Mayor Nutter Discusses Impact of 'Ducks' Accident

by KYW's Mike Dunn

As authorities continue their investigation into Wednesday's accident on the Delaware River,  Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter talks about the lasting impact the incident will have on the city and those involved.

Will this Duck Boat accident prompt a decline in Philadelphia tourism this summer?  Mayor Nutter thinks not.

Philadelphia's image as a tourist destination -- particularly during the key summer months -- is one that Mayor Nutter does not take lightly:

"We're concerned about image nationally and internationally every day, about anything that might happen."

Yet even though the Duck boat accident garnered international press coverage, Nutter is confident that tourists won't stay away:

"Most adults recognize that sometimes accidents do happen, whether it's a ship on the water, a plane in the sky, whether it's a car driving down the street."

Tourism officials say 36-million visitors come to the region each year, one third in the summer months.

'Shocked' but 'grateful' is how Mayor Nutter (at center in photo above) describes the Duck boat passengers who were pulled safely from the water after the harrowing accident.

The victims pulled safely from the water were taken to the Seaport Museum, other than those taken to hospitals.  And Mayor Nutter says he met with each individually. They were -- to his surprise -- upbeat, including one youngster:

"I talked to a young boy who said this was his first boating accident, being thrown in the water, as only kids can say. I suggested to him that we'd like it to be his last."

Nutter will eventually have to contend with questions of liability, because the barge that rammed the boat was city owned. Those issues, he said, are not going to go away and need to be addressed.

(file photo by KYW's Mike DeNardo)