Sad, Sad Day in Branson

Yes, it is sad. What is sadder that if you watched the local weather forecasts at 6AM yesterday morning, you would have learned that a storm was going to enter MO. later in the day, from the NW.
The weather news (on KY3), later in the afternoon stated 80 mph winds about 50 miles NW of Springfield. Yet two hours later there are still vessels out on the open water near Branson?
A very sad day in the Ozarks indeed.

Absolutely terrible news. Thanks to all the First Responders and other heroes who took action to save who they could, despite the extreme danger.

As a commercial pilot who has the very serious responsibility to evaluate the weather and forecasts prior to every flight and make a go/no go decision, I wonder what the weather evaluation protocol is for the Duck Boat tour operator. Hindsight is always 20/20, but looking at the radar and forecast data from the hours leading up to the accident is pretty ugly for a small boat - and the much larger Branson Belle deciding to remain at dock for weather concerns is quite telling, too.

RIP for all of the victims who didn't survive, and many thanks to the heroes who bravely helped save the victims who did.

OzarkDetector said:

Yes, it is sad. What is sadder that if you watched the local weather forecasts at 6AM yesterday morning, you would have learned that a storm was going to enter MO. later in the day, from the NW.
The weather news (on KY3), later in the afternoon stated 80 mph winds about 50 miles NW of Springfield. Yet two hours later there are still vessels out on the open water near Branson?
A very sad day in the Ozarks indeed.

Click to expand...

I'm afraid I have to agree. Even the president of the company has already admitted in interviews that the duck boats shouldn't have been out. I know storms can move quickly, but this one didn't really "appear out of nowhere" like some people have said in some of the reports. It might seem that way to the average person sitting around the lake who doesn't have reason to closely track the weather, but anyone with a responsibility for passengers on a commercial boat could see the danger developing from this storm hours ahead of time. It didn't form directly over the lake in minutes, it rolled in from the NW over the course of hours. Marshall Shepherd, a past president of the American Meteorological Society wrote that the “tragedy was completely preventable. This is not 1901. We have satellites, advanced radars, good weather models - all short-term weather information showed that storm approaching well before the boat was on the water.” Pretty much sums it up - that storm only snuck up on someone who wasn't paying attention.

Sad, but totally unavoidable.

Sad and I feel for the folks who lost loved ones.

I watched the weather for Missouri the day before.
No way a boat full of people should have been out in small boat.

Just like today, we in Tn have the same forecast as they did in Missouri yesterday.

So no I won’t be boating this afternoon.

Always better to be safe than sorry.
Some times forecasts predicting bad weather don’t hold up.

During pga golf events, notice they watch weather conditions via radar, etc. and take action with warnings, game suspensions when needed.

I am positive the lawsuits will sure be filed.
Again my condolences to the folks who perished and families who lost loved ones.

This happened nearly 20 years ago in a similar duck like boat in Arkansas on a clear day when a pump failed. these boats don't float without constantly pumping out water and have a sealed canopy top like a school bus. If you don't get out before the windows get below the water line you get pinned to the roof with no way out. Even more pinned if you have life vest on. 13 of 21 died then and yet we are still using these things with sealed canopy tops. That's sad.

They crash on land, they sink in the water and safety maintenance, driving them safely and decisions on whether they should go into the water during less than optimal weather conditions are all made by humans.
I wouldn't ride on one of these things if you paid me...ever!

It could have been worse, there was a second boat that was struggling but that one managed to make it to safety.

So sad about those that lost their lives and their families but this tragedy was totally avoidable with common sense.
Too bad there was none used in this instance.

Absolutely terrible news.

An hour before it hit I told my wife that in about 45 minutes we should shut up the chicken coop and bring in the dogs. I was able to guess the time pretty damn close with my phone, someone really messed up big time. It did come out of nowhere, in that it went from 0 to 60 faster than my car can and went from a nice day to a terrible storm in seconds, but anybody with a phone or that watched the 5oclock news knew it was coming.