Let The Lawsuits Begin...

Well, it's been just under three months since the Duck boat accident and the captain of the "Ride The Duck" tour boat has sued the city of Philadelphia and K-Sea Transportation Partners of East Brunswick, NJ. K-Sea operated the tugboat that pushed a huge city barge into his vessel, leaving two Hungarian tourists dead. Gary Fox, 59 years old, said in his lawsuit that he may not recover from injuries suffered in the crash on July 7, 2010 or be able to return to work. Fox said he feared he was going to die while trapped underwater with his passengers in the Delaware River and blames the crash on the defendants' negligence and carelessness. According to his lawsuite, he suffered injuries to his back, head, neck, arms, and legs.

The parents of the two Hungarian tourists who were killed have also sued the city of Philadelphia and K-Sea Transportation Partners, which the city hired to push its sludge barge up and down the Delaware River. Fox worked for "Ride the Ducks", a company based in Norcross, GA and operates the land-and-water tour boats in several cities in the United States. Fox said his 33-foot boat was stalled in the river's busy shipping channel when the 250-foot barge struck it. The crash sent Fox, his deckhand, and all 35 passengers aboard the tour boat into the water, where he and others were literally trapped under the huge barge.

A recent preliminary report by the National Transportation and Safety Board found that Fox's distress calls to the tugboat went unanswered. Fox said his air horn didn't work because he had to shut down the electrical system after seeing smoke, and there was no lookout on the approaching barge. The lawsuit, filed in city court by lawyer Robert Slota, states... "Although other vessels heard Duck Boat 34's radio calls, the tugboat did not respond to Captain Fox's radio transmissions and did not change its course." Fox has flashbacks of watching his passengers struggle to escape from under the hull, his lawyer said. "He can still see the faces of the victims and hear their screams," Slota said.

The city of Philadelphia had no comment on the pending litigation. K-Sea also had no immediate response. Drug and alcohol tests on the crews of both vessels were negative, the NTSB said. The mate piloting the tugboat has declined to answer investigators' questions, citing his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. His lawyer, Frank DeSimone, said he is concerned that criminal charges could be filed by federal prosecutors.

The two Hungarians who drowned were Dora Schwendtner, 16 years old, and Szabolcs Prem, 20 years old. On July 10, 2010, friends silently and solemnly dropped white roses into the Delaware River in memory of the two students who drowned after the Duck boat capsized. City officials, religious leaders, and Hungarian diplomats joined the group of grieving Hungarian exchange students at a special memorial service held in Philadelphia. Mayor Michael Nutter apologized to the survivors on behalf of his city. Bela Szombati, the Hungarian ambassador to the United States, said "The loss of a young life, of two young lives, is almost impossible to understand and almost impossible to accept. We stand with you, we stand with the children, the young people." At the end of the ceremony, wreaths and flowers were dropped into the river and a pair of doves were released.

Both bodies of the two Hungarian students were recovered from the river and identified based on their personal effects, said Jeff Moran, spokesman for the Philadelphia medical examiner's office. The two crewmembers and 33 other passengers on the Duck boat were rescued from the river. Eleven of the survivors were Hungarian students. Two Hungarian teachers and seven Americans who were touring with them also survived.

The NTSB sent a team of 10 investigators to Philadelphia to piece together how the crash occurred. They say the duck boat's captain shut off the engine and dropped its anchor after smoke billowed from the vessel. The boat was stopped in the water for 5 to 10 minutes before the barge, being pushed by a tugboat, struck it. The Duck boat capsized within seconds. Some immediate questions right after the incident occurred included: Whether the tugboat crew heard the distress calls that the duck boat crew says it made and why an air horn on the smaller vessel apparently failed?

So, when these cases go to trial, stay tuned for the answers to these and other questions... unless, of course, they are resolved with out-of-court settlements. Unfortunately, no matter what the outcome, nothing will bring back the two lives that were lost and I hope the captain of the Duck boat realizes how truly blessed he is to be one of the survivors.