Duck Boats: Dozens of Deaths Have Led to at Least One Call for Banning the Popular Rides
The amphibious vehicles have been involved in fatal crashes on land and on sea
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Philadelphia lawyers call for change after 17 people died when a duck boat in Missouri sunk in choppy waters.
What to Know
Duck boats are repurposed military vehicles. The same ones in the water today date back to World War II.
Duck boats have been turned into popular tourist attractions throughout the U.S.
However, duck boats also been involved in dozens of deadly crashes on sea and on land.
Duck boats are popular with tourists, but they've also been involved in dozens of deaths.
At least 26 people have been killed in incidents involving duck boats over the last 20 years in the United States, including Thursday's deadly sinking in Missouri, "Today" reported.
A lawyer who represented victims in a duck boat crash in Philadelphia in 2010 says the number of deaths is higher and that more than 40 people have died in duck boat accidents.
The "boats" are amphibious vehicles made by modifying military trucks. The ones in use today were built for use in World War II and were named with the acronym DUKW, which led to the nickname "duck boats."
Duck boats were used during the Normandy invasion on D-Day to bring troops ashore, and some were used again in Korea.
In recent years some businesses have re-purposed those same, decades-old vehicles into sightseeing attractions that drive from land into rivers and lakes.
The boats sit low in the water, with waves lapping just outside the boats' windows.
In 1999, 13 people drowned while riding a duck boat in Hot Springs, Arkansas. That boat sank so quickly that no one aboard had time to put on a life jacket, the NTSB reported; its investigation found the boat had been inadequately maintained.
In 2010, a trash barge collided with a duck boat on a busy part of the Delaware River in Philadelphia. The 37 people aboard were sent into the water; two people, tourists from Hungary, died.
AP
Two Hungarian teachers who survived a duck boat crash console one another as they view the site where two of their students went missing on the Delaware River.
TELEMUNDO LOCAL
Szablcs Prem (L), 20, and Dora Schwendtner (R), 16, were killed after being flung into the Delaware River following a crash between a Duck Boat and barge.
NBCPhiladelphia.com
This photo shows the moments before the 250-foot barge overtook the disabled Ride the Ducks boat.
NBCPhiladelphia.com
Taken just seconds later, this photo shows the actual impact of the barge The Resource and the Ride the Ducks amphibious vehicle in the Delaware River on July 7.
AP
The Ride the Ducks boat capsized Wednesday after colliding with that barge. 37 people were on board the tour boat when it happened. Soon after people in life vests were seen floating along the river.
AP
This 250-foot barge collided with the disabled Ride the Ducks boat around 2:40 in the afternoon.
Chopper 10
The amphibious vehicle, like the one pictured, stalled on the river after experiencing a small engine fire. The disabled boat then drifted into the barge, rolled over and sank.
AP
A duck boat crewmember is pulled from the Delaware River after a the collision. Two people were unaccounted for and the extent of injuries unclear after a frantic rescue effort along Penn's Landing.
NBCPhiladelphia.com
The U.S. Coast Guard, Philadelphia Police Marine Unit and passing pleasure boats pulled passengers out of the water minutes after the crash.
Chopper 10
The scene as people are rescued after the "Ride the Ducks" crash.
AP
Rescue vessels searched up and down the Delaware River.
NBCPhiladelphia.com
First responders set up a triage area at the Independence Seaport Museum before transporting 11 of the 35 passengers to the hospital.
NBCPhiladelphia.com
Rescue personnel on the Delaware River.
NBCPhiladelphia.com
Ambulances and police cars gathered at the scene to help the passengers from the overturned boat.
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It was a wild scene Wednesday afternoon as rescuers rushed shaken passengers to local hospitals.
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An unidentified person is escorted to an ambulance at the scene.
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This unidentified passenger was wrapped in a Red Cross blanket.
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Another unidentified person is escorted to an ambulance at the scene.
NBCPhiladelphia.com
One young passenger walks off an ambulance and into the Hahnemann University Hospital emergency room.
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An unidentified person is escorted from the scene by rescuers. Notice she is still wearing her duck whistle.
