NTSB member Earl Weener said investigators only recently learned that Ride the Ducks global issued a warning about potential axle failure and recommended a specific fix.
Advertisement
A fifth person died from injuries caused by a crash involving a bus and a tourist “duck boat” in Seattle last week, according to NBC News. It’s unclear whether the Seattle Ride the Ducks business received the warning.
The investigation is being watched by other operators of the hugely popular duck boat tours.
Federal investigators discovered Saturday that the amphibious tour vehicle that collided with a bus on a Seattle bridge had an axle that had been sheared off.
An official from the King County Medical Examiner’s office walks near the scene of a fatal crash involving an amphibious tour vehicle and a charter bus, Thursday, September 24, 2015 in Seattle. It’s too soon to know how the axle was damaged, Weener said.
The Seattle Times reports that Seattle Democratic Rep. Reuven Carlyle said he’s drafting a letter from lawmakers calling on the city and state transportation departments to analyze options for making the bridge safer. All company drivers are required to take continuing education classes, he said.
“We’re doing everything we can to help families make it through the tough time”, Graff said.
Weener said investigators are still trying to put together a sequence of events.
“It felt like we lost control, and I looked up and saw the bus headed towards us”, duck boat passenger Katie Moody told KOMO while in her bed at the hospital on Friday.
Keith Holloway, an NTSB spokesman, said the agency does not have national statistics for accidents involving duck boats.
The other four victims were previously identified as worldwide students also attending the school. They are remnants from when the U.S. Army deployed thousands of amphibious landing craft during World War II.
Advertisement
State regulators also have opened an investigation, which entails inspecting all vehicle and driver records. Four students were killed, and 51 people were taken to hospitals.
