The suspension is effective immediately pending investigation and inspection of Ride the Ducks’ entire fleet of vehicles and drivers, according to a state news release.
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It’s unclear if the company that owns the vehicle is Ride the Ducks of Seattle.
A fifth worldwide college student has died following last week’s crash of a charter bus and an amphibious tour vehicle, or duck boat, in Seattle.
20 year-old Haram Kim of South Korea died at Harborview Sunday as a result of the crash between the charter bus and duck boat.
“Our action today is necessary”, UTC Chairman David Danner said, “to protect the public’s health, safety and welfare”.
The U.S. Army-surplus vehicle that crashed was built in 1945 and refurbished in 2005, Weener said, adding there were about 100 similar trucks in service nationwide.
All five victims were students at North Seattle College.
Ride the Ducks global, which in 2005 refurbished the vehicle involved in the crash, warned its customers in 2013 about potential axle failure and recommended a specific fix or increased monitoring, National Transportation Safety Board member Earl Weener said.
Even before Monday, Ride the Ducks of Seattle vehicles had already stopped rolling.
Weener described Ride the Ducks of Seattle as cooperative, and said the company had turned over training records and maintenance documents for the duck. Four students died at the scene, and more than 50 people were taken to hospitals.
We are working to understand what happened and have completely opened our operations to NTSB investigators, Tracey said.
At least 16 people had been killed in accidents involving duck boats prior to last week’s tragedy.
A representative of the Seattle duck tour company said he did not have any immediate comment on the NTSB’s account.
The company says the service bulletin applied to 57 duck boats, including a few in Seattle; Philadelphia; Stone Mountain Park, Georgia; Branson, Missouri; and Newport, Kentucky.
The federal probe is expected to take months.
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.
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“Out of respect for the victims”, the company said on its website, “we have temporarily suspended operations, while we also focus on assisting those leading this investigation”.