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Unidentified people are escorted to an ambulance at the scene.
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A search vessel passes a marker for the sunken amphibious craft as it looks for the two missing tour boat passengers.
NBCPhiladelphia.com
A diver preparing to enter the Delaware River from the Philadelphia Police boat.
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Two young people, Hungarian tourists visiting a local family through their church, were missing and presumed dead.
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Another duck boat in the water alongside the Coast Guard during the search.
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The Philadelphia Fire Department's vessel, part of the rescue effort, on the Delaware River.
Wood Family Photo
More rescue personnel on the scene. Nine people were injured in the Ride the Duck boat's overturning.
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The Philadelphia Police Department's boat. Rescuers were still searching for two Hungarian tourists, a 16-year-old female and a 20-year-old male.
AP
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, right, briefs a Hungarian teacher, left, who survived a duck boat crash on Wednesday, and a U.S. woman, center top, who served as a host for a Hungarian student group as they view the site where two of the students went missing on the Delaware River in Philadelphia, Thursday, July 8, 2010. An amphibious sightseeing boat that stalled in the Delaware River was knocked over by an oncoming barge Wednesday, spilling 37 people overboard and leaving two passengers unaccounted for after a frantic rescue effort. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Connecticut State Police
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter speaks at a press conference following the incident.
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Rescue vessels combed the area.
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A Coast Guard search vessel looks for the missing.
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Members of the Coast Guard look for two missing tour boat passengers on the Delaware River in Philadelphia.
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A member of the Coast Guard holds a wallet fished from the water during the search.
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Getting a closer look at the wallet.
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Chris Herschend, president of Ride the Ducks, exits a news conference. "The most important thing is that our prayers are with the folks involved yesterday," he said.
NBCPhiladelphia.com
The body of Dora Schwendtner, 16, is lifted from the Delaware River near the base of the Walt Whitman Bridge in South Philadelphia early Friday morning.
NBC10.com
An amphibious craft is salvaged from the Delaware River in Philadelphia, Friday, July 9, 2010. An amphibious sightseeing boat that stalled in the Delaware River was knocked over by an oncoming barge Wednesday, spilling 37 people overboard and leaving two passengers unaccounted for after a frantic rescue effort.
AP
People view the salvaging of an amphibious craft from the Delaware River in Philadelphia, Friday, July 9, 2010. An amphibious sightseeing boat that stalled in the Delaware River was knocked over by an oncoming barge Wednesday, spilling 37 people overboard and leaving two passengers unaccounted for after a frantic rescue effort.
NBCPhiladelphia.com
Scores of people either came or stopped to watch -- some for hours -- as crews worked to pull Duck boat #34 out of the water.
NBCPhiladelphia.com
The salvage operation took several hours.
NBCPhiladelphia.com
No matter where they were perched, it was a curious and a solemn moment when the boat came up out of the water around 1:30 p.m.
NBCPhiladelphia.com
It was loaded up on the barge Friday afternoon and inspected by the NTSB began.
The company that ran the Philadelphia operations, Ride the Ducks International, stopped operating in Philly in 2016 after another fatal crash sent its insurance costs soaring. In May 2015, a duck boat struck and killed a visitor from Texas who was crossing a city street.
The next year, in Boston, a woman was killed when she was hit by a duck boat while riding her scooter on Beacon Hill.
Five college students were killed in 2015 when a duck boat crashed into a charter bus in Seattle. The victims were on the bus.
The company that operated the Branson, Missouri, ride that sank in a storm Thursday issued a statement reiterating its focus on safety.
"The safety of our guests and employees is our number one priority," the statement read. "Ride the Ducks will be closed for business while we support the investigation, and to allow time to grieve for the families and the community."
But a lawyer who represented the Philadelphia water crash victims said Friday that's not good enough.
The vehicles are "deathtraps operating on land and in the water," Robert Mongeluzzi said, reiterating his call for a national ban on duck boats.
“After this tragedy, we again ask, What does it take for tour operators to realize that they cannot value profit more than human life and public safety?" Mongeluzzi said in a statement.
