Duck boat company fined $500K for safety violation months before selling in 2017
BRANSON MO NEWS: Twenty months before a Ride the Ducks boat sank in Table Rock Lake, killing 17, the company that owned the attraction at the time agreed to pay a $500,000 fine for a federal safety violation.
That 2016 violation was discovered as part of an investigation into another duck boat crash that killed five in Seattle in 2015.
Now, that company — Ride the Ducks International — and the family associated with it, find themselves named in a lawsuit over the July 19 disaster. The ride’s current owner is Ripley Entertainment, which purchased the Branson ducks in December.
The lawsuit, filed Sunday, alleges that Herschend Family Entertainment, Ride the Ducks International, Ripley Entertainment and two other companies failed to make safety improvements that would have prevented the loss of lives near Branson. That lawsuit was filed on behalf of two members of an Indianapolis family who lost nine when Stretch Duck 07 sank during a severe storm.
“On numerous occasions before July 19, 2018, defendants were warned that the canopies used on their duck boats were dangerous and created death traps for passengers in the event of emergency,” the lawsuit said. “For two decades, defendants had been repeatedly told to change the design of their duck boats to make them safer, but they entirely ignored these warnings.”
Herschend Family Entertainment — known for helping develop the Branson community into a national tourist destination — sold a majority interest in the company to an independent investor in 2012.
In response to questions from The Star, Herschend Family Entertainment released a statement Monday. It only addressed the ownership of the ducks in Branson.
“Ripley Entertainment, Inc. owns and operates the Ride the Ducks operation in Branson, Missouri,” it read. “They purchased it in December 2017. Beyond that, we cannot comment on pending litigation.”
The Herschend family’s involvement in the attraction was also referenced in a …
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