective
Disasters have always occurred throughout human history. However, we do learn from them. Are you never going to get on a plane because of the many airline disasters? I'm willing to bet you get into or operate a piece of machinery on a daily basis responsible for one of the most deaths in this Country.
IMO this is still a lot like an airline crash. Many different things had to be wrong at the same time for it to happen like this. The video implies that this is a total redneck operation but I dont think so. They have their systems and procedures in place. They were negligent but not in a redneck way. More like an airline way. The design of the duck roof and the lack of life jackets is insane though
That's the one of the worst parts for me personally. I remember watching the interviews from the surviving family member in the hospital & just BAWLING at the thought of 3 generations of a family just... gone in an instant.
My little company was started by James H Cole having driven a duck back from the west coast to Michigan in 1945 or so, after the war. The ducks were operated in Oakland county by our company successfully performing waterfront construction duties, moving materials to hard locations not serviceable by any other means and using prop wash to dig canals, setting piling and other dredging type operations. With as many as seven ducks operating at the peak in the late 1950's, Mr. Cole operated a tour boat operation on Walled Lake Michigan. I personally used a duck for projects in Oakland county into the 2000s. The maintenance schedule was daunting and once I traveled to Wisconsin to see the garage operated by those fellows there. Their shop was massive and complete, alterations seemed to be relegated to better brakes, better engines and rerouting of exhaust pipe. But it was all safety all the time. I never launched into a body of water without a hydroscopic map detailing depths. Any duck excursion I operated started with filling the hull with water to test the bilge pump operations, then draining to dry and reseat all the plugs and check the rubber driveshaft seals. Safety gear aboard was double checked, the surf coaming was always deployed at launch, even slow speed launches. The hatches on the bow had fresh fabric seals and were adjusted to keep them shut tight. In calm water the hatches could be opened for cooling but never in heavier waters. The Coast Guard and NTSB recommendations were just ignored, And I cannot believe an insurance company would underwrite any of this without inspecting the operation. And, the lack of respect for the weather is plain stupid. The forward hatch modification was stupid. Stretching the design length was stupid. Encapsulating the cargo area was stupid. Launching with people with whom you did not know their swimming capabilities, not issuing and forcing them into jackets before hitting the water is stupid. I grew up in an environment where taking the duck out was an important occasion. Not a frivolous endeavor, but always mindful and prepared. These needless accidents are tragedies and certainly sully the reputation of our local GMC production facilities in Pontiac Michigan, and men who engineered, designed and built these machines that Eisenhower is quoted as saying, "Winning the war was possible because of the Ducks.' Thank you for a well done presentation.
I don't see how these accidents undermine the effort put into building them at the factory. The fact that this many are still functional after nearly 8 decades says quite a lot about how well built they were. 😊
I rode a duck boat over 40 years ago in the Wisconsin Dells. Still remember how "off" it felt riding that low in the water, it was like we were always on the verge of sinking, all the time. It messes with your mind and makes you too tense to really relax and enjoy the ride. Also, the darned things couldn't maneuver for crap.
I'm surprised these haven't been banned world wide. They had these on the London Thames, I remember a near fatally fire. And i never trusted them, too old and exposed. Especially running all day 7 days a week.
My wife and I were kayaking Table Rock a few days later (we had no idea what happened) and Kayaked from the State Park Marina to a little island we saw and thought would be cool to go to. On the way out, we decided to kayak over to the paddle boat. About that time, a state trooper boat pulled up and told us we needed to go around because they had a dive team down there searching for bodies. After hearing that, we had the most Erie feeling. RIP to all the victims.
Per my father (Navy WW2), working at max capacity, the pumps could pull 280 gallons of water a minute out of a flooding DKW. Unfortunately, if the rubber boot on the prop shaft failed, it allowed water to come in at a rate of 360 gallons per minute. Also, these were NEVER intended to have a post-war life; they were considered expendable from the get-go.
@Lurking Carrier Keep in mind, there were only about 540 PT boats as opposed to more than 21,000 DUKWs produced. Between that and the specialized and expensive maintenance requirements of an 80-foot wooden boat vs. what is essentially just a deuce-and-a-half truck with some fancy bits, I'm not especially surprised that the Navy chose to scrap the PT boats rather than try to sell them as surplus, whereas the Army sold off most of the surviving DUKWs with all the other stuff they no longer needed after the war.
Because their design life was very short, so they probably lack considerations an intended solution would lack. Things like seals, stability, and fatigue need to be well understood for watercraft. Especially when your not putting military men in their prime into them, but children and those less able.
The surveillance videos of this disaster are perhaps some of the most haunting things I've seen in a long time. The quality of this documentary is amazing.
Scary to know that our family was supposed to be on the Ducks that fateful weekend. We were held back by a very long timeshare meeting. This is probably the only time a timeshare meeting was actually useful for something, in my eyes.
Branson area resident here. There are still duck boats active in Branson under a different company. I see them driving around all the time. Why people still get on those things after this tragedy is beyond me.
They probably are not aware of that incident, if you’re not a resident or somehow involved, the incident may not be known. I just found out about it with this video 😢
@@jossmyit was huge news. I’m about 2ish hours away in Arkansas but Branson is a regular spot for us to go. We saw the duck boats about a month ago, last time we were there. After this, I can’t even drive by the ducks without just feeling so incredibly uncomfortable. I remember them showing the cars left in the parking lot of people who didn’t come back..
It really hit me when I heard that 9 of the people lost were in the same family. Imagine getting your family together for a fun outing like this, only for this to happen. A few people out their lost so much family all at once. So heartbreaking and avoidable...
What I find odd is why, from that family there was a 1 year old and 2 year old on the trip. Its clear that those things are not suited for kids that age so the company and the family should have stopped that happening.
@@cplcabs People (whether they should or not) trust that people in charge will keep them safe. That's your answer. If the family felt the ride was unsafe for children they probably wouldn't have gotten on in the first place.
the worst part of 9 members of one family dying is that there were only 10 members of the family😭 i heard it was the matriarch of the family too so she lost her children and grandchildren all at once
@@cplcabs it’s not obvious at all unless you’ve seen videos or news like this. They move extremely slowly and families in America may take infants on steam boats or speed boats. I honestly couldn’t figure out how this boat could kill people having ridden one in Branson myself. I had to look it up to understand. They seem safe unless you’re educated about them.
Worked in dispatch for one of the responding agencies this day. Watching this brought back a flood of emotions I didn't know were still inside. I took a call from someone on that duck and heard nothing but screams. I am still haunted by this unnecessary tragedy to this day. I pray those "charged" are one day held responsible. Profits should never be placed before lives, zero exceptions. I want to also thank the first responders that dealt with this (and every) call, the trauma they take home and often suppress is heartbreaking. This very incident changed the lives of so many people over the GREED of the almighty dollar!
Earlier that afternoon I was working at Shepherd of the hills in Branson where I met the Coleman family. They came up to the tower and was sitting on two of the tables. Several of the kids came up to play on the obstacle course. When we finished I always made it a point to talk to the parents and make sure that their vacation was going well. The Grandma stuck out the most because of her hair. She told me about the family reunion, and they were going to the landing for jet boats. I was also in the play that night. The big guy “dad” called the show-off and told everyone to “get the hell out of here” because the storm was coming. I jumped into my car and headed to Branson west where my daughter was at cheer practice. The winds were throwing limbs and insanely heavy rains burst down. As I arrived at the school several ems was outside when the call came. The news finally released the pictures of the family. My heart broke. I had seen them no more than two hours before. Soon after I took a break from The children's area and had to regain mental health to continue. Life is too short. We are here and gone like a blink.
As bad as it sounds, at least you remembered them. So many people just pass by and go unnoticed. I'm sure you made an impression on them with your kindness.
Even though these things aren't very safe to begin with, the fact that nobody told the last two boats to stop and go back because clearly the weather was bad is ludicrous.
I live 2 hours northwest of Branson and I can remember that Storm. it hit our town with a force and I had friends in branson on table rock lake at that time in their boats and phoned them when it hit our town to let them know what was coming at them. They hurried and got off the water and to safety before they got hit. Most of us here in Missouri knows that when they predict weather here to watch it closely cause in a blink of an eye it can go from bad to worse fast. The captian of this boat should have never went on that water and put all those people in danger.
I live in Branson and tattoo the tourists. My shop is only 1 mile from the Ride The Ducks. I remember clearly how bad that storm was. What seemed like moments into the storm I saw and heard 10's of emergency vehicles racing to table rock lake. I only found out later, how many people died. I tattooed "remember the ducks" on several rescue personnel shortly after 😢 so sad
I'm glad this wasn't coverage of the Seattle incident a few years back. I was one of the EMT's on that scene and it was not pretty. The bow on those things is like a knife and when the Seattle one hit a greyhound bus, it was at pelvis height for all the passengers on the bus. I still have flashbacks to that day. It was one of the hardest of my career. We did a damn good job on the emergency response, but the maintenance on these vehicles is just impossible to keep up.
When I was a kid in Seattle, I always wanted to go on one of these tours. My dad, an engineer for Boeing, told me we would never do one because they weren’t safe. Fast forward a couple years, and look what happened…over and over and over. My heart breaks for all the people lost on these things, especially the children.
do you remember the ride the ducks accident on the bridge few years back in seattle? that was horrible! so much carnage. that horrid accident led to the closing of the ride the ducks seattle location if I remember correctly
Not True - Negligent employees maybe - but the tour is just as safe as any other bus or boat tour - I was blessed to have took the tour in Seattle & it was the “Best” tour in Seattle by Far - Absolute Travesty that is was closed simply because of some negligent operators or simply an accident that could happen to anyone, on any day 😢😢😢
Having experienced the Great Lakes Derecho in 1998, I can say that storms like that are absolutely terrifying and not to be messed around with. The fact that the company heard "chance for 75 mph winds" and kept boats going that close to the storm just blew my mind when I first heard about it.
@@maryeckel9682 Yeah a bit weird that they ignored the warning like that. We get derechos about every year or two here and tornadoes yearly and I cant think of many people who would willingly be on the water with a tiny ass boat in the face of these warnings.
I grew up in Indiana through multiple hail storms & tornados, a few 1s and 2s and one 3 but never a Derecho until TN 2 years ago. I have never seen a storm come on so fast an furious. I was running a short errand and raced home when I saw the green yellow sky and barely made it. Way more terrifying than the tornados the next year.
In winds that high you shouldnt even be driving a regular car on the road unless it's an absolute emergency much less taking out a boat. I would bet that all aircraft in the area either landed really quick when they saw that storm warning or never even flew that day in the first place.
What a terrible way to die. The terrifying struggle back to shore, just to have the boat sink close to the shore. I feel for the victims. This is chilling and heartbreaking. :c
I cannot imagine the devastation in the coleman family after that, it's like an entire branch of your family tree was ripped out senselessly, they were all probably on the same side of the boat, the one without egress. From the comments, I just found one a single member of that family did survive, I don't know how to understand this, I would almost think that would be worse, to the the sole survivor than to die with your family, objectively I know that isn't so, but I cannot even begin to fathom the depths of that, I wouldn't know how to keep going, it's horrific and palpable, every day that feeling, I can't even imagine.
This was a difficult video for me to watch. Leslie Dennison, one of the victims, was a cafeteria worker while I was a student at Augustana College. Although I didn't personally know her, I can attest that she was a recognizable and friendly face to all. She was a super sweet and caring woman that always had a smile on her face as she greeted us in the dining hall and asked us how we were doing that day. It was devastating to learn of her passing back in 2018, and it's heartbreaking to learn how this happened and that it could have been easily prevented. She saved her granddaughter from drowning by pushing her above the water, but was unable to save herself. She is a hero and will always be fondly remembered by the students and faculty at Augie.
I'm so sorry for your loss! This was something that shouldn't have happened. ❤️. I grew up near Kansas City Missouri and we would go down to Branson ( everyone in my family had an RV) every single summer as a kid. And it was right around this time. From like probably 1995 to 2010 we were going down every single year. And my dad is an engineer and we would always pass the big duck boat sign and we would pass people going on the tours in the rides. And we would always beg my dad to let us go and my dad refused. He wouldn't let us step foot on those boats for any reason. And he convinced all the other adults in our family not to ride them either. He said it was a disaster waiting to happen. I don't know exactly what he saw or why he thought they were so unsafe. But that could have been me and my whole family if he hadn't been so adamant about it. For reference he also wouldn't let us ride that nile raft ride at worlds of fun either. And I don't think a disaster has happened at worlds of fun or anything. But he was always really concerned with stuff like this. And I always figured that if my dad could see what a danger they were then the owners should have seen as well
they never shold have been out. I live in the area and the whole day had weather warning interruptions on all the networks. well in advance of the storm.
@@dutchboy9273 sorry, but that isn't a excuse in this situation. You and me deciding on whether to have a BBQ outside during summer is one thing. Sure, some of us ignored warnings and got caught out in the rain with ruined burgers. This is a commercial endeavor with required weather watching. I have been on the river in vessels 600x more seaworthy that had their own radar. If you're dragging 30 paying people out onto the water in a canoe with wheels and a built-in coffin, you don't just "shruggy off" the weather until a tornado grabs you by the toe. You can see the dashcam of the sky with scary clouds in the direction the weather report said the storm was coming. You also missed that other duck boats saw lightning and waves and said "heck no we're out." Unless you live in a completely different Midwest alternate universe, just because it wasn't storming at noon doesn't mean thunder and lightning are impossible in the evening. 🤦 These dip💩s that drove into the water that day are either the dumbest humans alive and lucky they haven't mistaken bleach for apple juice, or the operation as a whole was compromised and just waiting for such an accident. I am guessing these employees have managed to keep themselves alive for a while now, so the latter must be true.
@@dutchboy9273 when I was little I was on a 14 ft rowboat with a motor kinda deal on the lake...gorgeous day no weather whatsoever on a lake that wasn't ever rough but it was big...squall came out if nowhere like out of a movie truly terrifying
@@dutchboy9273 excellent explanation. i grew up on Lake Worth, TX, and i remember the weather patterns there, most notably an extremely dark, almost black storm i saw with a friend from about 40 miles away and we both realized that it was near DFW Airport....we both remarked that we hoped no one flew into it. that was the day the L1011 crashed, they were directed right into that storm. summer storms can be swift and deadly.
