Manufactured Negligence: The Duck 6 - Aurora Bridge Collision
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 พ.ค. 2024
- Seattle - Thursday September 24, 2015 - Stretch Duck 6 collided with a Bellair Motorcoach on the Aurora Bridge. This tragedy was completely preventable and is yet another case of negligence in tourist attraction operations.
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▶ATTORNEY TOM: / @attorneytom
EL FARO Legal Aftermath: • Head First Into A Hurr...
▶DUCK BOAT SAGA:
STRETCH DUCK 7 - Branson: • Normalized Negligence:...
DUCK 34 - Philly: th-cam.com/users/livebx9ErlWG1uM
▶REFERENCES, SOURCES & FEATURED MEDIA: pastebin.com/dkDRVkkW
*Views presented are my own and the appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), NTSB & any other entities' visual information does not imply nor constitute their endorsement.
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▶Timestamps:
00:00 Opening
00:32 WWII Army DUKW Turned Tourist Attraction
00:55 Ride the Ducks Seattle
03:08 Branson HQ & Ride the Ducks International
04:55 Seattle Duck Tour Routes
06:16 North Seattle College & Bellair Tour Buses
07:59 The Aurora Bridge - Seattle
09:00 Duck 6 and MotorCoaches Converge
11:53 Rescue & First Responders
14:30 Incident Affects Families Globally
15:28 NTSB Takes Over Investigation
22:13 Ride the Ducks Tries To Evade Responsibility
25:46 Structural Incompatibility
27:47 NTSB Recommendations
31:17 Fate of Ride the Ducks as a Company
32:08 In Memoriam...
32:23 End Credits
▶MUSIC: Produced by Mors / @morsbeats
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▶ A B O U T
Hey, I'm Sam! Full Time Parent & Creator. With a background in Workplace Safety Instruction, Logistics/Supply Chain Management & Industrial Robotics Programming/Engineering... Safety begins with Cooperation, Compassion and Critical Thinking.
Your Safety Matters.
#Seattle #WSDOT #YourSafetyMatters - บันเทิง
▶GROUND NEWS: Compare Diverse News Sources - Think Critically ground.news/brick
▶ATTORNEY TOM: www.youtube.com/@AttorneyTom
EL FARO Legal Aftermath: th-cam.com/video/BjiGHV3Si3A/w-d-xo.html
▶DUCK BOAT SAGA:
STRETCH DUCK 7 - Branson: th-cam.com/video/0yG5C94qM2Y/w-d-xo.html
DUCK 34 - Philly: th-cam.com/users/livebx9ErlWG1uM
Another informative, well narrated and long anticipated video mate! 👍
This is one of the very very few sponsors on YT I support. Unparalleled news feed.
I was on duck 6 before this happened my dad took me on it when I was 8 at the time (now I'm 17) and it was originally a shock when this happened because only a month after we went on the duck it was involved in this acedent
I get the feeling these might not be the best tour boats after all.
There aren’t many left. Most of these used in Europe are made from Volvo chassis and looked a lot like a regular tour bus (see OceanBus and Amfibus). And those look a lot better than something like a Seahorse MKIII which still have a lot of blind spots on the road…Some other Amphibious tour bus are based on more modern LARC or regular bus chassies, meaning they are way more suited for the road and on the sea…
I rode on one in the 1990s, in the WI Dells. It was fun, but I'm not sure I would take one now....
@@WorldPowerLabs My family and I have taken that tour for many many years, and not once a single incident. You do bring up a good point though.
If there’s anything that’s amphibious (civilian or military), and there’s an incentive to not maintain the vehicle properly (as is common in the civilian market for profits or in certain militaries due to parts shortages/corruption), accidents will most certainly be inevitable.
Obviously, evidence of this comes in the form of these DUKW incidents (although this one did not involve water-related shenanigans), but also recent combat experience during the Russo-Ukrainian war, with supposedly “amphibious” BMPs and BTRs being nothing but barely floating metal coffins.
I really don't get what the draw is for these duck boats. If I want to ride on the water, I'd like to ride in a sleek, fast boat that's designed for water ONLY. These duck boats should've been decommissioned after their use in the war & the metal recycled for better purposes.
The second you showed the picture of the tab welded to the cast axle housing, I damn near screamed. I'm an engineer, and that exact kind of modification is as an example used to teach engineering students about fatigue failure in welded joints. If you weld a small plate to larger structure like that, flexing of the underlying structure will load that plate. Instead of all of the stress going through that big casting, now a significant chunk of it is going through that tiny little plate. While the global stress on the casting may decrease when you add a plate like that, the *local* stress on the plate itself is going to be dramatically higher. You aren't fixing the problem by adding a plate like that; you're just welding on an initiation point for fatigue cracks.
That tab wasn't just insufficient to prevent the failure; I would bet my left nut that it *caused* the failure. It wouldn't have mattered if it was the nicest weld in the world; *this exact failure was guaranteed from the moment they welded that plate on.*
They also clearly understood this, because the collar welded to the exterior of the knuckle *was* a relatively good design. I don't love that it involved a structural weld between cast iron and steel (welding steel to cast iron without creating cracks is difficult, even for very skilled welders), and placing a welded joint in bending like that is generally a no-no, but it would not have created the same kind of stress concentration issue the tab design did.
While there is a lot of negligence to go around on this one, the decision to weld that tab on is a level of negligence bordering on criminal.
Glad to have an engineer in here. I do welding casually for mechanical repair (passenger cars mostly) and you would be amazed, or depressed to find how many people only think there are only four kinds of metal (like actually think steel is the "Metric word" for Iron) and anything magnetic can just be welded to anything magnetic. I'm guessing someone at Ducks who knew enough to be dangerous stumbled on the word gusset and though "let's do that" thinking it was a "didn't know any better back then" kind of upgrade that belongs on the axle.
