NTSB: Recordings show change in weather before boat sank

[Snellius]

Source: AP

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Video and audio recordings from a fatal tourist boat accident in Missouri show that the lake went from calm to deadly dangerous in a matter of minutes.

The National Transportation Safety Board on Friday released information gathered from the video recorder camera system salvaged by divers after the duck boat sank July 19 at Table Rock Lake near Branson. Seventeen of the 31 people on board died.

The recordings show that the lake was calm when the vessel entered the lake around 6:55 p.m.

But the NTSB says whitecaps suddenly appeared at 7 p.m., and winds increased. The captain twice made calls on a handheld radio and alarms sounded. Water began splashing the passenger compartment around 7:05 p.m. About eight minutes after whitecaps emerged, the video recording ended.


Read more: https://apnews.com/c37e7d29935343929afa26aaee8c4296/NTSB:-Recordings-show-change-in-weather-before-boat-sank

[2naSalit]

1. How unfortunate.

I have seen storms show up undetected like that but I was in a deep draft troller... it was still scary and I felt like I was in Gilligan's Island. These guys sound like they didn't have a chance, they knew what hit them and that was about it.

[LisaL]

2. It wasn't undetected. There was a warning.

It just hasn't started yet at the location when boat entered the water.

[2naSalit]

3. A lot of times the

weather reports are vague but if there was a warning...

Then again, I had an example of sorts today, we are experiencing severe thunderstorms in my area, I watched a huge one form right outside my town. I had to go run some errands and stopped at one place near the Interstate and wondered about the travelers on the road and how many heard the weather service warning as they headed into it at high speed, right into golf ball sized hail.

I realized there are maritime rules, even on lakes, so I wonder what the whole set of circumstances were.

[yardwork]

5. The weather prediction was not vague. Satellite showed the storm approaching.

This was gross negligence on the part of the company.

[forgotmylogin]

6. I read they were told "go in the water first"

I infer that usually the duck does the land portion of the tour first then goes in the water. They wanted to get the water portion of the tour done first that evening because they knew there was a storm coming. If they spent a half hour on land, then a storm blew up, they'd likely have to refund a money for an amphibious vehicle tour that didn't go amphibious. So...

-They knew the storm was coming
-They knew they would rather not be on the lake during a storm, whether for passenger comfort or safety.

In the video you can see that the stormy sky is only "partly cloudy" and sun is breaking through in the distance, so they were certainly taken by surprise. I wonder if this is a matter of they'd done millions of these tours over the years and never had a problem. I suppose it's possible also this particular boat may have had an engine or structural failure which prevented them from getting off the lake.

[yardwork]

7. The company was told by an independent inspector that there was a serious design flaw.

The inspector told the company that the engines would fail in rough water.

[Dave Starsky]

8. They just need to retire the damn things.

You couldn't get me on a duck boat if you held me at gunpoint. These things date back to World War II, for crying out loud. They're getting harder and harder to maintain at the level that they need.

[Rebl2]

4. There was a severe

thunderstorm watch/warning issued for that area about 40 minuets before they went out. They had plenty of time to cancel the outing and should have.

[2naSalit]

9. Yup, sounds like poor judgement happened.