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Echoes of Thunder

April 7, 2004 by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix

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.

Author

  • Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix
    Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix

    View all posts

Filed Under: Disneyland

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