Do you know/guess the distance across the body of water they had to cross?
Pretty sure USCG has inspection authority/responsibility for passenger carrying vessels. I wonder if the DUCKs are exempt. What bothers me is the covering on the DUCKS. They would hinder/prevent people from escaping and make PFD usage problematic.
In sailing there is a debate, that can never be settled, about the use of inflatable PFDs. Should the inflatable PFDs inflate automatically when under water or should one use a manual inflatable? Basically it gets down to the roll of the dice. Will one be knocked out when going into the water where an automatic inflating PFD could save your life or will the automatic inflating PFD pin you in the cabin in a sinking or prevent one from swimming out in a capsize. Take your pick of poison...
The NTSB report will be interesting in regards to USCG inspections and regulations regarding the covering...
Being stuck under the canopy with a PFD on would make escaping more difficult. But that may be a moot point if the passengers could not get out at all.
We noticed DUCKs in Dublin doing tours of the city. They went from St. Stephens Green north and eventually went into the River Liffey. From the photos I have seen, the canopy APPEARS to be easily rolled back, the passengers where wearing PFDs, and the DUCKs had inflatable bags on the side.
Later,
Dan