That picture at 22:06 is terrifying. Almost anyone from the Midwest, or Plains States, or who does any sort of boating should know what is coming with that cloud formation. Going out into the water with that looming is nearly unthinkable.
My grand parents took me and my cousin to ride the Duck Boats in Branson when we were little. It was a fun memory for all of us. They kept the souvenir photo from our trip on display at their house for years. I always loved seeing the Duck Boats driving around Branson when we visited throughout the years. My grandparents and I were eating breakfast when my grandfather let us know up that one of the Branson Duck Boats had sunk. I remember we just sat there in shock and sadness. I then looked up the details on my phone. Learning how the victims were trapped on board. That there were entire families on board the boat when it sank. How many children died. It was all so heartbreaking. My grandfather was especially mad at the company for having boats out on the water when a storm was coming. If you have spent any time boating recreationally, you know that you avoid being out on the water when there’s a storm in the forecast. It’s basic safety practice and also basic common sense. And it’s something that Ride the Ducks blatantly ignored. Since then I’ve learned about more incidents of Duck Boats sinking all over the country. It made me realize that families put so much trust into companies that provide novelty experiences like this. It is especially appalling for family-targeting businesses like Ride the Ducks to abuse that trust by disregarding customer safety. It shouldn’t take a tragedy for common-sense safety procedures and redesigns to be implemented and enforced.
On the Boston Duck Boats: I worked at the Boston Museum of Science when the duck boat tours started in Boston. The MOS created a permanent exhibit about the boats and was a location where you could buy tickets and board the Duck Tour. As employees we could ride the boats for free which was a great perk, and we would often bring our lunches and eat aboard the tours on our lunch hours. But one rainy day I noticed that the rain curtains were rolled down and fastened from outside the boat. I tried to push my hand out from under the curtain to see if I could undo the fasteners from my seat inside the boat. It wasn’t possible. So I never rode the duck boats on rainy days from then on. I don’t know if the setup is still the same. But if you go on a tour, look at the curtain fasteners before you board! If the curtains are down and the toggles are twisted to the locked position, wait for a sunny day.
I worked at MOS (at OMNI) while had ducktours there and was an accident where a woman fall off back of parked boat (with stairs down) trying take a picture (right out front near the T Rex entrance), fell backwards over a rope chain, to ground, in what turned out to be fatal fall. To my knowledge they still operate from Museum as well as Prudential Ctr (in boston). They sometimes let people drive the boats (for short stints) when still in the charles (just doing circles I believe). Myself, never did take advantage of the free option to ride (always thinking I would eventually) 2003: Boston Rosemary Hamelburg, 63, fell backward off a duck boat into a parking lot while taking a photo on a duck boat in Boston. She died four days later. Her family filed a wrongful death lawsuit. Her family and lawyers said the duck boat operation failed to follow its own safety policies on board the Boston Duck Tours Boat. The company settled with Hamelburg’s estate for $425,000
@@tommykiddd years go I actually drove the vehicle in the Charles for a couple minutes between Science Museum and Longfellow Bridge. Rudder's so small, turn is very slow. Seeing this documentary now sends chills down my spine.
They're Velcro. You still easily push them out, just not so easy that, say, a kid maybe pushing on them wouldn't suddenly fall out. There are only *two velcro frames that are bolted to the duck, and it is only in one top corner so you can still push it out.
"They're going towards the paddlewheel" "They're going towards the paddlewheel?" The way the 911 operator said that, you could hear the fear from that thought
As a longtime Navy man, with 1000’s of miles of salt under me, I really appreciate these videos. Always have to respect the weather no matter what body of water you are on. RIP to those that perished.
@woos2911 They tend to cover both freshwater and saltwater operations, as English isn't a language which is particularly specific. A single word or phrase can have many meanings depending on the intent of the speaker or prior context.
Amen. Eternal Father, strong to save. Doesn't matter if you're floating on a dinky little life raft or sailing on a warship displacing 12,000 tons, when the seas are properly pissed off you can feel just how insignificant you are. The only thing you can really do at that point is pray.
Lake George in upstate NY is, in my humble opinion, heaven on earth. But the time it takes to go from 'a nice trip on the lake' to 'this is a little off' to 'we need to get to safety immediately' on lakes like this is mind boggling. If you've never been in a similar scenario you'll never know what its like. To have advance warning of that storm and still send those boats out was just sad. I can't imagine the captain and his guilt... I doubt he, in good faith, was chasing money and that was the root cause like some people have commented. I think he found himself in an untenable situation faster than he thought possible and it was already too late
I live in Springfield, about 30 minutes north of Branson. I've not only ridden the Ducks, I've *driven* them at one point. I remember when this happened, and it's still stuck with me as being an absolutely horrible way to die.
I’m in Fayetteville. I remember the news showing the parking lot with the cars still sitting of the people who hadn’t made it back alive. I don’t even like to pass the ducks when I’m in town now.
I’m also in Springfield and visit Branson several times a year. We rode the Ducks more than once. I have pictures of my kids driving it. It was a heartbreaking thing that happened.
I remember this day vividly for one reason. I was working the evening shift at a prison located in the southeast of Missouri. In my housing unit, I was working with an officer. Typical night. Around 9PM, my other officer received an “outside line” (someone calling from outside the institution). It was a family member notifying her of the tragedy in Branson. The officer I was working with was related to those individuals of the Coleman family and she was devastated, and I had to do my best to console her until relief arrived so she could go home. It was heartbreaking. I couldn’t imagine losing so many people in my family all at once in a preventable accident occurred purely out of gross negligence. I hope she is okay, and I hope those that passed are resting peacefully.
The worst part is the people who profited off the business and got to keep extra money by cutting corners, has their entire family and didn’t suffer any real consequences. The rich decimate us, pay a fine, and move on.
My family goes down to Branson every year at least once. It’s almost like a second home to me. I remember riding these old DUKW’s several times when I was younger. Even back then they were a bit sketchy. You couldn’t believe my shock when I heard this had gone down, and the extremely quick downfall of the business as a whole. The old ride building is now a paintball/airsoft course, but you can still see the remnants of its original purpose
Same here, I've spent quite a lot of time in Branson. I was there for a good amount of time before the duck boat incident, though we hadn't ridden the ducks for quite some time. I honestly wasn't too surprised, as I remember when I was a kid we went out when the conditions were less than ideal and being freaked out by how much the boat rocked. I was almost thrown overboard, if I remember right. Since I was a kid, of course I had a life jacket on, but if I remember right, many adults around me did not.
You gave us a first person experience by putting us in a seat in the back of the duck boat as it sank. Terrifying. I truly was holding my breath and looking for an exit that did not exist. Instead of telling us how it occurred, you immersed us literally as a passenger on this duck boat from hell. Your excellent research, video evidence and backstory was an added bonus. Love your documentaries. Better than the network productions on The History Channel and others.
From the time I was 8 years old to when I was 19 my family and two others went to Lake George in upstate NY every single summer, staying on turtle Island in the narrows. We would haul a 26' wellcraft cuddy cabin and an 18' mako center console up there from NJ and spend 2 weeks on the island, renting out multiple camp sites. I'll never forget that lake in bad weather, even in the boats we had. That wellcraft was meticulously maintained but it was so damn heavy. I cannot even begin to imagine this. In the first 5 minutes of looking at pictures I would of never gotten on that thing, and I'm a huge ww2 nerd.. what a horrific tragedy. People that don't operate boats regularly, especially pleasure craft, are scary. The forest rangers had a cabin on a neighboring island with a small chow shop, and they had Polaroid pictures of people's boats in trees and landed on rocks pinned on a board right outside... it seared into my mind boat safety like grill lines into a steak even then. I hope it's still there. I just thank God that my elders were veterans, because they realized just how fragile life is and how to PREPARE Thank you for making these videos. The disasters of old are intriguing, but something about seeing that video of the boat and hearing the 911 call drives it home- if it saves one life, even just ONE, you will have made a difference. For that I commend you
@@SD-eo8ze Not to sound arrogant or anything. But situations like this do make me feel a bit safer living in Australia where the government is kind of "draconian" about this kind of stuff. Any negligence, wilful or not is immediately acted upon as a criminal act. Designs and safety equipment are also enforced rigidly with regular checks, even randomly. Have to have a well known emergency procedure and everything. In some ways government overreach is problematic. But in situations like this, it makes perfect sense. People are way too willing to skimp to make that extra dollar.
Yeah… my dad was in the cg for 15 years and then navy and then va and now gsa and he does not have many nice things to say about the government’s ability to do pretty much anything.
As part of a summer camp activity, I was on Table Rock Lake that day. The weather was perfect until the storm line hit. We were told to take shelter in our tents, which, even with us and our bags inside, were picked up by the wind. Anyone in a boat at that time would have been in extreme danger, even without the hazards posed by the Duck Boats.
My late wife grew up in Boston and for our first proper date in 2005, she suggested we do the Duck Tour. We both really enjoyed it although we were lucky and had a warm summer's day with calm waters. The bright pink vehicle that carried us around the downtown and out into the Charles river seemed pretty janky and had definitely seen better days! I believe that Boston is now one of the last cities to operate the original DUKWs (although most were produced after the war, they're still more than 70 years old). I'm from the UK where we have also had lots of incidents with duck boats, including two sinkings and a fire that resulted in passengers having to leap into the River Thames. Fortunately non here were fatal but I probably wouldn't ride one again, especially as a non-swimmer with disabilities. As others have pointed out, they just weren't designed for constant passenger service many decades after their intended lifespan, and should probably be in museums, taken out on high days and holidays and carefully maintained in between by people who know what they're doing.
Most of the boats of this sort i've seen here in the UK haven't been conversions, though i'm by no means highly knowledgeable. So that may have been a factor in the lower loss of life in the UK accidents.
While I do remember hearing about the Branson tragedy, I had no idea of the details until I watched this video. Although I was born and raised in the Boston area where these are popular, I've never been on one myself, and now I know I'm not missing out on anything.
It looks like Boston Duck Tours replaced all of their original DUKWs with purpose built vessels, starting in 2006. From their website: "Our oldest Truck Duck was built in 2006 and the newest was built in 2014. They share no parts with a WWII DUKW, and are a “Duck” in name only." However it is true they still have a canopy with side curtains, which is what the Coast Guard doesn't like (for the obvious reasons pointed out in this video).
I remember seeing them all the time in the early 00's when we went on vacation. Our dad would never let us go one stating " yeah, those are not safe". Im glad he never let us.
As someone who has gone to Branson on multiple occasions Ride the Ducks has always been one of my favorite attractions. To find that people died as a result of their negligence both breaks my heart and makes me upset. Condolences to all the victims and their families.
Fun fact: my mother actually worked as a breakfast attendant at the hotel the Coleman family was staying at. They were asking my mom what kind of attractions are best in the area, as they didn’t intend on being there. She was playing with the small kid just hours before this accident.. I was outside just a few miles away from when this happened and the wind that came from literally no where was insane. The storm that soon followed was probably one of the worst I’ve been in.
There were warnings, the storm was being tracked and very high winds had been predicted and warnings sent out. The company should have heeded the warning. Yes, to anyone who isn’t in the business of taking passengers out on deep water, I can completely understand why that storm “came out of nowhere”, they often do if live in an area with a large body of water. But to the companies who had boats out there, there’s no excuse.
@@jaybee4118 Yeah, I'm so tired of people saying they had no warning. It makes it sound like these things are freak accidents, when in reality it's just plain negligence.
considering the complexeties and dangers of an amphibious vehicle, it is amazing what lengths people go to to have them as shoddily and sketchy built as humanly possible. WW2 landingcraft and old schoolbusses, i am not sure which id favor in anything deeper then a puddle.
not sure why this was in my recommended, and I hadn’t even heard of a duck boat tour before this, but I just watched the whole thing and wow. this was a very thorough, informative, and thoughtful video about a terrible tragedy. It really makes me wonder what other situations are just accepted as safe when they’re really not…
I rode the ducks the year before the accident. The thing that stuck out in my mind as soon as we enter the water was how very low they ride in the water it was a calm beautiful day no rain sides up but I was very freaked out that running my hand over the side I was touching water. I’ve never been so hard to get out of the lake in my life. I’ve seen the video from this and I don’t want to ever see it again I cannot imagine how terrifying that was.
I lived in Branson when this took place. I can remember that storm and the sirens echoing through the town. I knew something terrible had just happened. Prayers to all the victims and their family's.
I was in Joplin and we got the side effects of the storm (mild rain) but it was SO CRAZY how it just...felt when the storm was over. Even in joplin, this storm was HELLA broadcasted. Weather alerts going off on my phone all day. Then the rains came and went. But the pressure of feeling like something awful just happened. Like you could FEEL something bad just happened right in your back yard. Absolutely crazy day. Rest in peace to the victims and love and health to their surviving family and friends.
Was outside watching a f1 in Hollister back in 2006. I was on a mountain/hill just outside where the bridge linked with Branson. Pretty much every storm like that was the same there, fair weather, them here have a tornado.
I just paused in shock at the end just then, The Coleman Family.... That is seriously heavy. Tell your loved ones how much they mean to you folks. You don't know when it will be to late to do so. RIP to all the victim of this tragic event.
We rode the Ride the Ducks in Branson on Table Rock Lake about a week before this happened in 2018. We were stunned we'd just been on this whole operation, and indeed the day we went was very hot with a thunderstorm later in the evening, much like the day this happened. They dismissively told us about the life vests stored above us in the Duck (we were in a stretch Duck, but not SD7). Emphasizing it was mandated they tell us about them, they said their use is highly unlikely or something to that effect. I was very concerned that we were near the back of the Duck, but vests to fit my little girls were located way up high, and in the very front left near the driver/captain. All child vests were there. When in the water, we were surprised how high up the water came, to where we could almost reach out and touch it when in the lake. At some point, people could drive for a while, and indeed my 4 year old drove it for a while. I'm not kidding. My 7 and 4 year old operated the Duck out on Table Rock Lake. They even got a souvenir captain's certificate, or something. It was wild but everyone thought it was all fun and games. I fail to see, in all this time, why they couldn't add very simple pontoon foam floatation devices on the sides for extra buoyancy "just in case" where they take on water. We felt so terribly for all those lost. The picture of the family that lost 9 people looks just like the one we took only a week or so earlier. There were 7 of us. I can't imagine the devastation of losing that much of my family for a Duck tour and their lack of safety. Very sad how negligence and indifference to safety can destroy lives like this, all for somebody's profit.