That, or they worked on newer axles with a cast center and mild steel tubes pressed, and pinned in. Welding on flanges, or brake plates is common in motorsports to change the brake type or narrowing an axle, so he just saw a thin spot and decided to beef it up for the extra GVW.
Just spitballing theories.
Totally agree, I'm also an engineer. Welding on cast iron is doable, but never ideal. Cast iron is brittle enough as it is, and adding heat to it only makes it more brittle and more prone to cracking. This was a ticking time bomb created by Ride The Ducks Intl.
Fantastic analysis. Mechanical engineer here and used to design solutions to mitigate fatigue in aircraft structures. 👍😁
What would have worked?
Island of rigidity in a sea of flexibility.
i was an EMT on an AMR ambulance responding to this call that day. We were there with seattle fire, we are part of the city 911 system. My rig might be in some of the pictures. We made three trips to and from the trauma hospital with our rig filed with yellow and red patients. it was brutal. the worst luck ever of that ducks bow being pelvis height of the bus. i cant describe some of the stuff and injuries i saw in good company... probably the roughest call i have ever been on in my career. It was carnage. The DUKW peeles that bus apart like a can opener.
I've always hated both aurora bridge and the duck tours. I took a tour once and they felt genuinely unsafe on the road. And the aurora Bridge is just twrrifyingly narrow, I avoided driving across it at all costs, that lack of a center dividing barrier felt like this was inevitable.
Have there been any petitions or actions to make the bridge safer?
@@maryeckel9682it's Seattle, so no highly unlikely
@@maryeckel9682 Yes, plenty, but unfortunately they don’t tend to go very far. I grew up under the bridge and my mom worked on many of them. The only one that has worked so far was the one that installed suicide prevention fences on the bridge.
Growing up under the Aurora bridge is one of the main reasons I became an EMT. That bridge is a deathtrap
Thanks for sharing your experience. Fuqin bananas
Was recently in Guatemala and rode a water taxi that looked a lot like the Ducks, only without the wheels. The canopy was welded down to the boat, with four windows you could barely crawl out of on each side, and an open front. During rain, they velcroed tarps (from the outside) on all of the windows and the front half. The back half was fully welded down, other than two door sized holes, both with tarps velcroed over them as well. Whole thing was basically a fully enclosed box during storms, and had only one viable escape route otherwise. Water still got in, of course.
Having seen your videos, I realized this was a death trap and sat way up front. And was the only one with my life vest in my lap, not worn. Was not about to become a statistic.
Every ferry on lake Atitlán was designed this way. It's only a matter of time until a boat sinks.
I rode on those back a few years ago when I visited Atitlán. Nobody ever thinks it's going to happen to you, especially when you're in "let the good times roll" vacation mode. It's good you were being proactive about looking for possible escape routes. You never know.
The sketchiest water transportation I've ever been on were the longboat "ferries" in some of the more eastern islands in Indonesia. These are long, skinny vessels. Metal framed enclosures with velcroed tarps, which were zipped down if the surf and subsequent spray was rough (these boats are very low to the water). The operators absolutely loaded those suckers down with people and cargo. There would be a good 20 to 40 people on board, tons of freight, and only ~10 life vests visible. Judging by their appearance, I wouldn't hold my breath that those preservers were even functional at creating buoyancy and would probably saturate, acting as a big weight strapped around your neck. I'm a strong swimmer, but some of the currents we were traveling through would rip you right out to sea if you went overboard.
Needless to say, Indonesia has a horrible track record for ferry disasters and fatalities. Their aviation industry is far from being the gold standard either.
That is terrifying. You 100% made the right choice in your seating and life vest practices. That's a disaster waiting to happen.
It’s crazy how unregulated/poorly regulated the maritime industry is in other countries, and how easily people forget when they leave the US not everywhere is as safe. Always try to avoid the sketchy surf chatter boats anywhere I visit
@@shmeeveNot like maritime regulations are great in the US. Most of this channel's videos are about US owned and operated watercraft.
@@shmeevewell, it seems like you didn't watch this video. The accident was in US soil.
I live in Seattle and drive over this bridge usually a couple times a week. there are so many collisions on this bridge and the photos simply don't show how narrow the bridge is in person. our metro busses have to split two lanes when they cross. it mind blowing to me that they have not erected a median or reduced it to a four lane road.
If they did they'd lose at least two lanes. Meaning traffic congestion will go up. the two lanes that disappear will need to be accounted for with turn off before hand or a merging point. They need a bigger surface area, but i bet the only area to do that would mean a whole new structure.
That bridge is a nightmare to drive on, its scary every time, no one stays in their damn lanes its so narrow.
And those ridiculous duck boats make it that much more dangerous. I used to drive that bridge at least 5 times a week. It can be sketch AF.
I live near Seattle, I actually know the guy who ended up buying this Duck from the NTSB. What's really amazing is the little amount of damage the Duck itself received, especially considering the condition of the bus. He is currently in the process of restoring it to its original military condition.
The NTSB got ownership over the duck? I figured theyd do their investigation and then return it to the owner
He should display it as a piece of war history and never actually put humans in it.
Does he have social media or anything? I’d be interested in watching the restoration and repairs
That’s precisely why this accident was so fatal, the front of the duck was all steel and wasn’t designed to crumple like modern vehicles so it pierced through the bus like a massive knife and killed those people.
Most cars before the 90s/00s all had much more steel, so after an accident the car would look fine but the people inside and others around, not so much.
