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USD100 million wrongful death lawsuit filed over duck boat tragedy
Just days after the duck boat tragedy on a lake near Branson, a second wrongful death lawsuit has been filed.
The July 19 tragedy killed 19 passengers who drowned in severe weather when a Ride the Ducks vehicle sank on Table Rock Lake.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a family which lost nine in the accident and is seeking $100 million in damages.
It came a day before the state attorney general’s office said it would open a criminal investigation.
The suit accuses owner Ripley Entertainment, Ride the Ducks of Branson, former owner Herschend Family Entertainment and others of negligence and wrongful death.
The filing accuses the company of putting profit ahead of safety and managers knew of the severe weather conditions on the day before the vehicle went on to the water.
A preliminary NTSB report indicated the driver of the duck boat was told to start the tour on water instead of on land as is usual, which the lawsuit says was ‘an effort to beat the storm.’
Ride the Ducks violated its own policy by doing that, the lawsuit says, and passengers were told that they would not require life jackets.
It further claims Ripley Entertainment was warned by an inspector about safety issues with the vehicles before it bought the Ride the Ducks business last year.
The lawsuit also produced a letter from former Ride the Ducks owner Robert McDowell which showed the company’s battle to avoid previous NTSB recommendations ordered after a similar accident in 1999 on Lake Hamilton, Arkansas.
"Robert McDowell’s challenge of the NTSB safety recommendation was driven solely by an attempt to value profits over the safety of Defendants’ passengers as Mr. McDowell had no training or formal background in engineering," the lawsuit said.
The amphibian WW2-era vehicles have been involved in a number of fatal accidents on land and water in recent years in Boston, Philadelphia and Seattle.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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