Phenomenal video, Brick. I'm an avid weather enthusiast, and this story was infuriating. Its incredibly important to look for and follow the NWS warnings, obviously. Unfortunately, its common in the midwest and other regions that experience tornadoes and severe storms to ignore warnings. Because tornadoes are immensely hard to predict (where and when exactly they will happen) if a storm is warned and nothing comes out of it, and this occurs over and over again, people become desensitized and complacent. This leads to ignoring warnings because 'nothing happened the last 10 times they issued a tornado warning'. It's that sort of negligence that gets people hurt or killed, unfortunately, and that could very well be why no one seemed overly concerned. It's disappointing from a business standpoint too, because they are in charge of keeping people safe. They had ample time to act after the NWS issued a warning and there was no reaction. I would still be upset if everyone had survived, just because of the vast ignorance of the NWS. But the fact that 17 people were killed makes it so much more of a punch to the face.
@@grmpEqweer Yep! It's crazy and I know it may be an inconvenience for some to seek shelter, but its necessary even if its a close call or nothing happens at all.
Exactly. Couple weeks ago when Texas, Oklahoma and western Arkansas popped off I watched it all afternoon/evening. I even believed them when they said any warnings were extremely unlikely east of El Dorado, AR. So I took my ass to bed. Sure enough 1am here goes my phone, radar indicated. Got my ass back up, pulled on pants, shoes and helmet, gathered the cat and got into the hallway. Ended up being nothing but the one time I ignore it will be the one time it happens. Don't be scared, be aware!
All it takes though is to live through one of those times the storm gets bad for you. I've been through a couple now and know that the whole idea is to get prepared but not scared. If you absolutely have to travel you can do it with a bad storm in mind and be alert. Plan your route with ditch points in mind or places to safely pull off. Bring food and water and a charged cell. Have a way to stay dry/get warm in colder temps. Have lights and a plan to get to shelter or higher ground and contact help if need be. The national weather service doesn't expect people to huddle up in their basement when they issue an all day watch. They want people to get prepared and be alert. And there's absolutely no reason not to. Adding 10 minutes to your commute by taking a safer route? Storing some food and water in your car? Pulling off for a minute if things are looking dicey? What does any of that cost you? ...well it's america and you're expected to gogogo all the time so it actually could cost you with alot of employers. Still my employer can suck a cock. My life's not worth their shitty job. Their shitty job isn't even worth me looking back and thinking I made a mistake by traveling on and making it out by luck. We could have a better safety minded culture. I feel like top down social dismissiveness feeds our general cultural ignorance. And we could put a stop to it if we tried. I, for one, am not enabling it.
@@wintersmelody I know what your saying last year in September of 2021 I ran into a tornado driving my dads truck I just thought it was heavy rain oh I was wrong it lifted the back of the truck ever so slightly while whipping it into the slow lane I was only going 50 too being in the fast lane saved my life that day I didn’t know there were tornados at all I was oblivious and the slow lane had a flooded sharp deep ditch right next to it I would have likely rolled and either A (the cabs crushed I’m dead or B (I drown in feet of water with no one to help or save me) a neighborhood was flattened by a strong EF-3 in New Jersey about 50-100 miles east of me and many other tornado touched down that day and year in my area of Pennsylvania and surrounding areas and states I don’t remember a warning but I probably got one and it was most likely white noise to me after day after day of warnings and seeing things I didn’t understand PLEASE GET TO SHELTER FOR EVEN SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OR RADAR INDICATED TORNADO WARNINGS AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN IT WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE
When I was about 10 my dad took my brother and I on Ride the Ducks Seattle. From a very young age I had been very interested in ship disasters. I remember while we were in the water I noticed how low in the water the vehicle was and that if it were to sink the only way out would be through the windows and only possible if done quickly. Can’t imagine the horror these poor people went through in those last few minutes.
I rode the original ducks earlier this year and the ones that I rode had a removable roof in case of emergency. I don't know how effective it actually is but seems like at least some improvement
For years, my daughter and I have gone to Branson once or twice a summer. We spend a considerable amount of time at the lake. We were on the lake the weekend following the recovery effort. We put in at Indian Point not far from the Branson Belle. It was about the same time of day as the tragedy. We slowed the boat next to the paddle boat, had a moment of silence and said our prayers. Not criticizing anyone but since my daughter was young, be it on a plane, a boat or carnival ride I have taught her 'Look around and think what you are gonna due if things go bad in a hurry. Where and how are you gonna try to get out?'. I think this comes from racing cars and trying to always have a plan. However, in this case, I don't think many had a chance no matter if they had a plan for exit. God Bless.
I think it would've been a no brainier for the captain to tell the passengers to don life jackets, if this boat didn't have a canopy or it was easily removed.
Much as I love those old machines, I know they’re thinly disguised death traps. The Jeep GPA, the duck smaller cousin, saw a lot of success in the Soviet Union, but only because most rivers there had little to no currents. Recently, a French tv show demonstrated the problem with that design, riding one in the Seine. It was agonizingly slow, seemed barely capable to keeping afloat, and took ages just to do a small maneuver.
I've had an interest in accident investigation since I was young, though until recently it tended to be aviation, though programs like 'Seconds from disaster' did increase that interest to other things. I have to say that your videos have been utterly fantastic and have given me a greater understanding of maritime disasters, not to mention the structural collapses. Like with many of the air accident investigations, it is really great that you talk about the recommendations for changes that are brought about from the investigations. Your narration and presentation on this channel is of the highest standard and I am grateful for the opportunity to learn a lot more about maritime accidents as a result of these videos. Though it is sad to see such loss of life, I look forward to any future videos you make on this channel.
I can't believe you make better quality documentaries about these things than anybody else I've seen. An amazing video as usual! I absolutely love your maritime series; I'd love to see you do a short video one day about the MV Conception!
I was just coming to comment this exact request/ recommendation! I am local to the area of the MV Conception tragedy. It really impacted me and I would appreciate a Brick Immortar video on it, as he does such a thorough and respectful job relaying the story.
We like to assume everything's fine and safe.. studied, inspected, regulated and enforced... but this is not always the case. These videos make people aware without being overtly shocking or grotesque. They're respectful. Much appreciated.
Never trust your life to people who look and behave like carnies. I grew up seeing those Duck Tours in Hot Springs, AR, and they always seemed shady and ramshackle to me.
This happened the day before my wedding and my inlaws lives in Branson. It shook them up a lot but I don't believe they knew anyone personally involved. Ironically when I moved to Branson about a year later, I started working at the Showboat and didn't realize it happened basically infront of where the boat docs. It's still a raw subject for the employees that were present that day. You can hear it in their voice when the subject comes up. Occasionally some of the family members of someone that died that day will visit the gate the ducks used to use to enter or exit the lake.
This video really has put things into perspective for me. I feel like I can better understand what my coworkers went through. I wonder if any of them have or will watch this video.
When I was a younger teen, I experienced one of these storms on northern lake Michigan in Petoskey. Out of my extended family on vacation at the beach that day (likely due to my anxiety and strangely on point intuition), I was the ONLY one who started to feel super uneasy when I spotted a weird, out of place black cloud in the distance. It was tiny, and far off. None of us had radios on us and no sirens were going off. I'll say that the average person doesn't believe anything bad is going to happen to them. Most people generally feel safe and invincible. And that false sense of security leads people to do really stupid shit. When that storm hit us, it was like a brick wall of wind. Sand was shooting up everywhere, someone's entire rubber boat flew 50 feet into the air and people were screaming and running and a giant wave started picking up. It was crazy. And obviously, I never let my family forget it when I have an icky gut feeling about something. I've always been hyper aware of things due to trauma. And while it can be useful, it's also a burden when I really SHOULD be relaxing. I will say, follow your gut. If you feel something is wrong, it likely is. We as human beings have ancient instincts we tend to ignore for modern politeness or money or convenience. And that can literally get you or other people hurt or killed. Don't do it. It's not worth it.
My grandparents have lived in Branson most of my life, so I've done most of the kitschy Branson things several times, including Ride the Ducks. As a kid, I saw no issues with them. They were fun! Looking back on it, though, I remember several weird things about them. They were always wobbly in the water. One time, the duck we were on had a minor engine explosion and another duck had to come get us. Another time, our friend (who was born without hands) was sitting in the very back of the duck next to the door. The door opened in the water and he struggled to get it closed because he was pushing against the rushing water. These were minor issues in comparison to the disaster, but this just shows how many issues they had on a good day.
I remember one time on table rock a storm came up out of nowhere and we had to dock at a strangers dock, people around the area are very nice and always willing to help
i always cry when children are mentioned. The fear they must have felt. The fear their parents must have felt for them knowing they cant save thier babies.... absolutely horrendous
I am glad you mentioned Guam. The Ride The Duck Guam ones only operate into the water within the harbor and stay close to the shore where we enter. They will not go into the water too far to the deep areas. Lucky for us on Guam, the weather does not really have freak situations where it turns quickly, for the most part, you can see it coming and it is rarely sudden, except for rain.
Grew up in Branson and was in middle school at the time of this. I knew a guy who had gone to another school whose stepfather was the county coroner. The ducks was the one incident that left the guy scarred. I’ll spare you the details but it still gives me chills thinking about just what little he told me. The ducks are running in Branson again today and I can’t stand to see it
I find it odd that such a specifically built craft was ever approved for use in a comercial recreational regard. They didn't even look safe from a "non-nautical" perspective...(mine). The complete indifference to the weather is what I find most disturbing. Just by the pics and explanation, the last place I'd be that day is anywhere near the water. It's like everything; greed motivates all no matter the risk. Excellent work, sir. You do a great service. \m/
I've done 3 duck tours: Baltimore, NYC and Branson. They were fun experiences. I assumed that since Branson was a big tourist destination, that they would have had tight water safety practices in place. It was crowded especially with all of the little kids sitting on their parents' laps. Listening to the 911 call is chilling.
Unfortunately, they didn't, if you actually watched the video, you would've heard the narrator describe how they cut corners, changed the configuration of the boat, here's a thought, watch the video
I grew up close to Branson and I live in Seattle, so I've seen these incidents again and again. You could not pay me enough to get on one of those vessels.
We took this tour way back when first moving to Joplin Mo by Branson. I remember being extremely uncomfortable as an older teen with no fear of water and even my dad said upon it ending- we aren't doing that again. It just sat way to low to the water and was rocky like a canoe- only a canoe that would trap you when rolled.
I remember as a kid going on these in Baltimore, Seattle, and Boston in the mid 2000s. I think it was Boston, once we were out on the water, the driver asked us kids if anyone wanted to steer the DUKW. I did and loved it but I also remember thinking if letting kids control anything about these boats on the water was a good idea.
22:01 you can see a shelf cloud looming above. One characteristic of those is the intense downdraft that causes it. Such high winds aren’t usually felt on the ground until after it passes over which is probably why it was so calm
From the info I could find, Boston Duck Tours uses replica DUKWs and retired their last original WWII DUKW in 2014. The canopies and everything are all velcro, so they can be removed in an emergency, and given the area they mostly operate (the Charles River), they can easily be grounded in an emergency.
I was a ranger with the USACE working DeGray Lake, AR one Saturday in 1999 and we start hearing reports of a bad boating accident on Lake Hamilton, just down the road from us. When the details emerged it was a duck boat sinking that killed 13 people. Most were trapped by the canopy roofing. You couldn’t get me on one of those things at gunpoint. Afaik they are still in operation.
I remember this happening well. My family had just gone on the tour during our family reunion about a week before this happened. I just kept thinking about it being us on there when this happened. I prayed for the families of all those lost, and thanked God for keeping my family safe at the same time. God peacefully rest the souls of all those who were lost and give their loved ones comfort. I know they're all still hurting from this.
I couldn't imagine enduring that situation. We rode the ducks every year from 09-11. I remember as a kid going into it you're so excited, and how fun it is. You're not thinking about what could happen. Having a great time to fighting for your life within minutes is insane. As a kid you're never prepared for something like this. I never knew this happened
I rode the duck boat in Hot Springs when I was a little girl about a week or so before that first tragedy. My family felt so guilty they ever took us on it, but I do have fond memories of it. We all had duck whistles and they even let my brother drive the boat. I can’t believe what a horrible tragedy happened in Branson not too long ago.
Philadelphia, July 7th, 2010 I was on the Delaware riverfront during some of the recovery operations after a Duck boat stalled and was hit and plowed under a barge. This video gave me chills and even though I'm a little rough around the collar, I was on the edge of tears. Damn shame an operation of this type, where families made up most of their passenger manifests, had such an abysmal safety record yet was able to operate as long as it did. Damn shame.
Oh maybe that's the incident I'm thinking of. We did the Duck tour in Boston sometime in the mid-late 2010s, but definitely before the Branson tragedy. I still remember having heard something about them being sketchy and deciding to go anyway because surely nothing will happen. And I remember being wary of that canopy.
I worked at the Philly Visitors Center when that happened. (Where the Ducks loaded their passengers.) They closed for a few months but eventually reopened using the Schuylkill instead of the Delaware. After this happened in Missouri they closed for good.
Excellent video. The amount of datasets you use are incredible. Also a Leslie was a co-worker, incredible person, and valued part of our community. The images of her car parked covered in flowers won’t be forgotten easily.
i've been to branson more times than i can count, and my family never once considered riding the ducks whatsoever. i can still clearly remember that this was the weekend before my family hosted a reunion at one of the resorts on table rock lake, and seeing the cars in the parking lot covered in flowers and tributes to the victims... it was terrible. still sickens me that they tried to rebrand and reopen, but thankfully it fell through quickly and now i think the building is a ripley's attraction. just a terrible situation all around, may those who died rest peacefully.
