The Branson duck boat accident occurred on the evening of July 19, 2018, when an amphibious tour vessel called the Stretch Duck 7 sank in a sudden storm on Table Rock Lake near Branson, Missouri, killing 17 of the 31 people aboard. It became the deadliest duck boat disaster in U.S. history and the event that finally pushed Congress to impose federal safety rules on the industry more than two decades after regulators first warned the vehicles were unsafe.
What Happened on Table Rock Lake
The Stretch Duck 7 was a 33-foot modified DUKW built in 1944, operated by Ripley Entertainment under the brand Ride the Ducks Branson. It launched onto Table Rock Lake with 29 passengers and two crew members despite a severe thunderstorm warning issued just one minute before departure.1NTSB. Sinking of Stretch Duck 7, Table Rock Lake Shortly after entering the water, the boat was hit by a derecho with gusts of 73 miles per hour and waves three to five feet high. Water poured through a non-weathertight air intake hatch on the bow, and the vessel swamped and went under.
Seventeen people drowned. Nine of them came from a single family from Indianapolis: Ervin Coleman, 76; Horace Coleman, 70; Belinda Coleman, 69; Angela Coleman, 45; Glenn Coleman, 40; Reece Coleman, 9; Evan Coleman, 7; Maxwell Coleman, 2; and one-year-old Arya Coleman.2Kansas City Star. Victims of Branson Duck Boat Sinking Identified The other victims ranged from 15 to 73 years old and came from Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas. The boat’s driver, Robert “Bob” Williams, 73, was killed. The captain survived.36abc. Branson Duck Boat Accident Victims
Tia Coleman, who lost her husband and three children, later said the captain had told passengers not to bother with the life jackets. She became one of the most visible voices calling for duck boats to be banned outright.4The Indiana Lawyer. Survivor of Duck Boat Sinking Urges Ban on Such Crafts
Why the Boat Sank
The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause was Ripley Entertainment’s decision to continue waterborne tours after the severe thunderstorm warning was issued, exposing the vessel to the derecho.1NTSB. Sinking of Stretch Duck 7, Table Rock Lake The board also faulted the U.S. Coast Guard on two contributing counts: failing to require sufficient reserve buoyancy in amphibious vessels and failing to address emergency egress on vessels with fixed canopies.
Those canopies were central to why so many people died. The overhead structure and side curtains trapped passengers as the boat went down, and the life jackets, stored overhead beneath the canopy framing, were still strapped in place when the vessel was raised from the lake bottom.5NTSB. Safety Report on Amphibious Passenger Vessels The NTSB has described canopies on duck boats as “impediments to passenger emergency egress” and warned that they can make life jackets counterproductive by pulling wearers upward into the framing rather than to the surface.
None of this was new information. In 1999, the amphibious boat Miss Majestic sank in Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, killing 13 of 21 people aboard. The NTSB issued urgent recommendations after that disaster calling for reserve buoyancy improvements and canopy removal. Several of those recommendations were later classified “Closed — Unacceptable Action” because neither operators nor regulators followed through.
The Criminal Cases That Went Nowhere
Prosecutors tried twice to hold Ride the Ducks personnel criminally responsible. Both efforts collapsed.
A federal grand jury indicted captain Kenneth Scott McKee in November 2018 on charges of misconduct, negligence, and inattention to duty.6Kansas City Star. Branson Duck Boat Captain Indicted by Federal Grand Jury General manager Curtis Lanham and operations supervisor Charles Baltzell were later added. A federal judge dismissed all of it, ruling that the Justice Department lacked jurisdiction because Table Rock Lake did not qualify as a “navigable waterway” under federal admiralty law.7Waterways Journal. Missouri AG Files New Duck Boat Charges
Missouri prosecutors then brought 17 counts of involuntary manslaughter per defendant in Stone County. On April 5, 2022, Judge Alan Blankenship dismissed all of the state charges. He accepted that the three employees knew about the storm but ruled there was no evidence they knew about the specific gust front that swamped the vessel. Testimony showed the company’s weather radar displayed rain but not wind conditions, and the employees were reportedly unaware of the National Weather Service’s severe thunderstorm warning.8NBC News. Judge Dismisses Criminal Charges in Missouri Duck Boat Accident
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt refiled the charges shortly afterward, since the dismissal was without prejudice, and added child endangerment counts against McKee.9NPR. Missouri Duck Boat Accident Charges Defense attorneys called the refiling a waste of time. No convictions ever resulted from the sinking.
Civil Lawsuits and Settlements
Families of the dead and injured filed dozens of lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. Named defendants included Ripley Entertainment, vessel manufacturer Ride the Ducks International, and Herschend Family Entertainment.10Springfield News-Leader. Branson Duck Boat Lawsuit Settlements One early complaint filed on behalf of the estates of Ervin and Maxwell Coleman sought $100 million and alleged negligence, product liability, and wrongful death.11ABC7. Lawsuit Filed in Fatal Duck Boat Sinking Seeks $100 Million
Ripley Entertainment and Ride the Ducks International tried to use the 1851 Shipowners Limitation of Liability Act to cap damages at the value of the sunken vessel, which was effectively zero. U.S. District Judge Doug Harpool rejected the argument in November 2019, finding that Table Rock Lake did not meet the traditional criteria for admiralty jurisdiction.12Springfield News-Leader. Judge Says 1851 Law Does Not Apply in Duck Boat Lawsuits
By January 2020, Ripley Entertainment had resolved every claim through confidential mediated settlements. Judge Harpool described the amounts as “substantial.” No figures were publicly disclosed.13Claims Journal. All Lawsuits Settled in Fatal Missouri Duck Boat Sinking
The Federal Safety Reforms That Followed
For more than two decades after the Miss Majestic disaster, NTSB safety recommendations for duck boats went largely unheeded. Branson changed that. Congress folded the Duck Boat Safety Enhancement Act into the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, which President Biden signed on December 23, 2022.14Professional Mariner. NTSB Welcomes Duck Boat Safety Rules in Defense Bill
The law directed the Coast Guard to write rules on reserve buoyancy, weather monitoring, life vest requirements, seat belt procedures during waterborne operations, and annual crew training. It also imposed interim requirements to take effect within 180 days: removal of canopies and window coverings, mandatory passenger life vests, minimization of hull penetrations, and installation of bilge pumps and emergency LED lighting.
The Coast Guard missed the initial six-month deadline in mid-2023, prompting a formal inquiry from Missouri Senator Josh Hawley.15Senator Hawley. Hawley Urges Action on Duck Boat Safety Regulations The agency published an interim final rule on September 11, 2023, codifying nine safety requirements from the legislation, including canopy modifications, bilge pump and alarm installations, and inspection standards. Operators were given 120 days to comply.16Federal Register. DUKW Amphibious Passenger Vessels Interim Final Rule The Coast Guard called the interim rule a “first step” and said additional rulemaking on the remaining statutory provisions would follow.17U.S. Coast Guard. DUKW Amphibious Passenger Vessels
What Happened to the Operator
Ride the Ducks Branson shut down after the sinking in 2018 and never reopened. Its fleet was later auctioned off.18Waterways Journal. Duck Boats Auctioned, Era Ending Duck boat tourism itself has not ended nationwide. Boston Duck Tours continues to operate a fleet of amphibious vehicles, and Dells Army Ducks in Wisconsin still runs tours using original WWII-era vehicles.19MassLive. Boston Duck Tours Season Information The Branson operation, however, is gone for good.