More trouble for the Duck Boat.

[Diggin It]

If you fall down your own stairs, you don't sue the stairs. But I would imagine there are some who have tried to sue the carpenter or the lumber mill.

But when you go on a public tourist excursion, you expect them to do basic things like oh ..... check the weather?

 

[/pine]

It just bugs the **** out of me. Criminals that intentionally hurt or kill others are too often let off too easy.

But God help you if you are negligent and hurt or kill someone!

We all have to be responsible for our own actions regardless of intent...

What irks the heck out of me is when a judge releases a violent criminal only to have them commit further violent crimes...while victimless offenders sit in jail cells...!

 

[Industrial Toys]

EXACTLY!

When there is a juicy insurance policy to milk, the mindset changes. Like hyhenas! (sp?)

 

[k0ua]

If you fall down your own stairs, you don't sue the stairs. But I would imagine there are some who have tried to sue the carpenter or the lumber mill.

But when you go on a public tourist excursion, you expect them to do basic things like oh ..... check the weather?[/QUOTE]

And the bad part is, they did check the weather. They did know the storm was coming, and they decided to outrun it. They decided to do the lake portion of the run first to avoid the storm. That was a calculated risk, and they took it. Trouble was the storm moved faster than THEY thought. Not faster than Ron Hearst (local KY3 TV station weatherman) thought though. He warned of fast moving winds over 60 miles an hour.He especially gave lake wind warnings. I heard the warning, unplugged all of my radio equipment, and turned the beam into the wind. I went and sat down in the living room and turned on his channel and waited for it to hit. And hit it did. I said a couple of words when that gust front hit the house. I didn't find out until some hours later that a bunch of people lost their lives on the lake. I was surprised that anyone was on the lake.

 

[dragoneggs]

Just wanted to note that this was NOT a WWII duck boat.
Improper maintenance, broken axle led to Ride the Ducks crash, NTSB rules | The Seattle Times

Moss, not sure I understand your point here.

 

[Sigarms]

I'm curious if he was just a scape goat. How much pressure did the company put on their employees for the sake of profit? Ultimately, I guess it's the captains responsibility, but what if he goes against the companies wishes and looses his job?

I thought the same thing.

What do you figure that job (duck boat captain) pays?

What if you're an airline pilot with the responsibility of 200 lives?

When you're in charge of the potential loss of life of your clients, IMO safety ALWAYS comes first over profit (within reason of course).

Look at it this way, if you're paying someone to be responsbile for other peoples lives, hopefully you have a qualified employee who is good at their job. Generally if someone "in charge" calls something off due to their position to do so, you have enough faith in their call to know it was the right call and losing the potential cash far outweighs the for the potential loss of life and the inevitable headache afterwards.

 

[MossRoad]

Moss, not sure I understand your point here.

That particular duck in the road crash was manufactured recently. It's not a WWII duck. There's been speculation that the ones manufactured specifically as tourist machines aren't built to the same specs the WWII military ones were.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

That particular duck in the road crash was manufactured recently. It's not a WWII duck. There's been speculation that the ones manufactured specifically as tourist machines aren't built to the same specs the WWII military ones were.

That's to be expected. As a general rule of thumb, when you are talking product liability, the standards applied to the product in question are the standards applicable at the time of manufacture...meaning that if you re-make an article engineered and manufactured in the 1940's, the new article will be held to the standards applicable today, whether you incorporate them or not. I'm not sure in this case if their suit incorporates a product liability cause of action...it probably should...but the gist of the case seems to be negligence on the part of the duck boat people...and perhaps egregious behavior on the part of the Captain.

 

[Sigarms]

That particular duck in the road crash was manufactured recently. It's not a WWII duck. There's been speculation that the ones manufactured specifically as tourist machines aren't built to the same specs the WWII military ones were.

I can only assume you've never been in the military?

Why does everyone assume that if it'a built to "military standards" that is just HAS to be the best out there and that the military will spare no expense in having the best?

 

[plowhog]

Look at it this way, if you're paying someone to be responsbile for other peoples lives, hopefully you have a qualified employee who is good at their job. Generally if someone "in charge" calls something off due to their position to do so, you have enough faith in their call to know it was the right call and losing the potential cash far outweighs the for the potential loss of life and the inevitable headache afterwards.

The pressure to stay on schedule and arrive on time is the root cause of many aviation disasters. The worst offenders are the small charter airlines where the owner is also the chief pilot.