I arrived there on a planned vacation just a day or two after this happened. I did not know about it until then. After driving over the dam there were a bunch of news vans with satellite dishes. I remarked about them to a friend who was driving the car then became informed of what had happened. Things got surreal at that point. Everywhere there was an aura of sadness plus joy. Its hard to explain. There was a vigil with pictures, candles and stuffed animals at Ride The Ducks. By dusk there was a full block of dedication that was congealing into a memorial. Adults were walking by and lighting candles and openly praying. Joy filled teenagers were heard running around far off in the background. It was so sad and so surreal. Its even sad now to think about it now. Rest in peace poor souls. Especially sad for the little ones.
I worked for a company that rebuilt steering components. Ride the ducks sent us all their components for the over the road steering for around 60 or so units. Every single one was in very bad shape of disrepair from water intrusion inside all of the moving pieces,bearings you name it, they where completely damaged beyond repair. Thank you for your in depth video on this. Very sad to hear about all the loss of life when it happened.
Quality video as always mr Mortar. As an ex-coastie and general SAR guy, I am always very cautious of water-based excursions and activities. seen too much death and destruction around it. I appreciate the coverage of these incidents to inform the larger public to be safe and aware!
I was at a summer camp near Eldo Springs and Osceola that day and remember experiencing the most massive gusts of wind I’d ever felt and have still ever felt while playing Frisbee. It was just out of nowhere and we all had to sit down so we didn’t get pushed over. It was amazing and awe inspiring. We later found out about this event that evening and I’m still a little in aw at the thought of maybe feeling the same wind which was so beautiful for us but caused so much tragedy. Life is crazy.
I went on a duck tour in Liverpool, UK when i was young. It was called “The Yellow Duckmarine”. It sank in the Albert dock in 2013 and they were banned soon afterwards. I distinctly remember driving down the ramp and into the water and how exciting it was. I must have been about 8 or 9.
I was on Table Rock Lake for vacation a few days after this happened. I watched the police still pulling stuff out of the water and preforming the early stages of the investigation.
I'm a big aviation guy. I never knew the NTSB had the same problem with the Coast Guard not doing their jobs properly as they do with the FAA. Thanks for doing this video and inspiring me.
@@1978garfield That's by design. The purely investigative agencies can seek the truth no matter how embarrassing it may be, since it is impossible for an accident to have been their responsibility to prevent.
@@1978garfield It's to prevent conflicts of interests. The old CAA was rife with corruption, always deferring investigations in favor of absolving itself of regulatory/enforcement shortcomings (the Hawaiian plane crash being the most popular example). Splitting responsibiliy between NTSB and FAA makes the NTSB independent, ensuring that the truth is always NTSB's goal. In addition, messy, unclear splits & overlaps of responsibility is how you end up with the human rights disaster of the FBI and US law enforcement.
The split between regulatory enforcement & investigative bodies makes a lot of sense - although it's by no means essential or universal, cf. WorkSafe, our workplace safety body, who do both well? What seems to be a problem, though, is cases like NTSB in the States where accident or forensic investigative recommendations don't have any compliance power. That really limits the ability of an industry or country to iteratively improbe, and so the tragic lessons from these awful incidents just go nowhere. 😔 Unless these key safety recommendations have prompt force of law, they're subject to corporate greed & bureaucratic waffling, and so usually just won't happen...
@@mikebradley3443 Well it is possible: If by a sloopy job they do not find the true cause yields the same unaddressed cause leading to another case of the same... So they do have the incentive to find the real truth of matter.
I was out shooting weather video that day and ended covering this instead. We shot rescue video from the Moonshine Beach area. It was used by all of the major news outlets. We knew this weather was coming all day long. When we heard the dispatch about the sinking it was hard to believe that anyone would have gone out on the lake that evening.
We had a derecho like this in Ottawa a few years back. It devastated the city - some of us lost power for almost 2 weeks. Couldn’t fucking imagine being near water in something like this - I knew as soon as you said Derecho they had fuck all chance.
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There was a Duck Tours that caught fire and I think sunk in London in 2013. I was on it with my wife and kids the year before. 😬😬
It's impressive how you incorporate animations and models into your videos. Helps immensely with visual story telling!
i wonder if the boston one is one of those
The roof of the Duck is a death trap. Especially if you are already wearing a life jacket as well as without. There is a rim all around that makes it impossible to get out underwater. There is no roof on the old military versions. I suspect that is exactly why.
There might’ve been one in Saipan, but I’m not too sure, I do remember riding one of those Duck boats though.
As an experienced boater, I didn't feel comfortable riding one of those things.
Out of a family of 9, only 1 survived. She described what it was like coming home to total silence. All of her kids and grandkids were gone.
I'm a former Marine and they scare the hell out of me
@@CNYKnifeNut thank you for your services
And here I am feeling sorry for myself after losing all my tools, some vehicles, and my shop in a fire. I can't even begin to imagine what that dear woman has had to endure.
@@maplebones Both are bad but yes some things are worse.
I rode it when I was a kid. I got my duck whistle still somewhere
Coincidentally me and my wife were in line to ride the duck boats that sank. We were in Branson for our honeymoon. My wife was pregnant at the time and we had to leave because she was feeling sick so we left to go eat to help her feel better. We decided to go out shopping instead, both our phones were dead and the last thing our families heard from us was that we were getting on the duck boats. We got back to the hotel room about 2am and finally got our phones charged and was surprised when our phones were overloaded with texts and missed calls. It was at that time we seen on the news on tv what had happened. It was gut wrenching going back the next day and still seeing the vehicles of the families that passed away was parked there with us.
Life is often cruel, but occasionally fate steps in with what seems like an afterthought. I worked in California in the spring of 2001 and met a lovely woman there. We corresponded through the summer, and she came to visit me in Maine when she had a few days off in the fall. It was raining the day she was booked to fly out out and both of us wanted her to stay another day, but she had a non refundable ticket. I phoned American Airlines a few times telling them white lies but they wouldn't budge. I tried one more time just before leaving for the airport, and happily an agent with a kind soul agreed to rebook her on the same flight for the following day. We we're snuggling on the couch later that afternoon when the TV broke into 9/11 coverage and we found out that the connecting flight from Boston she'd missed had crashed into the twin towers. We married and have 3 kids, but we both felt guilty that some poor soul flying standby may have taken her seat. Later we found out the flight was only half full.
I have a similar story. It saved my life at 9 years old. It was when my mom used to bowl and had a bowling meet she had to go to . I was at home with my grandma on the west side of Indianapolis and she had to go to Martinsville in indiana to said bowling meet. Well i was originally supposed to go but at the last minute i decided not to. That last minute decision saved my life. My mom got t-boned by a drunk driver who was chased down by a canary yellow truck. But the entire passenger side of my moms car was pushed into the middle console area. If i would've went i wouldve been crushed on the impact. My mother lived but she still has spasms in her lower back that hit her every once in a while and she still has residual pain at times and will for the rest of her life. Shes in her 50s now but it was still scary knowing that fate saved me. And an angel protected my mom. As one survivor to another by split decision it never makes the situation any less harrowing. My heart goes out to those gone and those blessed by an angel.
@@bakugobaby3100 I was T-Boned back in 2010. The passenger side of the truck was reduced to about 12 inches. The whole cab was move 3 feet off of the frame. 100% fatal if there had been a passenger.
I suffered a permanent injury to my left arm from the seatbelt, but with no belt I think I would haven seriously or fatally injured. I moved with the cab, no belt and the passenfer side would have come to me.
You went back there the next day?
How absolutely horrible and surreal.
On an item called out in this video, there is a reason airline safety briefings tell the passengers to never inflate their life vest inside the plane. After a water landing, the inflated vest can trap you inside the fuselage. This occurred after the water ditching of a hijacked plane that ran out of fuel. Many passengers on Ethiopean Airlines 961 survived the crash but died because they prematurely inflated their life vests. Kudos to Brick Immortar for another excellent and in-depth video.
the type of lifevest aboard the duck doesn't look like the inflatable type.
That's what I was going to say. From the sheer bulk of them in those photos, I'm nearly certain those were cork vests, not inflatables. The worst possible thing to put under a non-detachable roof.
@@jbradhicks Yeah... they would have been much better served had they had the airline style life vests.
They would have been much better served with better briefings, policies and safety culture leading to not going out onto the lake at all, but that is obvious. Hindsight is always 20/20, after all.
My heart goes out to all the people affected by this senseless needless tragedy.
@@amiman.yesiam.8791 Which makes it even more important to not put it on until you have a clear escape route and are out from under the overhead fixture.
As I began watching the video, I was hoping the Captain would tell the passengers tp put on their life jackets, especially the children and infant. Imagine my horror in learning the fate of those who did put on the life jackets. Brick's demonstrations on being trapped on the ceiling, absolutely chilling. Your comment on life jackets for water landings is an eye opener.
I'm an aviation student. Safety negligence to this degree is absolutely astonishing to me. An aviation accident of this magnitude would typically result in a phonebook of regulations, recommendations, and many other directives. So many concepts of safety taught to me were mentioned in this video. Thank you for researching and sharing this story. May the victims of this tragedy rest in peace. ❤️
A sunken boat is not as catchy as an aviation disasters engulfed with flames. As such, it does not give as much political capital to those career politicians to act, despite way more people have died in a boat than on a plane
Flying a plane, sailing a boat, or playing poker all involve the same question: are the conditions right? If the answer is not a resounding yes, you stop right there.
Im a student pilot. And yea 70% of our training is basically knowing the truckload of regulations you have to follow to be legal
Shit.
I need to do my ground school.
Uuugghhhhh great. 😅
@@LIONTAMER3D on two of the mentioned it's clearly true but as far as poker goes bro you tend to make your own conditions either bad to worse or good to better there is how ever skill in knowledge in all 3 that will bring attention to you of your conditions I just wanted to put that out there ... Love , peace and chicken grease have a good day
Seeing the names of the deceased, I realized they were mostly older or very young. How horrifying. For one, this means this was probably a pastime for grandparents to take with their grandkids, and for two, it means that the ones who died were the weakest and most vulnerable. They couldn't fight their way out of the boat.
Nobody under 10 or over 65 (including the driver for the land portion of the tour) survived.
9 members of 1 family.
Yeah, this was really bad -- the way the most vulnerable seemed almost targeted by horrible fate in this deathtrap...I want to be angry at somebody about all this, but it's so tragic and cruel all I can do is feel terrible for a bunch of people. I can't stand that helpless feeling. Also, the idea that something so stupid could cause so much pain.
Anyway, they're getting rid of many of these WWII duck boats (for many reasons, mostly safety and liability), and several companies now market updated amphibious bus designs which promise much better safety, economy, etc. Ironically, there is movement away from these dangerous old surplus buckets for the exact same reason that they came into favour with tour operators in the first place: money. Lower costs. More profit.
I think I'm most pissed off because those people died because of greed. I mean, a really beastly-stupid greed.
Ya, branson is a place full of timeshares and old people based attractions, their main demographic is grandparents visiting their grandkids.
Back in 2011 when I was in my teens I rode one of these with my grandmother, we took a bunch of pictures but they were lost because we left the disposable cameras in the car and the heat ruined the film, so I don't know if we rode the same Duck.
Been to Branson, and my Mom was really wanting to do the Duck boats. We got there, my Brother-in-law took a hard look at them, and said “Nope!” Mom was throwing a bit of a fit, and I’ll never forget him saying, “I don’t want to have to decide which one of you I save when that damn thing flips”- and what he meant was, he didn’t want to watch us drown because he would have saved my sister. My BIL is a great swimmer and surfer, but I am only a mediocre swimmer, and my sister could only manage a dog paddle - and Mom can’t swim at all. We didn’t go. The following year, the accident happened.
What was the response like from your family?
Some would be upset about him being so blunt about who he'd save first but I applaud him for his honesty.
Like... yeah, I'd risk my life to save my nieces or nephews. With that said, I'd save my daughters first.
(To be clear, I'm not saying that I wouldn't save my son. I just don't have one.)
I hope your brother-in-law is still out there giving the best advice possible and I hope you still listen to him. I'm glad you all listened to that voice of reason, including him...
No one likes having people like us around. Know it alls lol😊
Sometimes you just gotta say it how it is to get your point across.
Here in Seattle we had the ride the duck tours but our family never took a tour as our father was a first sergeant in the USMC, he said back then they weren't safe 30 yrs ago and they had good maintenance there's no way we're getting on one, thank you Dad for possible saving our lives
Its well known in the marines that our vehicles have killed more of our own guys than almost anything else in the last 3 or 4 decades. 9/10 its obviously from human error, but when you have such a complex piece of machinery and you forget to properly take care of it, it stops taking care of you.
I never knew what reserve buoyancy in boats was until a few years ago. Not having any in a cramped vessel like that which can hold so many people is frightening. Once water started flowing over the deck it must have been underwater in 3 seconds.
A Seattle ride the ducks also hit a bus full of college freshman on Aurora Ave bridge some years ago and several people died. RtD had been skipping maintenance. I would never take my family on one.
I've been on the Seattle Ride the Ducks. Everything ended up being fine, but it felt unsafe from the start.
I took one with an out of town friend. Pretty sure we were given life vests. This was a few years before their crash and the poor maintenance came to light. Would never do it again. Way too close to the water, felt dicey as heck.
Thank you for making this. I was working as a crewmember on the Cleopatra (operated by London Duck Tours) on the 29th September 2013 when it caught fire on the river Thames and we had to abandon into the water. If you ever plan on making a video on that incident and would like to speak to me about it, please feel free to reach out.
I hope to hear your story
Sorry you had to endure that
Yes please !!
Yes let's uovote this
I used to encounter Frog Tours' ropy surplus wagons in London in the early 2000's They were far from confidence inspiring, knowing how treacherous the Thames can be!
hey! glad to have you still here! must have been horrific!