@@tylerdejong6930 The investigation and suit didn't properly conclude until 2019, it appears, and then Ride the Ducks Seattle shut down in early 2020. It seems likely they never got the chance to reclaim the Duck, or just never bothered to do so, and after they declared bankruptcy, the NTSB sold it because what else are they gonna do with it?
A 4-minute response time is utterly insane! The Seattle FD is on top of their game.
At least they were in 2015.
I count at least 16 emergency vehicles in the aerial photos, although I am not sure which are fire and which are ambulances. In Seattle are the ambulances part of the fire department or separate? They are all the same shade of red.
fire station was 1/4 of mile away so yeah they got there fast...
@@regd809 Yeah, though not all are FD, our FD operates EMR vehicles. Our FD is pretty decent.
When i was like 8 in the 90s people talked about how dangerous these things were. Can't believe they are still in operation.
I am glad that Boston seems to be competent in their duck-tours. They use newer, purpose-built vehicles and operate them on a river that is generally calm.
I went on one of these, a few years ago.
The frisson of danger is part of the appeal of all watercraft.
Oh god. I was on the Aurora Bridge that day on a bike ride with a friend. I didnt see the impact. But I heard it and saw the immediate aftermath before even the police and rescue got there (we passed it a few minutes later). Im shaking watching this.
These things are a nightmare. Seattle banned them finally. The locals hated them even before this massive accident. They were known to be dangerous to even drive around, they would turn into drivees in the next over lane, bicyclists and pedestrians. I had one nearly hit me making an illegal turn while I was legally crossing in a crosswalk
I cant count how many times I saw a wreck caused by them.
This was one of the worst accidents I have personally ever seen and Ive seen crazy I5 wrecks. I think not being in a car made it that much worse.
And yeah. The aurora bridge is narrow. And no one, I mean no ones going 40. And theres no barrier so youre on a narrow bridge with oncoming traffic coming right at you with no barrier.
Im shaking watching this. But I want to know what actually happened. I avoided reading about it in the paper because I would see it in my head- it had happened too recently then. But I think after all these years I want to know.
Watch the video and you will find out. Also as a cyclist, you're a bigger liability on the road, than any Dukw would be.
Stay safe 🚴
Fire dept got there in 4 minutes after the call?? That's incredible communication
Looks like Seattle Fire Station 9 is located one minor street over from Aurora Ave about 1 minutes drive North of the bridge, so I guess the first unit to arrive came from there.
6 lanes, no shoulders, no center divider... it sounds like the kinda place first responders get used to visiting...
@@Cal94 Having grown up in Seattle and driven across the Aurora Bridge many times (usually traffic moves WELL over the speed limit), I can confirm this. The Aurora Bridge is also THE number one place to go to commit or threaten suicide in Seattle, so first responders are intimately acquainted with it.
It's a fun bridge to walk across in the middle of the night when there is less traffic. Just don't dawdle in one place or someone is likely to report you as a suspected jumper.
I ran a barge company on Lake Union, we sometimes also used the Sunnyside boat ramp. It was always kinda scary how distracted the Captains of the Ducks were. A 4000 ton gravel barge came through the lake weekly. I saw on a few occasions where the Ducks were plainly in the way of said gravel barge.
I also remember the day this accident happened. You can imagine how many emergency vehicles were packed onto that bridge. Sad sad day.
I live in the Seattle area and I remember how horrifying this accident was. My husband and I had thought doing one of their tours would be a fun thing to do - I'm glad we never got around to doing it.
seems incredibly slow and mind-numbing, not sure where the fun appeal is with these tours
If you lived in Seattle when this happened, this day is seared into your memory. I did wonder how the duck caused so much damage and injuries so finding out the nose of the duck went upward and inside the motor coach, answered that question. Well researched video. And, oh yeah, the aurora bridge is very sketchy to cross, always makes me real nervous.
I taught at a community college in the Seattle area at the time, and a few of my colleagues knew some of these students, who often transferred between area schools, personally. It was a shock to all of us. The Aurora Bridge's lanes are so incredibly narrow. They definitely tried to cram too many lanes into an old bridge. It's terrifying driving next to a car much bigger than my own on a normal day, and the ducks are even worse. I'm just surprised there aren't more catastrophic crashes like this one.
Narrow lanes seem dangerous, but because they seem dangerous, people slow down and it evens out. By far the real danger is having no divider between the two sides of the highway so head-on collisions can occur at high speed.
@@minimalistic_banhaus People don't slow down on the aurora bridge. Downhill vehicles are frequently traveling at 60+. People treat it like a freeway. The narrow lanes means there isn't much margin to stay away from that undivided center. Yes, the undivided center is the main problem.
Drove it the other day. A bus was in front of me and rode in the middle of two lanes with the hazards on. It’s that narrow.
Seeing the damage the front of Duck 6 did to that motorcoach is horrifying. I cant imagine that kind of terror on the road. That bus driver did everything he could to avoid that crash. RIP to those poor victims. This could have absolutely been avoided... Those duck boat tours all need to be banned.
Thank you for another great video and always paying respects to the victims. I'm glad the Seattle boats shut down at least. I went to Boston a few days ago and those boats are still operating sadly. My wife wanted to get on, but I said no and directed her to these videos.
Think of all the crash safety laws we have for vehicles yet these get a pass
its always so disgusting how companies never want to take responsibility for their accidents, even in the most oblivious cases. It just shows most corporations, whether you work for them or pay them, absolutely do NOT care about you whatsoever, even in the case of death.
OFC they don't. Corporations are a mass of people , organized over some business model, with one goal only. To make profit.. Just like our global economic system.. Profit over lives forever.
