Duck crashes into Bus in Seattle

[Lee Bradley]

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/seattle-bus-crash-2-confirmed-195109957.html

Looks like the left front axle broke and the duck made a hard left turn into the bus.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/seattle-bus-collides-duck-tour-killing-2-officials-say-n433156

[robertglines1]

A 16 passenger van Here in SW ind --carrying 24 people flipped= 1 dead all the rest in area hospitals.  Something sound wrong here? wooden benches and wooden back bumper.

[Nusa]

Clearly the high prow hit the bus above the frame, which is why the bus is torn open the way it is.

The duck is sturdier than I expected. From the pictures, I'd guess it'll be worth repairing when the investigation is over.

[Iceni John]

I've been in the DUKWs at Boston  -  they're definitely sturdy and robust!   Between a 1940s wartime military design and a current tour bus, it's hardly surprising what happened.

John

[Zephod]

Reading the news there the usual ban it brigades around. It just looks to me that the driver was distracted. Reading further, I gather the driver does the tour guiding etc as well as driving. Could have the answer there. A vehicle that's hard to handle and a distracted driver.

Sent from my Nexus 7

[bobofthenorth]

The report I read said he lost the left front wheel while making a lane change to the left. That points to maintenance to me.  With a vehicle that is regularly submerged in brackish water what could possibly go wrong?  I smell a big lawsuit and my guess is if you haven't already had your duck ride you may already be too late.

[Boomer]

The Duck operator's life as he formally knew it is now over.  70 year old vehicle that was never intended to operated this way, salt water immersion for years, and no parts availability = this outcome.

[Zephod]

Hang on, parts are available though the vehicle was admittedly only designed for six months operation during ww2

Sent from my Nexus 7

[moosemanusa]

I actually know quite a bit about these units.. even driven one..

The parts are a pain, in fact a lot of the parts have been salvaged from the English channel.. there's over 2000 DUKW's at the bottom of the sea and divers have been picking the parts for years..

The only problem is the salt water with the metal, I once saw a drive shaft that had corroded from the inside first..

Very study vehicles, great engineering!

[Jeremy]

There was a Dukw 'scandal' here a couple of years ago after one sank whilst full of passengers. I forget the details (whether anyone died) but it was national news for a short time. The company operated several of them and ironically the Queen had been for a ride in one some time before (dunno whether it was the same one that sank).

I've no-doubt that they were sturdily built, but on the other hand they where only ever intended to be disposable vehicles for carrying disposable people, and on the face of it it's quite hard to imagine how the licencing authorities could consider them to be satisfactory vehicles for fare-paying passenger use 60 years later. Shame though, 'cos they're cool.

Jeremy

[Zephod]

My gripe is that the use that dukws are put to is beyond their design specifications. I hate that they're not owned, loved and used AS historical vehicles

Sent from my Nexus 7

[moosemanusa]

They've had a few "scandles"

1st problem was the glass windows, once sank, the passengers were unable to break the glass due to the pressure difference.. So all the owner/operators changed the design to plastic roll up windows that go up prior to water launch.

2nd problem, the bilge only worked when under heavy RPM.. so when one had a problem, was taking on water, the driver let go of the gas, the pump stopped and enough water flooded inside to cut the motor.

I once had to help recover one that was stuck turning to port only, the river in question was pretty gross as well.

[bobofthenorth]

Its always astonished me that these vehicles could be registered for public transport.  We once tied up at a marina on the north end of Lake Union where they enter and leave the water.  Seeing them up close 2 or 3 times a day as they chugged by us on the water convinced me that I didn't need to pay to ride on one. 

[Boomer]

NTSB has both vehicles in a warehouse inspecting them.  Today's news shows a pic of the left front hub broken off (they called it the axle).  I imagine this was the cause.  Also said there was strange red fluid splattered on wheel wells but that may have been atf from the coaches power steering.  Expect drastic new regs on these vehicles.  On another note, my father served in combat with the 10th Mountain Div. in Italy.  Lots of experience with ducks.  The Italians are trying to raise one from Lake Garda that sank fast with all aboard, it's 100% intact but the human remains are an issue.

[Zephod]

I'm amazed nobody has built a modern edition given their popularity. It surely can't be hard!

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