We did this in Branson, the pto for the prop went out as soon as we hit the water, we drifted towards the show boat and out in the lake with no control. While sitting with life jackets on and all the kids crying I realized it was a death trap with limited space to escape. Terrifies me now knowing the lack of reserve buoyancy. Hearts out to the family for this tragic event.
I was actually on the showboat when this happened, absolutely insane. I remember being so disappointed that we didn't get to go out on the water because of the storm and then i saw the duckboat struggling. My heart truly goes out to those who lost their lives. I was hoping the company would be shut down but no of course not...
A vacation I'll never forget and a tragedy that everyone needs to remember.
It did shut down
You saw it live? Dang, sorry to hear that man. Thanks for sharing.
@@Tryingtosex Another company reopened the ride with new vehicles....Not even kidding.
The worst part is that they brought it back four years later, same location.
All the locals including me are disgusted by it, but the tourists don't seem to care or even be aware of what happened. All the people who work or live in town can recall exactly what happened that day, how the storm seemed to come out of nowhere, and hearing the news about the duck boats... it kind of affects our perspective towards the renewed ride.
Yeah...its disgusting that they brought it back,
That storm didnt come out of nowhere there was several hours notice it was coming.
@@jeremyparks9648 well yeah, that's explained in the video, but from my perspective the only warning I got was a coworker saying "hey did you hear there might be thunderstorms this afternoon?" which happens every other day. Hence why I said it seemed to come from nowhere, while speaking from my own perspective
Disasters have always occurred throughout human history. However, we do learn from them. Are you never going to get on a plane because of the many airline disasters? I'm willing to bet you get into or operate a piece of machinery on a daily basis responsible for one of the most deaths in this Country.
IMO this is still a lot like an airline crash. Many different things had to be wrong at the same time for it to happen like this. The video implies that this is a total redneck operation but I dont think so. They have their systems and procedures in place. They were negligent but not in a redneck way. More like an airline way. The design of the duck roof and the lack of life jackets is insane though
I didn't think this could become any more heartbreaking...until you stated that nine victims were from one family.
I'm at a loss for words.
That's the one of the worst parts for me personally. I remember watching the interviews from the surviving family member in the hospital & just BAWLING at the thought of 3 generations of a family just... gone in an instant.
😞 no words
I got as far as the 911 call and paused to read comments. The idea of the paddlewheel spinning... Jesus... That is unsettling.
Oh I remember that.. that poor woman.
Same, I saw at the end there were 4 kids from the same family… just 1, 2, 7, and 9 years old. Absolutely heartbreaking!! 😭😭😭
My little company was started by James H Cole having driven a duck back from the west coast to Michigan in 1945 or so, after the war. The ducks were operated in Oakland county by our company successfully performing waterfront construction duties, moving materials to hard locations not serviceable by any other means and using prop wash to dig canals, setting piling and other dredging type operations. With as many as seven ducks operating at the peak in the late 1950's, Mr. Cole operated a tour boat operation on Walled Lake Michigan. I personally used a duck for projects in Oakland county into the 2000s. The maintenance schedule was daunting and once I traveled to Wisconsin to see the garage operated by those fellows there. Their shop was massive and complete, alterations seemed to be relegated to better brakes, better engines and rerouting of exhaust pipe. But it was all safety all the time. I never launched into a body of water without a hydroscopic map detailing depths. Any duck excursion I operated started with filling the hull with water to test the bilge pump operations, then draining to dry and reseat all the plugs and check the rubber driveshaft seals. Safety gear aboard was double checked, the surf coaming was always deployed at launch, even slow speed launches. The hatches on the bow had fresh fabric seals and were adjusted to keep them shut tight. In calm water the hatches could be opened for cooling but never in heavier waters.
The Coast Guard and NTSB recommendations were just ignored, And I cannot believe an insurance company would underwrite any of this without inspecting the operation. And, the lack of respect for the weather is plain stupid. The forward hatch modification was stupid. Stretching the design length was stupid. Encapsulating the cargo area was stupid. Launching with people with whom you did not know their swimming capabilities, not issuing and forcing them into jackets before hitting the water is stupid.
I grew up in an environment where taking the duck out was an important occasion. Not a frivolous endeavor, but always mindful and prepared. These needless accidents are tragedies and certainly sully the reputation of our local GMC production facilities in Pontiac Michigan, and men who engineered, designed and built these machines that Eisenhower is quoted as saying, "Winning the war was possible because of the Ducks.' Thank you for a well done presentation.
I don't see how these accidents undermine the effort put into building them at the factory. The fact that this many are still functional after nearly 8 decades says quite a lot about how well built they were. 😊
The ducks themselves performed well...if the humans operating them made sure of it.
I used to live 5 min away from walled lake. It's very nice over there
I rode the ducks in Wisconsin long, long ago... I remember it being a really fun time. Good to know they take their job seriously.
Fascinating addition too the video. Thank you for sharing your personal experience.
I rode a duck boat over 40 years ago in the Wisconsin Dells. Still remember how "off" it felt riding that low in the water, it was like we were always on the verge of sinking, all the time. It messes with your mind and makes you too tense to really relax and enjoy the ride. Also, the darned things couldn't maneuver for crap.
Well said! I felt the same. Great scenery, highly disconcerting ride. Big future "Nope!" for me.
I'm surprised these haven't been banned world wide. They had these on the London Thames, I remember a near fatally fire. And i never trusted them, too old and exposed. Especially running all day 7 days a week.
I had a chance to ride a Duck in the Wisconsin Dells. I gave it a miss.
We saw those in the 70s. Pops shot that down.
When I was nine I could literally reach down and scoop up some lake water.
My wife and I were kayaking Table Rock a few days later (we had no idea what happened) and Kayaked from the State Park Marina to a little island we saw and thought would be cool to go to. On the way out, we decided to kayak over to the paddle boat. About that time, a state trooper boat pulled up and told us we needed to go around because they had a dive team down there searching for bodies. After hearing that, we had the most Erie feeling. RIP to all the victims.
Eerie goober, Erie is the Great Lake.
@rogerscalf231 who's the goober, really? 🙄
Per my father (Navy WW2), working at max capacity, the pumps could pull 280 gallons of water a minute out of a flooding DKW. Unfortunately, if the rubber boot on the prop shaft failed, it allowed water to come in at a rate of 360 gallons per minute. Also, these were NEVER intended to have a post-war life; they were considered expendable from the get-go.
@@eriklarson9137 I think it was a lifespan of a week was what he said, right? Crazy disposable, and dangerous.
@Lurking Carrier Keep in mind, there were only about 540 PT boats as opposed to more than 21,000 DUKWs produced. Between that and the specialized and expensive maintenance requirements of an 80-foot wooden boat vs. what is essentially just a deuce-and-a-half truck with some fancy bits, I'm not especially surprised that the Navy chose to scrap the PT boats rather than try to sell them as surplus, whereas the Army sold off most of the surviving DUKWs with all the other stuff they no longer needed after the war.
@@mddmont a few months
@Lurking Carrier DUKW's have always been useful vehicles. Why wouldn't they be preserved?
Because their design life was very short, so they probably lack considerations an intended solution would lack. Things like seals, stability, and fatigue need to be well understood for watercraft. Especially when your not putting military men in their prime into them, but children and those less able.
The surveillance videos of this disaster are perhaps some of the most haunting things I've seen in a long time. The quality of this documentary is amazing.
That really got me. Absolutely horrifying.
Seeing how far down into the water the boat was and that everyone was still in their seats is really sad.
was there a surveillance video of the disaster?
@@ALouisae Did you watch the video??
@@Studio23Media to be fair to them, some people, myself included, listen and don't watch the whole thing visually
The sheer Negligence when dealing with maintenance and safety as a whole is so infuriating, more should've been done to prevent this.
Dude, the companies have to make money. Who the hell wastes money on maintenance? That's profit, baby.
It's always about money. Profit > lives.
Negligence is what the Ozarks is all about.
All the maintenance in the world won't protect against mother nature and that rare storm dude mentioned.
when's the last time you changed your oil or checked your brake lines?
Scary to know that our family was supposed to be on the Ducks that fateful weekend. We were held back by a very long timeshare meeting. This is probably the only time a timeshare meeting was actually useful for something, in my eyes.
wow. crazy
Just wow and how nostalgic with the time share metting
@@dark12aintimeshares are no longer around?? 😮😅
@@ashleyshim2078lol my mom and I were subjected to one just a few weeks ago
Branson area resident here. There are still duck boats active in Branson under a different company. I see them driving around all the time. Why people still get on those things after this tragedy is beyond me.
To be fair they have replaced the boats with completely different ones made of foam apparently which is impossible to sink.
@@jamesflames6987 do you know what they are called seems pretty cool they are made of foam I just wanna see more into how they did it
They probably are not aware of that incident, if you’re not a resident or somehow involved, the incident may not be known. I just found out about it with this video 😢
Really didnt see anything being there few years ago and nothing on the water when we were on the paddle wheel.
@@jossmyit was huge news. I’m about 2ish hours away in Arkansas but Branson is a regular spot for us to go. We saw the duck boats about a month ago, last time we were there. After this, I can’t even drive by the ducks without just feeling so incredibly uncomfortable. I remember them showing the cars left in the parking lot of people who didn’t come back..
It really hit me when I heard that 9 of the people lost were in the same family. Imagine getting your family together for a fun outing like this, only for this to happen. A few people out their lost so much family all at once. So heartbreaking and avoidable...
What I find odd is why, from that family there was a 1 year old and 2 year old on the trip. Its clear that those things are not suited for kids that age so the company and the family should have stopped that happening.
@@cplcabs People (whether they should or not) trust that people in charge will keep them safe. That's your answer. If the family felt the ride was unsafe for children they probably wouldn't have gotten on in the first place.
the worst part of 9 members of one family dying is that there were only 10 members of the family😭 i heard it was the matriarch of the family too so she lost her children and grandchildren all at once
@@cplcabs it’s not obvious at all unless you’ve seen videos or news like this. They move extremely slowly and families in America may take infants on steam boats or speed boats. I honestly couldn’t figure out how this boat could kill people having ridden one in Branson myself. I had to look it up to understand. They seem safe unless you’re educated about them.
Worked in dispatch for one of the responding agencies this day. Watching this brought back a flood of emotions I didn't know were still inside. I took a call from someone on that duck and heard nothing but screams. I am still haunted by this unnecessary tragedy to this day. I pray those "charged" are one day held responsible. Profits should never be placed before lives, zero exceptions.
I want to also thank the first responders that dealt with this (and every) call, the trauma they take home and often suppress is heartbreaking. This very incident changed the lives of so many people over the GREED of the almighty dollar!
Earlier that afternoon I was working at Shepherd of the hills in Branson where I met the Coleman family. They came up to the tower and was sitting on two of the tables. Several of the kids came up to play on the obstacle course. When we finished I always made it a point to talk to the parents and make sure that their vacation was going well. The Grandma stuck out the most because of her hair. She told me about the family reunion, and they were going to the landing for jet boats. I was also in the play that night. The big guy “dad” called the show-off and told everyone to “get the hell out of here” because the storm was coming. I jumped into my car and headed to Branson west where my daughter was at cheer practice. The winds were throwing limbs and insanely heavy rains burst down. As I arrived at the school several ems was outside when the call came. The news finally released the pictures of the family. My heart broke. I had seen them no more than two hours before. Soon after I took a break from The children's area and had to regain mental health to continue. Life is too short. We are here and gone like a blink.
As bad as it sounds, at least you remembered them. So many people just pass by and go unnoticed. I'm sure you made an impression on them with your kindness.
Even though these things aren't very safe to begin with, the fact that nobody told the last two boats to stop and go back because clearly the weather was bad is ludicrous.
ludicrous? it was criminal.
Money, money, money...
I live 2 hours northwest of Branson and I can remember that Storm. it hit our town with a force and I had friends in branson on table rock lake at that time in their boats and phoned them when it hit our town to let them know what was coming at them. They hurried and got off the water and to safety before they got hit. Most of us here in Missouri knows that when they predict weather here to watch it closely cause in a blink of an eye it can go from bad to worse fast. The captian of this boat should have never went on that water and put all those people in danger.
Its the fear the Boss could fire them and the passengers would want their money back.
All 4 of those boats entered the water AFTER a severe thunderstorm warning was issued. That is insanity.
I live in Branson and tattoo the tourists. My shop is only 1 mile from the Ride The Ducks. I remember clearly how bad that storm was. What seemed like moments into the storm I saw and heard 10's of emergency vehicles racing to table rock lake. I only found out later, how many people died. I tattooed "remember the ducks" on several rescue personnel shortly after 😢 so sad
I'm glad this wasn't coverage of the Seattle incident a few years back. I was one of the EMT's on that scene and it was not pretty. The bow on those things is like a knife and when the Seattle one hit a greyhound bus, it was at pelvis height for all the passengers on the bus.
I still have flashbacks to that day. It was one of the hardest of my career. We did a damn good job on the emergency response, but the maintenance on these vehicles is just impossible to keep up.
It looks terrifying but miraculous that they didn't go over that bridge. Sorry for what you and others went through that day.😢
😳😬 Omfg....
@@1978garfield They are 70+ years old. How many other vehicles of that age do you see in regular daily commercial service?
Hope you're doing okay after that
wow. speechless.
When I was a kid in Seattle, I always wanted to go on one of these tours. My dad, an engineer for Boeing, told me we would never do one because they weren’t safe. Fast forward a couple years, and look what happened…over and over and over. My heart breaks for all the people lost on these things, especially the children.
do you remember the ride the ducks accident on the bridge few years back in seattle? that was horrible! so much carnage. that horrid accident led to the closing of the ride the ducks seattle location if I remember correctly
To be fair, people can now say that about the 737 MAX.
They were safer than the bus you rode to school or the car your family drove
Not True - Negligent employees maybe - but the tour is just as safe as any other bus or boat tour - I was blessed to have took the tour in Seattle & it was the “Best” tour in Seattle by Far - Absolute Travesty that is was closed simply because of some negligent operators or simply an accident that could happen to anyone, on any day 😢😢😢
@@dunzerkug they fixed it though
Having experienced the Great Lakes Derecho in 1998, I can say that storms like that are absolutely terrifying and not to be messed around with. The fact that the company heard "chance for 75 mph winds" and kept boats going that close to the storm just blew my mind when I first heard about it.
