(CNN) A wrongful death lawsuit seeking $100 million in damages has been filed against the operator of a duck boat that sank on a lake near Branson, Missouri, killing 17 passengers.

When the Ride the Ducks Branson amphibious vessel started sinking July 19, the canopy entrapped the passengers and dragged them to the bottom of the lake, lawyer Robert Mongeluzzi said Monday at a news conference.

The passengers might have survived if the Branson operators had not ignored a 2002 National Transportation Safety Board recommendation that all duck boat canopies should be removed, he said.

"They made a conscious, intentional decision not to remove the canopies and the only reason I can surmise is money and profit," he said.

The Ride the Ducks Branson amphibious vessel had 31 people on board when it left the shore July 19 on Table Rock Lake as a severe thunderstorm whipped up intense winds and waves. The boat capsized and sank, killing 17 people, aged 1 to 76, including nine members of the Coleman family.

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