The lawsuit says the boat operators violated the company's own policies by putting the boat into the water despite the weather warnings. The lawsuit cites an August 2017 report from private inspector Steve Paul , who looked at two dozen of the duck boats. The 2000 recommendation from The NTSB was issued after a duck boat sank May 1, 1999, on Lake Hamilton in Arkansas, killing 13 people. It also alleges McDowell designed and developed the stretch duck boats, including the Stretch Duck O7 that sank, despite having no engineering training. Maxwell was identified by authorities as Maxwell Coleman after the boat sank.

Source: Fox News July 30, 2018 15:22 UTC