And Missouri is Storm Central; it's not like that kind of weather is unknown. No excuse.
@@maryeckel9682 Yeah a bit weird that they ignored the warning like that. We get derechos about every year or two here and tornadoes yearly and I cant think of many people who would willingly be on the water with a tiny ass boat in the face of these warnings.
I grew up in Indiana through multiple hail storms & tornados, a few 1s and 2s and one 3 but never a Derecho until TN 2 years ago. I have never seen a storm come on so fast an furious. I was running a short errand and raced home when I saw the green yellow sky and barely made it.
Way more terrifying than the tornados the next year.
@@ok0_0 They were likely tourists from out of town who were counting on the employees to know if it was safe or not.
In winds that high you shouldnt even be driving a regular car on the road unless it's an absolute emergency much less taking out a boat. I would bet that all aircraft in the area either landed really quick when they saw that storm warning or never even flew that day in the first place.
What a terrible way to die. The terrifying struggle back to shore, just to have the boat sink close to the shore. I feel for the victims. This is chilling and heartbreaking. :c
I cannot imagine the devastation in the coleman family after that, it's like an entire branch of your family tree was ripped out senselessly, they were all probably on the same side of the boat, the one without egress. From the comments, I just found one a single member of that family did survive, I don't know how to understand this, I would almost think that would be worse, to the the sole survivor than to die with your family, objectively I know that isn't so, but I cannot even begin to fathom the depths of that, I wouldn't know how to keep going, it's horrific and palpable, every day that feeling, I can't even imagine.
This was a difficult video for me to watch. Leslie Dennison, one of the victims, was a cafeteria worker while I was a student at Augustana College. Although I didn't personally know her, I can attest that she was a recognizable and friendly face to all. She was a super sweet and caring woman that always had a smile on her face as she greeted us in the dining hall and asked us how we were doing that day. It was devastating to learn of her passing back in 2018, and it's heartbreaking to learn how this happened and that it could have been easily prevented. She saved her granddaughter from drowning by pushing her above the water, but was unable to save herself. She is a hero and will always be fondly remembered by the students and faculty at Augie.
I'm so sorry for your loss! This was something that shouldn't have happened. ❤️. I grew up near Kansas City Missouri and we would go down to Branson ( everyone in my family had an RV) every single summer as a kid. And it was right around this time. From like probably 1995 to 2010 we were going down every single year. And my dad is an engineer and we would always pass the big duck boat sign and we would pass people going on the tours in the rides. And we would always beg my dad to let us go and my dad refused. He wouldn't let us step foot on those boats for any reason. And he convinced all the other adults in our family not to ride them either. He said it was a disaster waiting to happen. I don't know exactly what he saw or why he thought they were so unsafe. But that could have been me and my whole family if he hadn't been so adamant about it. For reference he also wouldn't let us ride that nile raft ride at worlds of fun either. And I don't think a disaster has happened at worlds of fun or anything. But he was always really concerned with stuff like this. And I always figured that if my dad could see what a danger they were then the owners should have seen as well
I'm so sorry for your loss. That's terrible.
Im sorry for your loss, there are some things that one will never understand.
Hugs to you 💛🙁
Augustana In Rock Island? Sorry about cafeteria worker. Imagine going on an outing and getting killed.Sad.
Wow! I’m a student at Augie! That’s such heartbreaking news 😢
I never realized how close to getting in they actually were.
To lose 9 members of the same family is just horrible!
If I remember correctly, only a 13 year old girl from that family survived; her mother, father, grandparents and siblings were all lost. Just tragic.
@@crocodile1313I believe the wife/mom survived. She lost her husband, children and family except for another child but it wasn’t one of her children.
Yes, the mother and one child survived
That’s super sad
they never shold have been out. I live in the area and the whole day had weather warning interruptions on all the networks. well in advance of the storm.
Why the actual f&%k they rolled those things onto the lake with a storm coming is beyond me
Money.
@@dutchboy9273 sorry, but that isn't a excuse in this situation. You and me deciding on whether to have a BBQ outside during summer is one thing. Sure, some of us ignored warnings and got caught out in the rain with ruined burgers.
This is a commercial endeavor with required weather watching. I have been on the river in vessels 600x more seaworthy that had their own radar. If you're dragging 30 paying people out onto the water in a canoe with wheels and a built-in coffin, you don't just "shruggy off" the weather until a tornado grabs you by the toe. You can see the dashcam of the sky with scary clouds in the direction the weather report said the storm was coming. You also missed that other duck boats saw lightning and waves and said "heck no we're out." Unless you live in a completely different Midwest alternate universe, just because it wasn't storming at noon doesn't mean thunder and lightning are impossible in the evening. 🤦
These dip💩s that drove into the water that day are either the dumbest humans alive and lucky they haven't mistaken bleach for apple juice, or the operation as a whole was compromised and just waiting for such an accident. I am guessing these employees have managed to keep themselves alive for a while now, so the latter must be true.
@@dutchboy9273 when I was little I was on a 14 ft rowboat with a motor kinda deal on the lake...gorgeous day no weather whatsoever on a lake that wasn't ever rough but it was big...squall came out if nowhere like out of a movie truly terrifying
@@dutchboy9273 excellent explanation. i grew up on Lake Worth, TX, and i remember the weather patterns there, most notably an extremely dark, almost black storm i saw with a friend from about 40 miles away and we both realized that it was near DFW Airport....we both remarked that we hoped no one flew into it. that was the day the L1011 crashed, they were directed right into that storm. summer storms can be swift and deadly.
Didn’t want to give a refund.
That picture at 22:06 is terrifying. Almost anyone from the Midwest, or Plains States, or who does any sort of boating should know what is coming with that cloud formation. Going out into the water with that looming is nearly unthinkable.
My grand parents took me and my cousin to ride the Duck Boats in Branson when we were little. It was a fun memory for all of us. They kept the souvenir photo from our trip on display at their house for years. I always loved seeing the Duck Boats driving around Branson when we visited throughout the years.
My grandparents and I were eating breakfast when my grandfather let us know up that one of the Branson Duck Boats had sunk. I remember we just sat there in shock and sadness. I then looked up the details on my phone. Learning how the victims were trapped on board. That there were entire families on board the boat when it sank. How many children died. It was all so heartbreaking. My grandfather was especially mad at the company for having boats out on the water when a storm was coming. If you have spent any time boating recreationally, you know that you avoid being out on the water when there’s a storm in the forecast. It’s basic safety practice and also basic common sense. And it’s something that Ride the Ducks blatantly ignored.
Since then I’ve learned about more incidents of Duck Boats sinking all over the country. It made me realize that families put so much trust into companies that provide novelty experiences like this. It is especially appalling for family-targeting businesses like Ride the Ducks to abuse that trust by disregarding customer safety. It shouldn’t take a tragedy for common-sense safety procedures and redesigns to be implemented and enforced.
On the Boston Duck Boats: I worked at the Boston Museum of Science when the duck boat tours started in Boston. The MOS created a permanent exhibit about the boats and was a location where you could buy tickets and board the Duck Tour. As employees we could ride the boats for free which was a great perk, and we would often bring our lunches and eat aboard the tours on our lunch hours. But one rainy day I noticed that the rain curtains were rolled down and fastened from outside the boat. I tried to push my hand out from under the curtain to see if I could undo the fasteners from my seat inside the boat. It wasn’t possible. So I never rode the duck boats on rainy days from then on. I don’t know if the setup is still the same. But if you go on a tour, look at the curtain fasteners before you board! If the curtains are down and the toggles are twisted to the locked position, wait for a sunny day.
Very helpful thank you. What year was this?
You should copy the Coasties on your posting. Very alert.
I worked at MOS (at OMNI) while had ducktours there and was an accident where a woman fall off back of parked boat (with stairs down) trying take a picture (right out front near the T Rex entrance), fell backwards over a rope chain, to ground, in what turned out to be fatal fall. To my knowledge they still operate from Museum as well as Prudential Ctr (in boston). They sometimes let people drive the boats (for short stints) when still in the charles (just doing circles I believe). Myself, never did take advantage of the free option to ride (always thinking I would eventually)
2003: Boston
Rosemary Hamelburg, 63, fell backward off a duck boat into a parking lot while taking a photo on a duck boat in Boston.
She died four days later.
Her family filed a wrongful death lawsuit. Her family and lawyers said the duck boat operation failed to follow its own safety policies on board the Boston Duck Tours Boat.
The company settled with Hamelburg’s estate for $425,000
@@tommykiddd years go I actually drove the vehicle in the Charles for a couple minutes between Science Museum and Longfellow Bridge. Rudder's so small, turn is very slow.
Seeing this documentary now sends chills down my spine.
They're Velcro. You still easily push them out, just not so easy that, say, a kid maybe pushing on them wouldn't suddenly fall out. There are only *two velcro frames that are bolted to the duck, and it is only in one top corner so you can still push it out.
that lady struggling to keep it together during the 911 call at the beginning was heartbreaking
"They're going towards the paddlewheel"
"They're going towards the paddlewheel?"
The way the 911 operator said that, you could hear the fear from that thought
Pretty sure it was a reenactment
Yea that was such a reenactment lol. The caller voice actor did a good job. The 911 operator was the giveaway
As a longtime Navy man, with 1000’s of miles of salt under me, I really appreciate these videos. Always have to respect the weather no matter what body of water you are on. RIP to those that perished.
@woos2911 They tend to cover both freshwater and saltwater operations, as English isn't a language which is particularly specific. A single word or phrase can have many meanings depending on the intent of the speaker or prior context.
Amen. Eternal Father, strong to save. Doesn't matter if you're floating on a dinky little life raft or sailing on a warship displacing 12,000 tons, when the seas are properly pissed off you can feel just how insignificant you are. The only thing you can really do at that point is pray.
Lake George in upstate NY is, in my humble opinion, heaven on earth. But the time it takes to go from 'a nice trip on the lake' to 'this is a little off' to 'we need to get to safety immediately' on lakes like this is mind boggling. If you've never been in a similar scenario you'll never know what its like. To have advance warning of that storm and still send those boats out was just sad. I can't imagine the captain and his guilt... I doubt he, in good faith, was chasing money and that was the root cause like some people have commented. I think he found himself in an untenable situation faster than he thought possible and it was already too late
I live in Springfield, about 30 minutes north of Branson. I've not only ridden the Ducks, I've *driven* them at one point. I remember when this happened, and it's still stuck with me as being an absolutely horrible way to die.
Same here bud
I’m in Fayetteville. I remember the news showing the parking lot with the cars still sitting of the people who hadn’t made it back alive. I don’t even like to pass the ducks when I’m in town now.
I’m also in Springfield and visit Branson several times a year. We rode the Ducks more than once. I have pictures of my kids driving it.
It was a heartbreaking thing that happened.
I remember this day vividly for one reason. I was working the evening shift at a prison located in the southeast of Missouri. In my housing unit, I was working with an officer. Typical night. Around 9PM, my other officer received an “outside line” (someone calling from outside the institution). It was a family member notifying her of the tragedy in Branson. The officer I was working with was related to those individuals of the Coleman family and she was devastated, and I had to do my best to console her until relief arrived so she could go home. It was heartbreaking. I couldn’t imagine losing so many people in my family all at once in a preventable accident occurred purely out of gross negligence. I hope she is okay, and I hope those that passed are resting peacefully.
The worst part is the people who profited off the business and got to keep extra money by cutting corners, has their entire family and didn’t suffer any real consequences. The rich decimate us, pay a fine, and move on.
My family goes down to Branson every year at least once. It’s almost like a second home to me. I remember riding these old DUKW’s several times when I was younger. Even back then they were a bit sketchy. You couldn’t believe my shock when I heard this had gone down, and the extremely quick downfall of the business as a whole. The old ride building is now a paintball/airsoft course, but you can still see the remnants of its original purpose
Have you ever seen Shoji Tabuchi perform? I ask because that's all I know about Branson. 🤣
@@Madhouse_Media lmao! I would love to see him!
I wasn't at all shocked when this happened, but I grew up in Arkansas and vividly remember the Miss Majestic. It was more "Oh no, not again!"
Same here, I've spent quite a lot of time in Branson. I was there for a good amount of time before the duck boat incident, though we hadn't ridden the ducks for quite some time. I honestly wasn't too surprised, as I remember when I was a kid we went out when the conditions were less than ideal and being freaked out by how much the boat rocked. I was almost thrown overboard, if I remember right. Since I was a kid, of course I had a life jacket on, but if I remember right, many adults around me did not.
Hot springs in Arkansas still has old duck boat tours.
Great video! 9 members of the same family so sad. It looked like 3 generations too. From a one year old to a 76 year old. 😞
It's absolutely terrible 😞
infuriatingly sad 😥
You gave us a first person experience by putting us in a seat in the back of the duck boat as it sank. Terrifying. I truly was holding my breath and looking for an exit that did not exist. Instead of telling us how it occurred, you immersed us literally as a passenger on this duck boat from hell. Your excellent research, video evidence and backstory was an added bonus. Love your documentaries. Better than the network productions on The History Channel and others.
Seeing 3 generations of the same family passing away hits hard emotionally.
From the time I was 8 years old to when I was 19 my family and two others went to Lake George in upstate NY every single summer, staying on turtle Island in the narrows. We would haul a 26' wellcraft cuddy cabin and an 18' mako center console up there from NJ and spend 2 weeks on the island, renting out multiple camp sites. I'll never forget that lake in bad weather, even in the boats we had. That wellcraft was meticulously maintained but it was so damn heavy. I cannot even begin to imagine this. In the first 5 minutes of looking at pictures I would of never gotten on that thing, and I'm a huge ww2 nerd.. what a horrific tragedy. People that don't operate boats regularly, especially pleasure craft, are scary. The forest rangers had a cabin on a neighboring island with a small chow shop, and they had Polaroid pictures of people's boats in trees and landed on rocks pinned on a board right outside... it seared into my mind boat safety like grill lines into a steak even then. I hope it's still there. I just thank God that my elders were veterans, because they realized just how fragile life is and how to PREPARE
Thank you for making these videos. The disasters of old are intriguing, but something about seeing that video of the boat and hearing the 911 call drives it home- if it saves one life, even just ONE, you will have made a difference. For that I commend you
As a former Coastie, it breaks my heart to hear that we allowed this to happen... It also sadly does not shock me in the least.
