Friday, July 09, 2004
Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain Crashes, Again
From the Los Angeles Times via the Sun Sentinel:
A 10-year-old boy and his parents suffered minor back and neck injuries late Thursday afternoon after two trains collided on Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad — the second crash on the ride in three months.
The roller coaster, which simulates a runaway mine train, had only recently reopened after a state investigation into a Sept. 5 crash that killed a 22-year-old Gardena man and injured 10 others.
"We had a bump of two coasters on Big Thunder," Disneyland spokesman Bob Tucker said Thursday. "They were coming in at the loading station at a slow speed."
The boy and his parents — described by an Anaheim Fire Department spokeswoman as a 44-year-old woman and 42-year-old man visiting from Canada — were taken to Western Medical Center-Anaheim for treatment.
The roller coaster was shut down, "in an abundance of caution," Tucker said.
The accident was reported to state investigators as required by law.
Tucker said he did not know what caused the accident, which occurred about 5:15 p.m.
In the fatal crash, two bolts on a guide-wheel assembly fell off, causing the locomotive to separate and partially derail.
Disneyland admitted that incorrectly performed maintenance led to mechanical failure on the ride.
The same findings were made by investigators from the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, the state agency that regulates amusement parks.
The state ordered Disneyland to retrain maintenance workers, managers and ride operators, and gave the park the approval to reopen the attraction in March.
But a month later, two unoccupied trains crashed during a routine "reset" operation.
After that minor incident, the state again ordered Disneyland to retrain workers.
Sure, the first accident was caused by the old Disneyland management style of running rides until they fail. But this is the third accident on the same ride in less than a year (one fatal) all under the new leadership. How long can we keep blaiming Paul Pressler for what is going on now?