@@relight6931agree with all that you said, but just wanted to add that I think corporations are also designed so that no ONE person can be held accountable. When I think of a corporation, I think of a monster that has many heads...i.e., they're hard to defeat.
Totally agree, if your average or a billionaire Titan comes to mind. Stockton Rush at OceanGate couldn't care less about safety as well...
That’s why “you’re important and your safety matters”
@@kimmuckenfuss2284the LL in LLC stands for limited liability. Corporate structure is designed around removing personal financial accountability from those in charge of operations. The function is to eliminate responsibility. Typically for financial obligations and occurrences but also for accidents and negligence.
Thank you for sharing this tragic accident and the story behind it. We in Ottawa had a "Duck" accident as well. In 2002 there was a sinking of an amphibious tour vehicle (called the "Lady Duck") leading to 4 deaths. However, I don't think the vehicle was one of those military vehicles - I think it was a private conversion of a Ford pickup truck.
The Lady dive had a accident? I used to ride on it when I was a kid, surprised it didn’t stop the service from continuing.
Can't believe we allow floating busses on the water. There's no means of escape if the thing sinks...
@@Kishanth.JThe company designed and built a purpose built vehicle for the job, the Lady Duck incident is another case of mismanagement and is arguably worse than the DUKW incidents.
this one was local to me, I'll never forget how shocking it was. looking forward to seeing your thoughts on it.
Same. I was under the bridge when it happened. I heard the crash and saw some black smoke coming up. We put the news on at work, and it was horrific realizing what had happened
I used to work at the Subway attached to the gas station across from Black Angus Motel.
I was a mile behind the bus. I saw lots of brake lights and smoke (probably dirt and dust). I didn't know what happened and was able to exit just prior to getting on the bridge. The em0loyees at the restaurant Canlis, a block from the crash, put together for the first responders and EMTs throughout the aftermath.
Put together food
That bridge has extremely narrow lanes. Even when I’m on my motorcycle it’s quite scary how close I am to oncoming traffic.
Same! I always debate taking off my side cases when I know I have to cross it
"even on my motorcycle"
Wouldn't all situations be scarier on a motorcycle than in a regular car?
@@nthgth not necessarily. I mean I’m sure it is more dangerous statistically speaking but I mean more from a comfort level. It’s tight.
It's not a safe bridge, especially with the allowed speed
That bridge makes me nervous when I cross it. The lanes are too narrow.
Sam doesn’t mention it but this was a really gruesome accident, since the DUKW’s bow was at the height of passenger’s waists in the bus and it tore such a long gash in the bus. Like, unusually gruesome..
You can see the marks on the pavement
Its a miracle there were not more dead
It was mentioned. Still, it's horrific.
He mentions it at 12 minutes
I still very vividly remember this day. These students went to the same school as I did, and this crash happened right next to my neighborhood at the time, on a bridge I drove across at least 4 or 5 days a week. Surreal to remember and also to see one of my favorite channels talking about it.
This Accident was very devastating for me and my former Classmates. Because we were the last class of Claudia Derschmidt from 2011-2015. She was a Great Teacher, the best one i had in my whole school time. Thank you for covering the accident in your Video! 😢❤
At all times I have seen these in Seattle, the driver has been engaging in reckless driving. They drive these things like they stole them. It's a culture thing, ingrained in the company. At every single instance, I've been surprised nobody was killed.
When I was going to school near downtown Seattle, we all hated them because they would use these annoying noisemakers constantly as they creeped along the roads gawking at everyone. They were always rude and reckless.
Yep, Seattle hates these loud, obnoxious mobile tourist traps. The number of times I've been downtown and they have come by trying to get a rise out of pedestrians using various noise makers is legion. Overall they just act like entitled jerks all day, every day.
Bellair is little better, treating any long enough open spot as a commercial loading/unloading zone. Including handicapped spaces and public bus stops.
Thank you for calling out those massive trucks on the road as well! Not only hitting cars and hitting the passengers directly on but they hit pedestrians directly in the chest so there's no chance of roll over. Incredibly dangerous! Great video.
The current trend in huge pickup trucks is flat, shoulder height fronts. It's like they're doing everything short of adding spikes to make big vehicles deadly to pedestrians. They're even dangerous when parked, since pedestrians and drivers alike can't see over the hood.
@@SnakebitSTIexactly. I wish people weren’t so stupid when picking a *passenger* vehicle that they choose a huge truck. I also blame CAFE regulations for encouraging manufacturers to make large vehicles.
@@SnakebitSTIIts insane how big trucks have gotten in the last decade. So big that most of these modern mega-trucks often dwarf standard full-size trucks from 20-30 years ago. Compare any new truck today to their first generation predecessors and you'll see what I mean.
@@SnakebitSTI and don’t forget to market them as “safer” so you create an arms race of who has the biggest totally-not-an-18-wheeler car fueled by idiots your advertisement pulled in.
And thats not my problem. I like how high my truck is and how well it handles off-road with its lift. So thats all that really matters
I was on a ride the Duck tour in Seattle less than A week before this accident. This one really creeped me out after because the guide had mentioned mechanical issues with the ducks and how it was a bit hard for the company to come up with spare parts in response to a question by another passenger. Didn't really think much of it because our ride didn't have any issues and it was pretty cool to see the Kenmore Air seaplanes taking off in lake union. But I don't think I'll forget when we drove over that bridge now.
My father drove the old army Deuces as a mailman in the Korean war and could tell you that the knuckle joints always broke in that spot, I'm actually surprised that haven't known previously.
They knew, they just didn't care.