RIP.
All for profit this is The Curse Of This Nation
@@SD-eo8ze Not to sound arrogant or anything. But situations like this do make me feel a bit safer living in Australia where the government is kind of "draconian" about this kind of stuff. Any negligence, wilful or not is immediately acted upon as a criminal act. Designs and safety equipment are also enforced rigidly with regular checks, even randomly. Have to have a well known emergency procedure and everything.
In some ways government overreach is problematic. But in situations like this, it makes perfect sense. People are way too willing to skimp to make that extra dollar.
Thank you for your years of service and hard work of keeping the waterways safe!❤❤
@@callummclachlan4771
No... I'm sorry. AU is like the wild west compared to California 😂
Yeah… my dad was in the cg for 15 years and then navy and then va and now gsa and he does not have many nice things to say about the government’s ability to do pretty much anything.
As part of a summer camp activity, I was on Table Rock Lake that day. The weather was perfect until the storm line hit. We were told to take shelter in our tents, which, even with us and our bags inside, were picked up by the wind. Anyone in a boat at that time would have been in extreme danger, even without the hazards posed by the Duck Boats.
😨 ~ tents are not designed for storm shelter and are dangerous in such weather conditions
no it wasnt "perfect"
Were you guys in K-7? I went to camp there and then worked there during college.
My late wife grew up in Boston and for our first proper date in 2005, she suggested we do the Duck Tour. We both really enjoyed it although we were lucky and had a warm summer's day with calm waters.
The bright pink vehicle that carried us around the downtown and out into the Charles river seemed pretty janky and had definitely seen better days! I believe that Boston is now one of the last cities to operate the original DUKWs (although most were produced after the war, they're still more than 70 years old).
I'm from the UK where we have also had lots of incidents with duck boats, including two sinkings and a fire that resulted in passengers having to leap into the River Thames. Fortunately non here were fatal but I probably wouldn't ride one again, especially as a non-swimmer with disabilities.
As others have pointed out, they just weren't designed for constant passenger service many decades after their intended lifespan, and should probably be in museums, taken out on high days and holidays and carefully maintained in between by people who know what they're doing.
Most of the boats of this sort i've seen here in the UK haven't been conversions, though i'm by no means highly knowledgeable. So that may have been a factor in the lower loss of life in the UK accidents.
The Patriots take these on their Super Bowl parades. I don't think people would mind of those sank.
While I do remember hearing about the Branson tragedy, I had no idea of the details until I watched this video. Although I was born and raised in the Boston area where these are popular, I've never been on one myself, and now I know I'm not missing out on anything.
It looks like Boston Duck Tours replaced all of their original DUKWs with purpose built vessels, starting in 2006. From their website: "Our oldest Truck Duck was built in 2006 and the newest was built in 2014. They share no parts with a WWII DUKW, and are a “Duck” in name only." However it is true they still have a canopy with side curtains, which is what the Coast Guard doesn't like (for the obvious reasons pointed out in this video).
@@MutedGrowlGet a life!
I remember seeing them all the time in the early 00's when we went on vacation. Our dad would never let us go one stating " yeah, those are not safe". Im glad he never let us.
That call at the beginning was chilling and.... honestly scared me to the point of restlessness...
Same I go on boat tours often to see sea creatures I don’t even wanna do that now 😢
As someone who has gone to Branson on multiple occasions Ride the Ducks has always been one of my favorite attractions. To find that people died as a result of their negligence both breaks my heart and makes me upset. Condolences to all the victims and their families.
Fun fact: my mother actually worked as a breakfast attendant at the hotel the Coleman family was staying at. They were asking my mom what kind of attractions are best in the area, as they didn’t intend on being there. She was playing with the small kid just hours before this accident..
I was outside just a few miles away from when this happened and the wind that came from literally no where was insane. The storm that soon followed was probably one of the worst I’ve been in.
I'm from the area and a lot of people commenting here have NO idea how fast the wind can go from zero to 50 or 60 mph on that lake.
@@ytubepuppy yup,lived in the area and that wind came fast and furious
There were warnings, the storm was being tracked and very high winds had been predicted and warnings sent out. The company should have heeded the warning. Yes, to anyone who isn’t in the business of taking passengers out on deep water, I can completely understand why that storm “came out of nowhere”, they often do if live in an area with a large body of water. But to the companies who had boats out there, there’s no excuse.
Damn. My heart goes out to your mom because that’s a tough realization.
@@jaybee4118 Yeah, I'm so tired of people saying they had no warning. It makes it sound like these things are freak accidents, when in reality it's just plain negligence.
This just makes me remember the duck ride I went on as a kid, which was made out of a modified School bus. I can't imagine that was legal or safe.
My heart just sank, wow! Prior to this video, I may have considered it cute.
A SCHOOL BUS?
@@raymondleggs5508 ikr what the actual hell
considering the complexeties and dangers of an amphibious vehicle, it is amazing what lengths people go to to have them as shoddily and sketchy built as humanly possible. WW2 landingcraft and old schoolbusses, i am not sure which id favor in anything deeper then a puddle.
how did it not sink
I'm not going to lie, this video was so well done- that I felt almost immersed in that situation. What an absolute horror.
not sure why this was in my recommended, and I hadn’t even heard of a duck boat tour before this, but I just watched the whole thing and wow. this was a very thorough, informative, and thoughtful video about a terrible tragedy. It really makes me wonder what other situations are just accepted as safe when they’re really not…
I rode the ducks the year before the accident. The thing that stuck out in my mind as soon as we enter the water was how very low they ride in the water it was a calm beautiful day no rain sides up but I was very freaked out that running my hand over the side I was touching water. I’ve never been so hard to get out of the lake in my life. I’ve seen the video from this and I don’t want to ever see it again I cannot imagine how terrifying that was.
I have visited Branson several times. I had heard poor reviews about the Ride the Ducks and I feel blessed that I never boarded a boat.
I lived in Branson when this took place. I can remember that storm and the sirens echoing through the town. I knew something terrible had just happened. Prayers to all the victims and their family's.
I was in Joplin and we got the side effects of the storm (mild rain) but it was SO CRAZY how it just...felt when the storm was over. Even in joplin, this storm was HELLA broadcasted. Weather alerts going off on my phone all day. Then the rains came and went. But the pressure of feeling like something awful just happened. Like you could FEEL something bad just happened right in your back yard. Absolutely crazy day. Rest in peace to the victims and love and health to their surviving family and friends.
Dude I was there on vacation that's storm came out of no where
I can only imagine how disturbing that siren must have been!
Was outside watching a f1 in Hollister back in 2006. I was on a mountain/hill just outside where the bridge linked with Branson. Pretty much every storm like that was the same there, fair weather, them here have a tornado.
@@bluelives559 Yes it did. I was also there
I just paused in shock at the end just then, The Coleman Family....
That is seriously heavy.
Tell your loved ones how much they mean to you folks. You don't know when it will be to late to do so.
RIP to all the victim of this tragic event.
We rode the Ride the Ducks in Branson on Table Rock Lake about a week before this happened in 2018. We were stunned we'd just been on this whole operation, and indeed the day we went was very hot with a thunderstorm later in the evening, much like the day this happened. They dismissively told us about the life vests stored above us in the Duck (we were in a stretch Duck, but not SD7). Emphasizing it was mandated they tell us about them, they said their use is highly unlikely or something to that effect. I was very concerned that we were near the back of the Duck, but vests to fit my little girls were located way up high, and in the very front left near the driver/captain. All child vests were there. When in the water, we were surprised how high up the water came, to where we could almost reach out and touch it when in the lake. At some point, people could drive for a while, and indeed my 4 year old drove it for a while. I'm not kidding. My 7 and 4 year old operated the Duck out on Table Rock Lake. They even got a souvenir captain's certificate, or something. It was wild but everyone thought it was all fun and games. I fail to see, in all this time, why they couldn't add very simple pontoon foam floatation devices on the sides for extra buoyancy "just in case" where they take on water. We felt so terribly for all those lost. The picture of the family that lost 9 people looks just like the one we took only a week or so earlier. There were 7 of us. I can't imagine the devastation of losing that much of my family for a Duck tour and their lack of safety. Very sad how negligence and indifference to safety can destroy lives like this, all for somebody's profit.
Today marks 5 years since this tragedy happened:
RIP
Reece Coleman 9,
Evan Coleman 7,
Arya Coleman 1,
Belinda Coleman 69,
Horace Coleman 70,
Glenn Coleman 40,
Angela Coleman 45,
Maxwell Coleman 2,
Ervin Coleman 76,
Bob Williams 73,
Steve Smith 15,
Lance Smith 53,
Leslie Dennison 64,
William "Bill" Asher 69,
Rosemarie Hamann 68,
William Bright 65, and
Janice Bright 63.
Phenomenal video, Brick. I'm an avid weather enthusiast, and this story was infuriating. Its incredibly important to look for and follow the NWS warnings, obviously. Unfortunately, its common in the midwest and other regions that experience tornadoes and severe storms to ignore warnings. Because tornadoes are immensely hard to predict (where and when exactly they will happen) if a storm is warned and nothing comes out of it, and this occurs over and over again, people become desensitized and complacent. This leads to ignoring warnings because 'nothing happened the last 10 times they issued a tornado warning'. It's that sort of negligence that gets people hurt or killed, unfortunately, and that could very well be why no one seemed overly concerned. It's disappointing from a business standpoint too, because they are in charge of keeping people safe. They had ample time to act after the NWS issued a warning and there was no reaction. I would still be upset if everyone had survived, just because of the vast ignorance of the NWS. But the fact that 17 people were killed makes it so much more of a punch to the face.
Agreed. "Last time they put out a storm warning, we were FINE..."
@@grmpEqweer Yep! It's crazy and I know it may be an inconvenience for some to seek shelter, but its necessary even if its a close call or nothing happens at all.
Exactly. Couple weeks ago when Texas, Oklahoma and western Arkansas popped off I watched it all afternoon/evening. I even believed them when they said any warnings were extremely unlikely east of El Dorado, AR. So I took my ass to bed. Sure enough 1am here goes my phone, radar indicated. Got my ass back up, pulled on pants, shoes and helmet, gathered the cat and got into the hallway. Ended up being nothing but the one time I ignore it will be the one time it happens. Don't be scared, be aware!
All it takes though is to live through one of those times the storm gets bad for you.
I've been through a couple now and know that the whole idea is to get prepared but not scared. If you absolutely have to travel you can do it with a bad storm in mind and be alert. Plan your route with ditch points in mind or places to safely pull off. Bring food and water and a charged cell.
Have a way to stay dry/get warm in colder temps.
Have lights and a plan to get to shelter or higher ground and contact help if need be.
The national weather service doesn't expect people to huddle up in their basement when they issue an all day watch. They want people to get prepared and be alert. And there's absolutely no reason not to.
Adding 10 minutes to your commute by taking a safer route? Storing some food and water in your car? Pulling off for a minute if things are looking dicey? What does any of that cost you?
...well it's america and you're expected to gogogo all the time so it actually could cost you with alot of employers. Still my employer can suck a cock. My life's not worth their shitty job. Their shitty job isn't even worth me looking back and thinking I made a mistake by traveling on and making it out by luck.
We could have a better safety minded culture. I feel like top down social dismissiveness feeds our general cultural ignorance. And we could put a stop to it if we tried. I, for one, am not enabling it.
@@wintersmelody I know what your saying last year in September of 2021 I ran into a tornado driving my dads truck I just thought it was heavy rain oh I was wrong it lifted the back of the truck ever so slightly while whipping it into the slow lane I was only going 50 too being in the fast lane saved my life that day I didn’t know there were tornados at all I was
oblivious and the slow lane had a flooded sharp deep ditch right next to it I would have likely rolled and either A (the cabs crushed I’m dead or B (I drown in feet of water with no one to help or save me) a neighborhood was flattened by a strong EF-3 in New Jersey about 50-100 miles east of me and many other tornado touched down that day and year in my area of Pennsylvania and surrounding areas and states I don’t remember a warning but I probably got one and it was most likely white noise to me after day after day of warnings and seeing things I didn’t understand PLEASE GET TO SHELTER FOR EVEN SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OR RADAR INDICATED TORNADO WARNINGS AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN IT WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE
When I was about 10 my dad took my brother and I on Ride the Ducks Seattle. From a very young age I had been very interested in ship disasters. I remember while we were in the water I noticed how low in the water the vehicle was and that if it were to sink the only way out would be through the windows and only possible if done quickly. Can’t imagine the horror these poor people went through in those last few minutes.
I rode the original ducks earlier this year and the ones that I rode had a removable roof in case of emergency. I don't know how effective it actually is but seems like at least some improvement
For years, my daughter and I have gone to Branson once or twice a summer. We spend a considerable amount of time at the lake. We were on the lake the weekend following the recovery effort. We put in at Indian Point not far from the Branson Belle. It was about the same time of day as the tragedy. We slowed the boat next to the paddle boat, had a moment of silence and said our prayers. Not criticizing anyone but since my daughter was young, be it on a plane, a boat or carnival ride I have taught her 'Look around and think what you are gonna due if things go bad in a hurry. Where and how are you gonna try to get out?'. I think this comes from racing cars and trying to always have a plan. However, in this case, I don't think many had a chance no matter if they had a plan for exit. God Bless.
I think it would've been a no brainier for the captain to tell the passengers to don life jackets, if this boat didn't have a canopy or it was easily removed.
Yeah I don't see why life jackets weren't readily available.
