For the second time
in less than seven months, Disneyland’s Big Thunder Mountain Railroad attraction
was the site of another accident this past weekend.
Unlike the previous
accident that caused a death and multiple injuries, however, no guests were riding
the attraction when the trains were damaged.
“During a reset operation
Saturday night, without any guests present, one train ran into the back of another,”
said Disneyland Resort spokesman Bob Tucker, in an interview with MousePlanet.
“Both trains were damaged. No guests were injured because this procedure
is only performed at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad when guests are not riding
the attraction.”
According to a report by the state Division of Occupational
Safety and Health (DOSH) released yesterday, the collision was caused specifically
by operator error.
The incident began when the roller coaster ride shut
down suddenly—known as an “E-stop” (emergency stop)—at about
8:40 Saturday night because of a problem with the station gates on the loading
platform. Ride operators cleared the station and evacuated passengers from those
trains stopped on the tracks.
After all visitors were cleared from the area,
cast members began the reset procedure of releasing the trains one at a time from
where they were stopped on the tracks to cycle the trains back into the station.
As train #3 went over lift C, it collided with train #5, which was stopped in
the brake zone at the base of the lift.
According to the DOSH report, “The
tower cast member did not verify the position of train #5 that was occupying brake
zone #4 prior to giving the clear to start lift C with train #3 occupying the
lift.”
The report concluded that the tower cast member did not follow
proper procedure to prevent such an accident, and also found that the lead cast
member did not fully perform her duties as the lead in overseeing the resetting
procedures.
The three-page report, released yesterday by the state Division of Occupational
Safety and Health, blames cast member error for last weekend’s accident at Disneyland’s
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad attraction. Click on the pages to view them in their
full size.
Since no injuries resulted from the collision, it was not required
that Disney report the incident to DOSH. At this time, it is unclear whether park
officials reported the incident voluntarily or whether DOSH learned of it solely
through a third-party complaint.
DOSH inspected the ride on Monday and yesterday,
and issued a Notice to Correct requiring Disney to retrain the two cast members
in the proper procedures for evacuating and resetting the attraction from an E-stop,
and to prevent those cast members from operating the attraction until they had
been retrained.
“[We] reviewed our operating procedures,” said
Tucker. “Some were not followed, and we retrained accordingly.” The
DOSH report also notes that the cast members were retrained.
Big Thunder
Mountain reopened Sunday with two trains, and a third train was added to the attraction
on Tuesday morning. “We hope to add the fourth soon,” Tucker said.
Last
September, an accident on Big Thunder Mountain killed 22-year-old Marcello Torres
and injured 10 other riders. The ride was closed for six months after the accident,
and reopened on March 10 after passing a safety inspection in time for the busy
spring break period.
