Inquirer Editorial: Still a quacky idea

The duck boats are back on the Delaware River, but not all the concerns about the tourist attractions' safety have been washed out to sea.

A fatal accident last July killed two Hungarian tourists near Penn's Landing. But the city and the Coast Guard gave their blessings for the excursions to resume Wednesday. To get that approval, Ride the Ducks' operators have implemented several new safety features, including a rescue boat stationed at the boat ramp below the Ben Franklin Bridge.

But the National Transportation Safety Board has yet to issue its final report on the causes of the accident. It would have been better to await those findings before plunging back into the water.

A preliminary NTSB report in March indicated the fatal accident occurred when a tug-boat pilot using his cell phone didn't hear the urgent warnings from the captain of the disabled tour boat. The tug pushed a city-owned barge into the path of the Ride the Ducks craft, capsizing it.

Even if the NTSB finds the tugboat operators were to blame for the accident, there are unresolved concerns about the duck vehicle's design and the use of life vests on the tours.

The tour vehicles have a fixed canopy overhead - a roof over the passengers that contains the life vests. But the canopy can trap passengers if the vehicle sinks, as happened in a 1999 accident that killed 13 people in Arkansas in a boat owned by a different operator. In the Penn's Landing accident, several passengers said the roof temporarily trapped them underwater.

A canopy that retracts when the vehicle enters the water would alleviate this danger, but operators have said such a design isn't practical. Robert Mongeluzzi, the attorney for the families of the victims of last year's accident, points out that the auto industry has been making convertibles for decades. Why not a boat with a retractable roof?

The Coast Guard's role in this story is open to question, too. A previous Coast Guard commander in Philadelphia wouldn't allow Ride the Ducks to operate on the Delaware, citing inherent risks. Why are the excursions now considered safe, especially in light of the fatal accident?

When the Coast Guard lifted the ban on tours in 2003, it required Ride the Ducks to put an extra crew member on board for safety. Ride the Ducks opposed that requirement and appealed it before relenting.

City officials tried to move the ride to the Schuylkill last year, obviously believing it was a safer environment than the Delaware. So why did they relent?

Ride the Ducks has taken many steps to lessen the chances of another tragedy. The route on water is shorter and closer to shore. The vehicles are equipped with multiple warning systems to alert other vessels of a problem. But important questions remain about whether these vehicles should be on the Delaware at all.