@@tiagoangelo3828 imagine if there'd be public institutions that could enforce laws protecting citizens against harm inflicted by corporations
Our investigative bodies, such as the NTSB, are great. The problem is that the better our regulatory bodies do their jobs, the less funding and power they receive.
It was even an issue in ww2 with reports written about them. With that said, it's not uncommon for military vehicles with known issues to not be remedied because the problem on average happened after their "useful" service life. Basically, "it'll get destroyed before most break this, so why make it better."
@@mipmipmipmipmip woah woah woah, let's not go crazy here.
I rode one of these amphibious vehicles with my husband at the Philly "Ride the Ducks" tour in the summer of 2015, just a few weeks after an incident where a pedestrian was fatally struck in Center City during the on-road portion of the tour. In that incident, the duck boat's blind spots and the height of the operator's seat were cited as contributing factors. We were unaware that this accident had even happened when we took our tour. It was only a year later that the Philly operations were suspended "indefinitely".
During our tour, the Delaware River was a little more choppy than usual due to some light rain and wind, and less than halfway through the on-water portion of the ride, our operator told us he was cutting the tour short and turned the boat around and quickly headed back to shore. The boat was riding low by the time we got back to the ramp and I remarked to my husband that I was able to touch the water by reaching over the side of the boat. We like thrill rides and assumed we were safe in the vehicle because of the open windows and life jackets, so at the time we just chalked it up to river conditions. I'm not sure what the true cause for that was, and I'm kind of glad I never found out! Thankfully the road portion of our tour went without incident.
We had no idea about the issues these duck boats faced in the past or at the time, and both my husband and I were horrified upon watching your first video on the duck boat that sank during rough waters in Branson, MO. The thought that "it could have been us" is terrifying.
Upon researching the history of "Ride the Ducks" in Philly, there was also an incident 5 years prior to our ride where a duck boat suffered an engine fire during the on-water portion of the tour, leaving it stranded in the Delaware River. A barge struck the duck boat, causing it to capsize and two souls - tourists from Hungary - were lost in that incident. The barge was being pushed by a tugboat who's operator was found to be on his cell phone at the time. (I would love to see a Brick Immortar analysis on that incident!)
Thank you for shining a spotlight onto these duck boat incidents. While "Ride the Ducks" brand has ceased operations, there are many tourist areas in the US that still offer duck boat tours using the original vehicles. The more people that are aware of the safety issues that these duck boats have had, the less people who will potentially tially put themselves into harm's way. Keep up the good work!
I can't, with clear conscience, watch your content and not give back just a little. The amount of research you go into and time involved in making these must be greater than a full time job! Not just that, but presenting it in a way that a layperson can understand is amazing. It's unfortunate that you have to make these videos but maybe just getting the word out will help save other lives in the future? Thank you.
Great work Brick Immortar! RIP to those young lives cut short and condolences to their families.
Amazing how long DUKWs have lasted despite only being intended for a lifespan of months. Enjoying your DUKW coverage so far.
Ironic in this current age of planned obsolescence. Today they'd build those things for $45 each and they wouldn't have made it past the war.
It probably helps that the DUKW was based on the CCKW rather than being a fully bespoke vehicle.
And this is why we say that regulations are written in blood.
But won't you think of the poor shareholders? Regulations cost them money! [sarcasm sign]
26:18 "Lifted Grocery-getting Death Machine" As someone who lives in suburban Texas, you nailed it on the head. So many of these on the streets putting so many lives in danger.
Worst part is their brights bleaching your eyes
A lot of them seem to drive like they're not driving something more likely to roll over.🤨
@@grmpEqweerlarge vans and trucks require a special license and training unless it's a modified pickup or SUV. Then it's fine.
As a fellow Texan who drives a sedan, I strongly agree with you
In Australia we call these " Urban Assault Vehicles"
Recall someone who was on scene as a first responder commented on one of your last videos in the Duck Saga explaining the carnage of the situation. Notifications on 😮
It was a whole lot of limbs maimed and severed, wasn’t it?
@@Syclone0044 something like " the front of that duck cut through that bus like a knife and the people in it too" that stuck out to me. I don't remember which duck video but he was referring to this situation . I am glad Sam covered this. Things not to do with a one time use disposable 80 year old modified military vehicle.
I'd just love to point out how immaculately researched your videos are and I loved the animation you made detailing the crash, it made it so much easier to understand the vehicle movements.
Such a sad tragedy.
I rode the Seattle ducks in probably 2010 or so. It was scary, the vehicle didn’t feel sturdy as we entered the water. My family had small boats when I grew up and these were nothing like that. I distinctly remember it flexing as we went in and I was worried about getting me and my kid out if we had a problem. My partner stayed on shore with my youngest, who was smarter than me and refused to get on.
man, these ducks have been involved in lots of accidents huh
Considering their design and how they're maintained it's honestly surprising they haven't been in more accidents.
@@SoulDevouredBarely good enough is good enough. Until it isn't.
They should be condemned and banned completely.
Hi Brick, I just wanted to let you know that I just bought a duck boat company and I want you to know you are the reason I purchased it and take safety so seriously and we are putting a lot of work into making sure we are a safe operation. Thank you again for your advice and insight.
The research and work you put into this is unlike anything I've ever seen. I've never paused a video to read stuff so many times. This is incredible.
