King County jury awards $123 million to victims of Ride the Ducks crash

Karen Koehler, left, attorney for the plaintiffs, reacts as the verdict is read in King County Superior Court on Thursday. (Ellen M. Banner / The Seattle Times)

By Christine Clarridge
February 7, 2019

A King County jury on Thursday awarded about $123 million to the victims and their families in the 2015 Ride the Ducks crash that killed five people and injured more than 60 others.

The jury determined after a four-month civil trial that Ride the Ducks International — the Branson, Missouri-based manufacturer of the Duck amphibious vehicle — bore 67 to 70 percent of the responsibility for the crash. The jury also found that Ride the Ducks of Seattle, which operated the tour vehicle, was 30 to 33 percent at fault.

Awards to each of the 40 plaintiffs will range from $40,000 to $25 million.

The Superior Court jury determined that two others named in the suit, the city of Seattle and the state of Washington, were not at fault in the crash, which happened when the World War II-era duck vehicle crossed the centerline of Seattle’s Aurora Bridge and plowed into a charter bus full of international students on Sept. 24, 2015.