HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (KTHV) - National Park Duck Tours resumed trips around Hot Springs and Lake Hamilton less than 12 hours after an amphibious tour boat capsized on Table Rock Lake outside Branson, MO.
Owner Stacy Roberts has endured pressures from other mishaps involving the so-called "duck boats" in other places. He stresses that his fleet is different.
"My boats are original from World War II," Roberts said. "I can't speak to other companies policies, but I know they are using vessels that are higher from the water and the road, and that's been a problem in other accidents."
Roberts says his family has never had a serious mishap on the water in 25 years of running tours in Hot Springs. He showed off his two-way radio and says his drivers are instructed to follow weather apps on their phones to be alert for any severe weather.
"We have nine safety ramps we can get to on the Lake," he said, adding drivers can get off the water within three minutes if a storm rolls in quickly. "If it's dark as the driver gets set to go in or if they have any questions, they get me on the radio and we look at the radar "
Roberts said weather forced the cancelation of two tours last week. He's dismayed by what happened in Branson and couldn't sleep after hearing about the incident. But his safety record over 25 years prompted him to go ahead with business Friday.
The first public tour went into Lake Hamilton at the Willow Beach Motel ramp around 10 AM carrying a full complement of 25 passengers. Three duck boats followed a few minutes later, carrying a student group from the Pine Bluff School District.
“All of the parents were fine,” said Zach Lewis, director of the Freedom Schools program. “They trust with their scholars because they know that we do our best at Freedom schools to look out for the safety of all of their children, so they were quite excited to go today.”
Six members of the Storm Family from Dallas went ahead with their plans to ride the boats Friday despite the news from Missouri. “It's a really unique circumstance in that the weather was really terrible,” said Caroline Storm, who rode with her toddler who had insisted ever since seeing the cartoon duck on the side of the boat when they arrived in town. “If it had been raining this morning there would have been trepidation, but it's great weather.”
National Park Duck Tours is the lone operator left in Hot Springs. Competitors gradually went out of business in the wake of a deadly sinking on Lake Hamilton in 1999 that left 13 people dead. The incident prompted changes in how life jackets are stored and Roberts says all the boats in his company were retrofitted to avoid the equipment problem that sank the boat 19 years earlier.