Thank you so much for your in depth eye opening video about Ride The Ducks in Seattle. I did the tour in Seattle back in 2011. I remember the tour preceding and crossing the Aurora Bridge vividly because of what the driver said at the time, and because of an incident that occurred the following morning. Prior to crossing the bridge, the driver on our tour said, "I am gonna floor this baby. We are gonna get up to a top speed of 37mph and head to Fremont." Everyone laughed, but I always wondered if he was telling the truth about the vehicles top speed. The following morning my ex and I were driving across the Aurora Bridge heading to breakfast and came upon another Duck following the same route heading to Fremont. I noticed that it was traveling in the far right hand lane and that the driver had the hazard lights flashing. I thought at the time, oh that must be their standard safety protocol because the duck is an odd shaped vehicle and traveling slower than the flow of traffic. We honked and waved as we passed. It is frightening to learn just how hazardous the business truly was.
These things truly are dangerous
Anything not properly maintained is dangerous.
I think the DUKW was amongst first generation of amphibious vehicles. They were the very first invented and it honestly shows
More like second or third? Like many military vehicles, the DUKW was designed with the assumption that it would be operated by a multi person crew with vehicle specific training and lots of free time to perform maintenance.
WW2 history is fascinating on many levels (obviously), but many don't realize how much 'quik-n-dirty' engineering and building occurred after 1940-41.
There were amphib jeeps on both sides in the ETO a little before and around the same time these came about. VW made the German amphib jeep. Not gonna try to spell it's name
@@erikkunkle9574 Ahhh the good old Schwimmwagen
I've been on a few Boston Duck Tours in my life. Each tour had a separate driver and tour operator and the ducks driving in city traffic never exceeded 30 mph. I even got to steer it when it was in the water. I felt safe the whole time.
I remember hearing about this in 2015. I had no idea the factors that led to it, but I totally forgot how many died on that crash. Good video on the story of this.
The emergency response, triage, and incident command of this specific crash were used just three days ago in my first receivers operations refresher course.
I very much appreciate the inclusion of metric units onscreen. Thanks!
Oh my god the wheel fell off. I JOKE about that shit when I'm riding in a vehicle and I feel a tiny bump. "I bet the wheel fell off." If it's a plane, "I bet the wing fell off." Bonus points when I'm in a seat that can see the wheel/wing in question, clearly still attached.
You know why it's a joke? Because that should LITERALLY NEVER HAPPEN. These modified DUKWs are held together by masking tape and prayers. I cannot believe the fucking wheel fell off.
...That would probably be bearings. Wheel bearings make a loud humming noise when they need replacement.
Edit: OK, the housing was bad.
I know it sounds crazy a wheel coming off..& it is, but this actually happened to me. My very 1st car my Mom bought me was an old clunker. My Mom's thoughts were since it was a 1st car, that maybe I would ding it or get in an accident being a new driver...thank God she was wrong. I was driving one day & all of a sudden heard a loud grinding sound then my front left part (same location as the duck boat in this video) of my car went lower than the rest. I wasn't driving fast, so no injuries & no one else was involved. I remember being so mad @ my Mom for buying such a POS car. Oh well!
My parents were hit by a wheel that fell off another vehicle. Not super common, but maybe more common than people would think.
I appreciate the detail put into this video and the visual reconstruction. Thankful and surprised that more didn’t die, but that doesn’t excuse the loss of life that did occur.
These damn duck boats kill people who didn’t even get on them!
RTDI vehicles had the remarkable ability to kill indiscriminately on or off the water! Wow! 😮
Thank you, Sam for another thoughtful presentation of this persistent failure in our culture.
The collaboration between Brick Immortar and AttorneyTom is simply amazing!
I live in Seattle and remember when this happened. From my computer desk, I have a view over Lake Union and the Aurora Bridge. I was working one day and noticed an abnormal number of EMS driving on the bridge. Curious on what was going on, I turned on the police scanner and listened to the first responders discuss the severity of the accident. It was intense. On the highway, EMS laid out yellow and red triage tarps on the pavement and put the crash victims on a corresponding tarp based on their injuries. They were reporting about the known casualties.
LOVE the Attorney Tom collab and Ground News sponsorship!!!
we had the same in liverpool, england for years and had a few sinkings so they disbanded, after watching these videos i decided to google and found out they're actually planning to restart the duck tours here this year! seems crazy to me honestly when they have been designed from the start not to last, how can they keep pushing them!?
Thank you Brick Immortar for another excellent, thoroughly researched, and extremely well presented documentary.
Firstly, I just want to express my sadness at yet more tragic anything-for-money, screw-the-safety practices. We see so much of this, and those innocent victims should not have lost their lives to such gross stupidity and crass greed. I noticed one of the countries where the lost/injured were from is my own, and I hope the US is thinking long and hard about exactly where culpability ultimately falls here.
Sometimes something is so wrong for the job intended, the idea of trying to make it perform those tasks should be immediately shelved. As a wartime landing craft, these vehicles were a clever crossover of ideas and outside the envelope thinking. But that was EIGHTY years ago. Maybe as an exhibit in a museum, an interesting display at an antique vehicle or military history expo, they have a place. But as a paid "holiday" or "recreation" *ride* ? No. There's no safety, there's no protection, and, let's be honest, they were designed for one job, which they did admirably and that should have been that.
Nobody should have been injured that day. Nobody should have lost their lives that day. And the fact that they did? Well, we need to ask some searching questions that are bleeding for answers.
Thank you again BI for this video, and again, may those who passed find peace.
going over the structural incompatibility was super fascinating for me. 26:28 i have a friend who survived this exact kind of underride car accident and it was so, so brutal. it killed half of the passengers involved and traumatized most of the town it happened in. i wonder if the transport truck having an underride guard would have helped them at all. it's sad truck drivers don't want them, especially when the only reasons they cite are "it's unnecessary" and "we don't want to waste the money on them" instead of for any actual practical or safety reasons. these types of crashes have been known to be particularly deadly to passenger vehicles since the 1960s and yet legally nothing has been done about it. quite sad, imo.
