5th crash victim dies; NTSB says Duck vehicle did not receive recommended safety fix

SEATTLE A 20-year-old woman died on Sunday of injuries suffered in Thursday’s crash on the Aurora Bridge, the fifth victim of the collision between a Ride the Ducks tour vehicle and a charter bus.

The woman, identified as a student at North Seattle College, died on Sunday at Harborview Medical Center, a spokeswoman for the hospital said. All five victims were students attending the college.

Also on Sunday, a federal investigator said the Duck vehicle involved in the crash didn’t receive a safety fix recommended by the company that refurbishes the amphibious tour vehicles.

National Transportation Safety Board member Earl Weener on Sunday said Ride the Ducks International found a potentially dangerous failure point in the vehicle’s axle housing in 2013 and recommended a fix in a notice to companies that use the vehicles.

The duck involved in Thursday’s crash didn’t receive that fix, Weener said at a news conference on Sunday. It’s unclear whether the Seattle Ride the Ducks business received the warning.

The Duck involved in the crash, identified by the Coast Guard as Duck No. 6, was built in 1945 and last refurbished in 2005, Weener said.

Weener on Saturday had said the vehicle’s left-front axle was “sheared off,” in the crash, which killed four people when the Duck veered into oncoming traffic and hit a charter bus.

The NTSB hadn’t determined what caused the axle failure, or whether it contributed to the crash. But the information lines up with witness reports that the Duck seemed to have a mechanical problem just before the crash.

NTSB investigators have interviewed 11 passengers, as well as paramedics and other first responders. They plan this week to interview the driver of both the Duck and the charter bus, which was operated by Bellair Charters & Airporter, Weener said.

Ride the Ducks Seattle has provided the NTSB with maintenance and training records, among other documents, and has been cooperating with the investigation, Weener said.

Federal investigators will remain on site for the next three to five days, Weener said. The investigation into the cause of the accident will likely take a year.

(This report contains information from The Seattle Times archives.)

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