Captain back in court for 2018 fatal Duck Boat accident at Branson

Three men charged in the death of 17 people in 2018's fatal Duck Boat accident at Table Rock Lake will appear in court this week.

Captain Kenneth Scott McKee and two supervisors, Curtis Lanham and Charles Baltzell, are scheduled for preliminary hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In April, original charges against the three men were dropped by Stone County Judge Alan Blankenship. He ruled the unique characteristics of the boat led to it rapidly sinking. Later that month, the Missouri Attorney General refiled criminal charges.

In 2019, a federal grand jury indicted the three men on charges of criminal misconduct and negligence. The indictment portrayed a disregard for the storm, but the defense argued the lake was calm when the tour began. The boat was no match for the rare derecho, defense attorneys argued.

The federal charges were dismissed when a federal judge ruled that the Justice Department did not have jurisdiction over the case.

Captain McKee faces 17 involuntary manslaughter charges and 12 endangering the welfare of a child-death of a child charges. Lanham and Baltzell each face 17 involuntary manslaughter charges.

In July 2018, a Stretch Duck 7 duck boat with 31 people on board capsized and sank in stormy weather on Table Rock Lake.

The duck boat sank under high waves while winds around the area reached up to 70 miles per hour that day.

Investigators say Ride the Ducks had plenty of warning about the severe weather, but the boat still launched more than 20 minutes after a thunderstorm warning was issued for Table Rock Lake.

Sixteen passengers, including nine from the same family and one crew member driving the boat, drowned that night, leading to one of the deadliest boating accidents in United States history.



(AP Photo Charlie Reidel)