32:50 just wanted to say that’s a really nice touch. I know many will feel the same but as someone who directly first hand knows the intricacies of those contracts and the financial implications of running it after the entire video, im certain this is a truly genuine sentiment that has an immediate impact on that investment and your bottom line. There’s no doubt this was a good decision so if anything just some self-confirmation as I’m sure you agonized on this and hats off to them for trusting you . I hope this is a huge mutually beneficial decision that’s as financially successful as it is thoughtful.
I was just thinking it’s been a while since I’ve seen an episode. And today you release another epic presentation. Well done!
The effort that goes into these kinds of videos is greatly appreciated.👍
I rode one of these in Seattle with my husband, my mother, our toddler and baby. I never even gave safety another thought because I assumed (stupid on my part) they kept up with maintenance considering how much it cost. I cannot believe I put my babies in that situation. My husband and I are just in shock at the number of violations they had. In shock.
These types of vessels are dangerous in water emergencies as well! They can quickly get swamped and it can be hard to get out, even with the screens up and out of the way. The added tops also change their bouyancy and can make them topheavy
He covers that in other videos.
I was visiting Seattle for the first time the day this happened and it can't be overstated how badly it crippled the city's infrastructure. I live in Seattle now and the whole place is held together by four bridges. If any one of them goes down the city is brought to its knees. TWO were blocked that day and Xi Jinping was in town too so everything was a mess.
The Seattle seafair pirates still roll around in one of those death traps. They have tricked it out to look like a pirate ship. I saw it at a festival the other day and it’s kind of a mood killer because you see it and all you can’t think about is all the people who’ve died on a day that was meant to be fun and memorable.
Sam, the quality of this video is incredible!
Another fantastic episode that once again reminds everyone that safety regulations are written in blood. One should always remember that every time people argue against, or worse, to repeal, regulations based on them not being needed or because the industry would be best at regulating itself. A corporation's interest will always be to just avoid liability and any costs. Without being forced to improve safety they'll only improve it as far as it makes cost sense to protect their assets. They'll spend money lobbying to make it illegal to sue them before they'll ever voluntarily take on cost to save lives in circumstances that wouldn't be every day incidents.
I've worked at North Seattle College for a while now, I had no idea that the college was where the bus that was hit had departed from. I spend most of my time there working with the international students so this was especially terrible to hear about.
Many of Seattle's roads are quite narrow, but it's generally on residential and less trafficked streets, the lanes of the Aurora Bridge are similarly narrow but you're going twice the speed you'd be normally going in such narrow lanes and it is nerve racking to drive across despite how used I am to the narrow streets of Seattle and I always try to avoid driving across it. Standing under the bridge is always awe inspiring, looking up into the web of steel beams that hold this enormous structure together.
Your videos are great. In fact I truly cannot find words to accurately describe what a great job you do on all of your videos. Very respectful, full of knowledge with loads of research. I love your channel and what you do. Love all of your videos and absolutely look forward to the next. I haven't supported anyone on patreon before and I have been watching TH-cam videos for years. But your channel deserves it and I really would like to support it. Next paycheck I'm becoming a supporter!
Yes I have been following the Duck series. Thank you for another interesting tale.
Another extremely enlightening examination of an accident with fatalities in this case caused by a duck failure. RIP to the victims.
We all knew this video was coming. Its too big NOT to bring up.
One wonders why, since they were not using the front axle as a drive axle, they didn't replace the front axle for a simple beam axle as used for steer axles on most medium and heavy trucks. Such a setup would be lighter, but more importantly safer, as it presents fewer failure points, and routine maintenance is simpler. This seems a case where lack of a minor investment in making the vehicle fit for purpose resulted in huge costs.
They might have been using the front drive axle for climbing the boat ramp onto land, those tend to be a very slippery surface. That said, those components were never intended for a 70 year lifespan. Maybe 15-20 years of peacetime use at the most.
I was in Seattle about two months before this incident occurred, my family actually considered going on the tour but I felt something off about it. I specifically remember seeing one pulling into the loading station playing Stayin Alive by the Bee Gees, curly ironic.
Amazing video as always! Keep up the good work!
Incredibly ironic!
Hurts my heart that families go out to have fun together, completely trusting these operators and companies.. only to end in tragedy. Those foreign nationals so excited to visit the US, going on a tour of the city.. ugh 💔💔💔💔
We rode the Ducks (may have been under a different name back then) in Salt Lake City back in 1970 or 71 and had a blast. It was a fun and interesting tour, that we would recommend.
An easy solution to all this would be to have a new fleet of "Ducks" built to modern standards. Heavier suspensions, yet overall lighter vehicles. Both more Seaworthy and Land worthy. Retractable modern crash worthy bumper system that recesses back into the hull design when the craft is in the water. A gas or diesel engine for road and water use, with a redundant electric back up motor for use in the gas/diesel engine failed while the Duck was offshore, being a Duck. You could even incorporate a folding swim platform into the stern for added fun on some tours.
If you really wanted to get fancy, you could make them from a catamaran design with a protected glass section between the hulls for a glass bottom boat effect.
One of the best investigative presentations I've seen. You have honored those innocent Souls. These ugly duckling, death traps, don't belong to anywhere in public roads.
Im going to avoid these like the plague. Love your videos, your voice and cadence is awesome while being respectful for the material that you cover. Always love when your videos come out.
