They say they know the duck boat’s left front axle was sheared off, though it wasn’t clear if the axle had broken before or after the collision. “We are still working to understand what happened”, he said. Seattle Police officers look under a “Ride the Ducks” tourist vehicle as a tire and wheel from the bus sits nearby before the bus is loaded onto a flatbed tow truck Thursday, September 24, 2015, after it was involved in a fatal cr… He and his company are “absolutely heartbroken” over the deaths and injuries.
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The latest fatality was a 20-year-old woman who was an worldwide student attending North Seattle College. No patients remain at NW Hospital and Medical Center. The AP noted that these vehicles are used for tours all over the world, in such cities as Philadelphia; Austin, Texas; Miami; Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and London. They feature former military landing craft repurposed as tour vehicles.
A duck boat in Seattle, September 13, 2014.
The Duck involved in the crash, identified by the Coast Guard as Duck No. 6, was built in 1945 and last refurbished in 2005, Weener said.
The NTSB had few details Sunday about the warning Ride the Ducks global issued. In 2013, the company notified its local franchises about a potential failure point in the housing around an axle, Weener said.
The Associated Press reports that a fix was recommended for the axle for some of the duck boats back in 2013.
The federal probe is expected to take months.
Weener said investigators are still trying to put together a sequence of events.
Among the next steps for NTSB investigators will be continuing to interview witnesses, inspecting the vehicles, and conducting 3D imaging of the charter bus, duck boat, and Aurora Bridge. The federal agency has scrutinized duck tour vehicles several times when they’ve been in accidents on water.
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“The UTC committed today to inspecting each of these vehicles and reviewing each driver’s record”.
