May 07, 2020 / By mobanmarket
BRANSON, MO — The captain of a duck boat that sank on Table Rock Lake near Branson, Missouri, over the summer has been indicted by a federal grand jury, the Springfield News-Leader reports. Fifty-one-year-old Kenneth Scott McKee faces 17 counts of misconduct, negligence and inattention to duty — one for each person killed when the amphibious tour boat sank during a severe thunderstorm on July 19.
Tia Coleman, an Indianapolis woman who lost all nine members of her family in the tragedy, said the captain told passengers not to worry about grabbing life jackets as they boarded the duck boat.
After reviewing “black box” recordings recovered from the boat, prosecutors confirmed that McKee failed to tell passengers to put on their life jackets or raise the boat’s side curtains to help them escape as the boat started to sink.
A Coast Guard Investigation concluded in August that, with severe weather looming, the boat should never have been on the water to begin with.
Jim Pattison Jr., president of duck boat-owner Ripley Entertainment, initially told the New York Times that the thunderstorm was unexpected, saying, “It was almost like a microburst.” But weather officials said there was plenty of warning before the storm struck.
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Coleman and other survivors have filed suit against Ripley Entertainment. According to court documents, she is seeking $300 million in damages and asking that the duck boats be retired until they can be made safer.
That lawsuit and others are currently making their way through the courts, but Ripley Entertainment has invoked an obscure maritime act to delay the proceedings. The 1851 law caps shipowners’ liability at the salvage value of the sunken ship or boat and often consolidates multiple lawsuits into one. The company has said it hopes to ultimately move the cases out of the court system and into mediation.
“Filings like this are common in claims related to maritime incidents,” Ripley Entertainment said in a statement. “It allows multiple court procedures to be carried out at the same time, with the aim of a swift resolution for everyone affected by the accident. While this filing may limit the company’s liability, we are filing this request at the same time we are actively pursuing mediation and settlement with those most affected, and have already scheduled, or are in the process of scheduling mediations.”
It’s not clear how the criminal charges will impact the lawsuits.
Duck boats have been involved in a series of accidents across the country since at least 1999, when a similar incident killed 13 people on Arkansas’s Lake Hamilton.
Originally designed to ferry troops from ship to shore during the Second World War, duck boats resemble a cross between a bus and a boat. Critics say the craft were never intended for civilian use and are inherently dangerous.
As in every case, charges are merely accusations, not proof of guilt.
Photo: A family of mourners stop to place a flower on a duck boat used by ‘Ride The Ducks’ tours in Branson, Missouri. (Michael Thomas/Getty Images)
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