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Duck Boat in Missouri Disaster was Designed by Entrepreneur With no Engineering Training

posted by martyb on Thursday July 26 2018, @08:01AM   Printer-friendly
from the if-it-walks-like-a-duck,-sinks-like-a-duck,-oh,-wait... dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

The Los Angeles Times reports:

The duck boat that sank in a Missouri lake last week, killing 17 people, was built based on a design by a self-taught entrepreneur who had no engineering training, according to court records reviewed by the Los Angeles Times.

The designer, entrepreneur Robert McDowell, completed only two years of college and had no background, training or certification in mechanics when he came up with the design for "stretch" duck boats more than two decades ago, according to a lawsuit filed over a roadway disaster in Seattle involving a similar duck boat in 2015.

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  • (Score: 2) by mobydisk on Thursday July 26 2018, @12:53PM (3 children)

    by mobydisk (5472) on Thursday July 26 2018, @12:53PM (#713059)

    Both Wikipedia and the LA times article say they are military surplus. So why are they crediting some random guy as the "designer." Did this person design the logo? Or come-up with the idea of them being tour boats?

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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by Immerman on Thursday July 26 2018, @01:54PM (1 child)

    by Immerman (3985) on Thursday July 26 2018, @01:54PM (#713084)

    Read more carefully - these were modified "stretch" duck boats whose hull had been lengthened to carry more passengers, as well as having a canopy added to trap passengers inside if it capsized.

    • (Score: 2) by mobydisk on Thursday July 26 2018, @03:21PM

      by mobydisk (5472) on Thursday July 26 2018, @03:21PM (#713159)

      Yes, you are right. It is quite clear from the article that these are different boats.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 26 2018, @02:31PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 26 2018, @02:31PM (#713111)

    I'm assuming this line in the summary is why:

    he came up with the design for "stretch" duck boats