ST. LOUIS — Video and audio recordings from a fatal tourist boat accident in Missouri show that the lake went from calm to deadly dangerous in minutes, the National Transportation Safety Board said.
The NTSB cited preliminary findings gathered from the video recorder camera system salvaged by divers after the duck boat sank July 19 at Table Rock Lake near Branson. Seventeen of the 31 people on board died, including nine family members from Indianapolis.
The material was examined at a lab in Washington, but the agency has not yet analyzed the findings and no conclusions about the cause of the accident, one of the nation’s worst maritime accidents in recent decades, can be drawn.
The findings, though, paint a chilling picture of the minutes before the boat went under.
The captain and driver boarded the vessel at 6:27 p.m. The excursion begins on land at a terminal in Branson.
Normally, the vessel tours the popular country music and entertainment community first before going to the lake for about a 20-minute boat ride. The driver drives the vehicle on land, and the captain takes over on the water.
But the video recordings show that at 6:28 p.m., someone briefly stepped onto the rear of the vehicle and told the crew to take the water portion of the tour first. A minute later, with passengers boarding, the captain made a reference to looking at the weather radar prior to the trip.
The National Weather Service had issued a warning for severe thunderstorms and high winds in the area about 30 minutes before the boat entered the water.
The vessel arrived at the lake a few minutes before 7 p.m. and the captain briefed passengers on the location of emergency exits and life jackets, then demonstrated use of life jackets and pointed out the location of life rings.
The vessel entered the water around 6:55 p.m. at a time when the water appeared calm, NTSB officials said Friday. In fact, over the next five minutes the captain allowed four different children to sit in the driver’s seat.
But suddenly just after 7 p.m., whitecaps rapidly appeared on the water and winds increased, the NTSB said. The captain returned to the driver’s seat.
The driver lowered plastic side curtains and at 7:01 p.m. the captain made a comment about the storm.
At 7:03 p.m. the captain made a call on a handheld radio but the content was unintelligible. A minute later, an electronic tone associated with the bilge alarm activated, until about a minute later when the captain reached down and the alarm stopped.
The captain made another call on a handheld radio at 7:05 but the content was again unintelligible.
Over the next couple of minutes, water splashed inside the passenger compartment.
At 7:07 p.m. an electronic tone associated with the bilge alarm activated again.
Ripley Entertainment, the owner of Ride the Ducks of Branson, declined to comment about the video.
Steve Paul, owner of Test Drive Technologies, said the private inspection company that examined 24 duck boats for Ripley Entertainment in August, including the one that sank. Paul said that when the bilge alarm went off, it would be a sign that, ‘‘There’s a significant amount of water in the hull.’’
The Coleman family of Indiana, which lost nine relatives when the tourist boat sank, said goodbye to the last five of those loved ones Saturday. Hundreds of mourners, including Governor Eric Holcomb, attended the service.
The service at Eastern Star Church in Indianapolis honored 70-year-old Horace Coleman; his 69-year-old wife, Belinda Coleman; 76-year-old Ervin Coleman; 45-year-old Angela Coleman; and her 2-year-old son, Maxwell Coleman.
Eleven members of the Coleman family were aboard the duck boat when it sank. Tia Coleman and her 13-year-old nephew were the family’s only survivors.
A funeral was held Friday for Tia Coleman’s husband and three children, 40-year-old Glenn Coleman, 9-year-old Reece, 7-year-old Evan, and 1-year-old Arya.