I've always been interested in these converted DUCKWs after the sinking of one in Liverpool back in 2013 I find these DUCKW videos very interesting to me they've allways seemed dangerous thank you for sharing the problems with these boats
Seems to me, beyond all the other issues, the fact that the driver was required to be a captain, a tour guide and a "safety officer" plus whatever incidental duties speaks volumes about the company, financially and operationally.
Thank you for another excellent risk management video…. You are part of the solution of not normalizing negligence by increasing awareness and education of the general public in addition to those who make decisions in regulatory bodies and industry. Thank you sir.
Thank you for these videos. You are a fantastic narrator and I enjoy watching these videos in my down time at work. Keep on creating great content!
Here in BC Canada CV's have to undergo a through inspection every 6 months. They have to measure all the brake components wear and check steering and bearing tolerances and inspect the chassis for rust, broken springs, fatigue cracks and about 200 other things.
Seems to me like the 5 mechanics at RTD were all pretty complacent in their jobs. None really into having an expanded knowledge of the specialty vehicles they're working on. Not trying to learn about the variants or the originals.
Those knuckle front axles are something that should have been paid attention to by one of those 5 mechanics. It's a single failure point. And it's clearly been patched over already. Unlike a balljoint or kingpin setup you only have one thing holding that hub onto the rig. They should have changed over to a typical big-rig kingpin setup when they went two wheel drive.
It's crazy to me that there has been no change whatsoever to this bridge since the accident. A median barrier would have saved everyone's lives, and is the biggest reason why I never go on this bridge.
Man, it needs to be 'Duck Season' on these water coffins. Thanks BI 👍🇦🇺👍
The most underrated channel out there
I was reading a Wikipedia article about the WW2 base at Iuthi atoll and this comment in there (after the war) about using a DUKW between the islands made me think of your videos.
The station was moved from Potangeras to Falalop Island in 1952. According to an August 1950 "HQ Party Inspection" memo, the move was predicated on the distance between Falalop and Potangeras, requiring a "four hour DUKW [amphibious transport] ride...". The memo goes on to state "...the use of DUKW is dangerous and will eventually lead to disaster. In addition considerable maintenance is required to keep the DUKW in an operating condition".[33]
I grew up on one of the houseboats under Aurora bridge and my family watched this entire event unfold. There are no words to describe what happened and living under that terrifying bridge is one big reason that I’m now an EMT.
I only heard about the incident with Stretch Duck 6 from one of my legal firm's press releases. The fact that it occurred in my home state (Washington) just shows how far the negligence of the Ride the Ducks touring company spread before being shut down (save for Guam).
Another well researched and brilliant video. Very good work, sir.
When I was a kid, every year the company in Brea California named Chiksan would put on a company picnic in the hills above Brea. There was always a Duck vehicle there. The Duck would let the kids pile in for a fun ride on the dirt roads around the hills. It was a blast. Of course, if I think about it, It was the 1950’s. So I guess the Duck was only ten or fifteen years old at the time.
I live in seattle and i remeber when this happened. It was a big deal and its what brought me to this channel seeing you do videos on the other disasters with them. I have been excitingly waiting for this video.
I wouldn't know about ANY of these if I didn't watch your videos.
So, thank you. ❤
Hope everyone's day is going well ❤
Criminal negligence calls for criminal liability in my opinion.
I’ve been on a completely stock ww2 duck, we only drove around a large parking lot as there is not a lot of water in Vegas but I clearly remember seeing all the little tags the military puts on everything and one was not to exceed 30mph. The driver explained that it was easier then to just limit speed rather than make an amphibious vehicle safe for higher speeds, besides most were only expected to make one landing and take so much damage in the process to be beyond economical repair.
Unless a manufacturer builds a purpose built tour vehicle that can meet or exceed US DOT and Coast safety regulations. Along with proper crew training and maintenance. These types of vehicles need to be banned in the US. Thanks for your through coverage of this and these types of incidents. Your doing a great service by informing the public.
Boy are you thorough! And your voice is mesmerizing! ❤💯
Hey Sam! Love the videos. I thing the SEACOR Power capsizing would be a great topic for you to cover. Tragic but very interesting. Keep up the great work!
Goddammit. It's almost as if people are incentivised to prioritise money over human life... One of the issues with capatalism is that it encourages our fallibility for greed over safety & empathy. As someone with severe chronic pain (not caused by trauma but a worldwide shortage of a birth control pill in 2020), these health issues can be utterly catastrophic for your mental & physical health. You start to long for death when you're in constant, agonising pain, and these accidents (like drug shortages where there are tens of generic suppliers - but apparently no govt interest in women's health!) are so avoidable. All that pain and suffering just for someones wallet to get fatter. Grotesque. The fines should be enormous and there should almost always be jail time, for whomever chose money over life.
I hope you get a medication that works. That's awful. Sympathies.
Strangely, I don't see much regard for life in non-capitalist economic systems either.
I live near Seattle and remember this day pretty well. Such a terrible, terrible tragedy.
Very Well Made!! Glad to see your uploads
This is like Defunctland for architecture. Love the work!
Were these assigned to ships during the war? At 3:27 the duck pictured bears the name "Groote Beer", which was a ship that was later converted into an immigrant vessel and carried many people to their new homes in North America - including my mother's family in 1953. What a surprise to see this!
Thank you for this content. Although I never go near the water and will never go near a boat or any water vehicle/vessel I do appreciate these reports. I fly for a career so there’s a lot of crossover from maritime to aviation, especially when it comes to faulty maintenance and negligence.
The whole vehicle mismatched size thing I witnessed first hand myself. Saw a kid roughly 3 years younger than me pass away when he was hit by the front axle of a lifted truck. I didn't know he passed until I approached his car to see if he was alright and it was sickening to see. That has stuck with me ever since