Much as I love those old machines, I know they’re thinly disguised death traps. The Jeep GPA, the duck smaller cousin, saw a lot of success in the Soviet Union, but only because most rivers there had little to no currents. Recently, a French tv show demonstrated the problem with that design, riding one in the Seine. It was agonizingly slow, seemed barely capable to keeping afloat, and took ages just to do a small maneuver.
I've had an interest in accident investigation since I was young, though until recently it tended to be aviation, though programs like 'Seconds from disaster' did increase that interest to other things. I have to say that your videos have been utterly fantastic and have given me a greater understanding of maritime disasters, not to mention the structural collapses. Like with many of the air accident investigations, it is really great that you talk about the recommendations for changes that are brought about from the investigations. Your narration and presentation on this channel is of the highest standard and I am grateful for the opportunity to learn a lot more about maritime accidents as a result of these videos. Though it is sad to see such loss of life, I look forward to any future videos you make on this channel.
I can't believe you make better quality documentaries about these things than anybody else I've seen. An amazing video as usual! I absolutely love your maritime series; I'd love to see you do a short video one day about the MV Conception!
I was just coming to comment this exact request/ recommendation! I am local to the area of the MV Conception tragedy. It really impacted me and I would appreciate a Brick Immortar video on it, as he does such a thorough and respectful job relaying the story.
We like to assume everything's fine and safe.. studied, inspected, regulated and enforced... but this is not always the case. These videos make people aware without being overtly shocking or grotesque. They're respectful. Much appreciated.
Never trust your life to people who look and behave like carnies. I grew up seeing those Duck Tours in Hot Springs, AR, and they always seemed shady and ramshackle to me.
This happened the day before my wedding and my inlaws lives in Branson. It shook them up a lot but I don't believe they knew anyone personally involved. Ironically when I moved to Branson about a year later, I started working at the Showboat and didn't realize it happened basically infront of where the boat docs. It's still a raw subject for the employees that were present that day. You can hear it in their voice when the subject comes up. Occasionally some of the family members of someone that died that day will visit the gate the ducks used to use to enter or exit the lake.
This video really has put things into perspective for me. I feel like I can better understand what my coworkers went through. I wonder if any of them have or will watch this video.
When I was a younger teen, I experienced one of these storms on northern lake Michigan in Petoskey. Out of my extended family on vacation at the beach that day (likely due to my anxiety and strangely on point intuition), I was the ONLY one who started to feel super uneasy when I spotted a weird, out of place black cloud in the distance. It was tiny, and far off. None of us had radios on us and no sirens were going off.
I'll say that the average person doesn't believe anything bad is going to happen to them. Most people generally feel safe and invincible. And that false sense of security leads people to do really stupid shit. When that storm hit us, it was like a brick wall of wind. Sand was shooting up everywhere, someone's entire rubber boat flew 50 feet into the air and people were screaming and running and a giant wave started picking up. It was crazy. And obviously, I never let my family forget it when I have an icky gut feeling about something.
I've always been hyper aware of things due to trauma. And while it can be useful, it's also a burden when I really SHOULD be relaxing. I will say, follow your gut. If you feel something is wrong, it likely is. We as human beings have ancient instincts we tend to ignore for modern politeness or money or convenience. And that can literally get you or other people hurt or killed. Don't do it. It's not worth it.
My grandparents have lived in Branson most of my life, so I've done most of the kitschy Branson things several times, including Ride the Ducks. As a kid, I saw no issues with them. They were fun! Looking back on it, though, I remember several weird things about them. They were always wobbly in the water. One time, the duck we were on had a minor engine explosion and another duck had to come get us. Another time, our friend (who was born without hands) was sitting in the very back of the duck next to the door. The door opened in the water and he struggled to get it closed because he was pushing against the rushing water. These were minor issues in comparison to the disaster, but this just shows how many issues they had on a good day.
I remember one time on table rock a storm came up out of nowhere and we had to dock at a strangers dock, people around the area are very nice and always willing to help
i always cry when children are mentioned. The fear they must have felt. The fear their parents must have felt for them knowing they cant save thier babies.... absolutely horrendous
I am glad you mentioned Guam. The Ride The Duck Guam ones only operate into the water within the harbor and stay close to the shore where we enter. They will not go into the water too far to the deep areas. Lucky for us on Guam, the weather does not really have freak situations where it turns quickly, for the most part, you can see it coming and it is rarely sudden, except for rain.
Grew up in Branson and was in middle school at the time of this. I knew a guy who had gone to another school whose stepfather was the county coroner. The ducks was the one incident that left the guy scarred. I’ll spare you the details but it still gives me chills thinking about just what little he told me. The ducks are running in Branson again today and I can’t stand to see it
I'm pretty impressed with how calm and direct but helpful the dispatcher was at the beginning.
I think it was a re-enactment.
It sounded like a reenactment
@@Jolietstarwhy? not saying it isn't, but no idea how youd be able to tell
I find it odd that such a specifically built craft was ever approved for use in a comercial recreational regard. They didn't even look safe from a "non-nautical" perspective...(mine). The complete indifference to the weather is what I find most disturbing. Just by the pics and explanation, the last place I'd be that day is anywhere near the water. It's like everything; greed motivates all no matter the risk. Excellent work, sir. You do a great service. \m/
I've done 3 duck tours: Baltimore, NYC and Branson. They were fun experiences. I assumed that since Branson was a big tourist destination, that they would have had tight water safety practices in place. It was crowded especially with all of the little kids sitting on their parents' laps. Listening to the 911 call is chilling.
Unfortunately, they didn't, if you actually watched the video, you would've heard the narrator describe how they cut corners, changed the configuration of the boat, here's a thought, watch the video
@@CRAZYCARL60 No need to be so rude? Cathy's just saying that she *assumed* the rides would be made safe, not that they were made safe.
@@CRAZYCARL60 its ridiculous how much of a douche you have to be especially when you dont know how to read a comment before spewing hatred
I don't see why they weren't already wearing life vests.
I grew up close to Branson and I live in Seattle, so I've seen these incidents again and again. You could not pay me enough to get on one of those vessels.
I'm from Seattle and I remember the duck boat / Aurora bridge collision. I'd never heard of this incident and it's so horrifying.
We took this tour way back when first moving to Joplin Mo by Branson. I remember being extremely uncomfortable as an older teen with no fear of water and even my dad said upon it ending- we aren't doing that again.
It just sat way to low to the water and was rocky like a canoe- only a canoe that would trap you when rolled.
My condolences goes out to Tia Coleman. I can't imagine the pain she feels.
Yeah, she said the last thing she heard was a family member yelling "Grab the baby!"
I remember as a kid going on these in Baltimore, Seattle, and Boston in the mid 2000s. I think it was Boston, once we were out on the water, the driver asked us kids if anyone wanted to steer the DUKW. I did and loved it but I also remember thinking if letting kids control anything about these boats on the water was a good idea.
22:01 you can see a shelf cloud looming above. One characteristic of those is the intense downdraft that causes it. Such high winds aren’t usually felt on the ground until after it passes over which is probably why it was so calm
From the info I could find, Boston Duck Tours uses replica DUKWs and retired their last original WWII DUKW in 2014. The canopies and everything are all velcro, so they can be removed in an emergency, and given the area they mostly operate (the Charles River), they can easily be grounded in an emergency.
I was a ranger with the USACE working DeGray Lake, AR one Saturday in 1999 and we start hearing reports of a bad boating accident on Lake Hamilton, just down the road from us. When the details emerged it was a duck boat sinking that killed 13 people. Most were trapped by the canopy roofing. You couldn’t get me on one of those things at gunpoint. Afaik they are still in operation.
I remember this happening well. My family had just gone on the tour during our family reunion about a week before this happened. I just kept thinking about it being us on there when this happened. I prayed for the families of all those lost, and thanked God for keeping my family safe at the same time. God peacefully rest the souls of all those who were lost and give their loved ones comfort. I know they're all still hurting from this.
well it couldnt be you guys since there probably wasnt a storm on that day
I couldn't imagine enduring that situation. We rode the ducks every year from 09-11. I remember as a kid going into it you're so excited, and how fun it is. You're not thinking about what could happen. Having a great time to fighting for your life within minutes is insane. As a kid you're never prepared for something like this. I never knew this happened
I rode the duck boat in Hot Springs when I was a little girl about a week or so before that first tragedy. My family felt so guilty they ever took us on it, but I do have fond memories of it. We all had duck whistles and they even let my brother drive the boat. I can’t believe what a horrible tragedy happened in Branson not too long ago.
That’s so crazy, just moved to AR and my fiancée was just talking about taking me to ride it in Hot springs, spooky
I rode the duck boat last year around September at hot springs, didn't know about all of this until now it's scary
I’ve never seen the hot springs ones. I’ve seen the Branson ones a lot though. I’m in Fayetteville though so Bransons way closer than hot springs
Philadelphia, July 7th, 2010 I was on the Delaware riverfront during some of the recovery operations after a Duck boat stalled and was hit and plowed under a barge. This video gave me chills and even though I'm a little rough around the collar, I was on the edge of tears. Damn shame an operation of this type, where families made up most of their passenger manifests, had such an abysmal safety record yet was able to operate as long as it did. Damn shame.
Oh maybe that's the incident I'm thinking of.
We did the Duck tour in Boston sometime in the mid-late 2010s, but definitely before the Branson tragedy. I still remember having heard something about them being sketchy and deciding to go anyway because surely nothing will happen. And I remember being wary of that canopy.
I worked at the Philly Visitors Center when that happened. (Where the Ducks loaded their passengers.) They closed for a few months but eventually reopened using the Schuylkill instead of the Delaware. After this happened in Missouri they closed for good.
Excellent video. The amount of datasets you use are incredible. Also a Leslie was a co-worker, incredible person, and valued part of our community. The images of her car parked covered in flowers won’t be forgotten easily.
i've been to branson more times than i can count, and my family never once considered riding the ducks whatsoever. i can still clearly remember that this was the weekend before my family hosted a reunion at one of the resorts on table rock lake, and seeing the cars in the parking lot covered in flowers and tributes to the victims... it was terrible. still sickens me that they tried to rebrand and reopen, but thankfully it fell through quickly and now i think the building is a ripley's attraction. just a terrible situation all around, may those who died rest peacefully.
I arrived there on a planned vacation just a day or two after this happened. I did not know about it until then. After driving over the dam there were a bunch of news vans with satellite dishes. I remarked about them to a friend who was driving the car then became informed of what had happened. Things got surreal at that point. Everywhere there was an aura of sadness plus joy. Its hard to explain. There was a vigil with pictures, candles and stuffed animals at Ride The Ducks. By dusk there was a full block of dedication that was congealing into a memorial. Adults were walking by and lighting candles and openly praying. Joy filled teenagers were heard running around far off in the background. It was so sad and so surreal. Its even sad now to think about it now. Rest in peace poor souls. Especially sad for the little ones.
I worked for a company that rebuilt steering components. Ride the ducks sent us all their components for the over the road steering for around 60 or so units. Every single one was in very bad shape of disrepair from water intrusion inside all of the moving pieces,bearings you name it, they where completely damaged beyond repair. Thank you for your in depth video on this. Very sad to hear about all the loss of life when it happened.
Quality video as always mr Mortar. As an ex-coastie and general SAR guy, I am always very cautious of water-based excursions and activities. seen too much death and destruction around it. I appreciate the coverage of these incidents to inform the larger public to be safe and aware!
I was at a summer camp near Eldo Springs and Osceola that day and remember experiencing the most massive gusts of wind I’d ever felt and have still ever felt while playing Frisbee. It was just out of nowhere and we all had to sit down so we didn’t get pushed over. It was amazing and awe inspiring. We later found out about this event that evening and I’m still a little in aw at the thought of maybe feeling the same wind which was so beautiful for us but caused so much tragedy. Life is crazy.
I went on a duck tour in Liverpool, UK when i was young. It was called “The Yellow Duckmarine”. It sank in the Albert dock in 2013 and they were banned soon afterwards. I distinctly remember driving down the ramp and into the water and how exciting it was. I must have been about 8 or 9.
I think there's a video of that incident on UA-cam
I was on Table Rock Lake for vacation a few days after this happened. I watched the police still pulling stuff out of the water and preforming the early stages of the investigation.
I'm a big aviation guy. I never knew the NTSB had the same problem with the Coast Guard not doing their jobs properly as they do with the FAA. Thanks for doing this video and inspiring me.
@@1978garfield That's by design.
The purely investigative agencies can seek the truth no matter how embarrassing it may be, since it is impossible for an accident to have been their responsibility to prevent.
@@1978garfield It's to prevent conflicts of interests. The old CAA was rife with corruption, always deferring investigations in favor of absolving itself of regulatory/enforcement shortcomings (the Hawaiian plane crash being the most popular example). Splitting responsibiliy between NTSB and FAA makes the NTSB independent, ensuring that the truth is always NTSB's goal.
In addition, messy, unclear splits & overlaps of responsibility is how you end up with the human rights disaster of the FBI and US law enforcement.
The split between regulatory enforcement & investigative bodies makes a lot of sense - although it's by no means essential or universal, cf. WorkSafe, our workplace safety body, who do both well?
What seems to be a problem, though, is cases like NTSB in the States where accident or forensic investigative recommendations don't have any compliance power. That really limits the ability of an industry or country to iteratively improbe, and so the tragic lessons from these awful incidents just go nowhere. 😔
Unless these key safety recommendations have prompt force of law, they're subject to corporate greed & bureaucratic waffling, and so usually just won't happen...
@@jasperism27 You are 100 percent correct sir. I wish more people knew this so we'd have a better government.
@@mikebradley3443 Well it is possible: If by a sloopy job they do not find the true cause yields the same unaddressed cause leading to another case of the same... So they do have the incentive to find the real truth of matter.
I was out shooting weather video that day and ended covering this instead. We shot rescue video from the Moonshine Beach area. It was used by all of the major news outlets. We knew this weather was coming all day long. When we heard the dispatch about the sinking it was hard to believe that anyone would have gone out on the lake that evening.
We had a derecho like this in Ottawa a few years back. It devastated the city - some of us lost power for almost 2 weeks. Couldn’t fucking imagine being near water in something like this - I knew as soon as you said Derecho they had fuck all chance.