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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.

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 sjames on Thursday July 26 2018, @07:37PM

    by sjames (2882) on Thursday July 26 2018, @07:37PM (#713327) Journal

    The duck boats are much safer that Therac-25 based on the number of "riders" vs. number of deaths or serious injuries. It's even worse for the Therac if you compare serious injuries or deaths while in normal operation. Duck boats don't normally operate in storms with 80 MPH winds.

    That's not to say there can't be improvements, there can always be improvements.

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