4 year old died on Mission Space today?

[Lewisc]

You are wrong, it does not contradict any statement I made.
... Not ETC's safety testing, not any recognized authority's safety testing, Disney's own safety testing.

If the ride is unsafe, Disney and Disney alone is the reason it's unsafe.

Actually the quote you posted said:

as well as reviews by leading independent experts

I have no idea if Disney is at fault but it's clear your quote contradicts your statements.

 

[Walt's Frozen Head]

"Reviewed by" absolutely does not mean "responsibility assumed by."

 

[raidermatt]

Again, anything is possible, but M:S just doesn't seem to be a lethal ride to me.

We have to remember that we are dealing with an EXTREMELY small tolerance for error here. If it really did have a 1:8 million death ratio*, it isn't going to seem lethal to many people.

Yet that ratio, as good as it would be in many other circumstances, would not be acceptable either to Disney or the general public for a single attraction in a Disney park.

As YoHo said, anecdotal evidence isn't going to prove the point here, no matter what the real cause was.


*I really don't meant that to sound so cruel. I just can't think of a more succinct, yet less jarring, way to say it.

 

[Lil_Tink]

My hope goes out to the family.. But why was a four year old on that.. We couldn't even drag my mom on it!

So remeber..Watch your kids.. "During the ride, the boy's mother noticed that Daudi's body was rigid and that his legs were stretched straight out. She told detectives that she thought the ride was frightening him so she took his hand to reassure him. "


I dont recall but didnt they say not to do this?

 

[Lil_Tink]

I agree with the ratio... My future high school is 'cursed' as some say as every year like 2 people die of the same reason..

Out of the about 50mil people that visit dis a year, one died which is a pretty good ratio.. Still I hope the family is ok.. but I think a four year old shouldnt have been riding this. I think they should raise the hieght to 48.

 

[Lil_Tink]

I sympathy goes for this family too. Not only have they lost a child at such a tender age, it was when they should have been having the time of their life.
I truly feel for them. The mother will be eaten with grief and guilt for the rest of her life. When any loved one dies people often feel guilty at some level, right or wrong. And this will be tremendous, I would think.
Unless there was a previous health issue, I do not see how this ride could have caused death. It is not something that anyone could fall or be pulled from. It is not jarring.
Yes, riders spin, but really you don't even realize it. I think I could only tell due to the feeling of my facial skin pulling back.
M:S can be an intense ride, somewhat because of all the Warnings in signs and announcements right up to boarding. Atmosphere can really hype people up. I see it all the time on ToT. Newbies get themselves all worked up before and during the ride. I know I did too, until I rode it the first time.
I can't say I would take someone that young on M:S. But if I did, not in my wildest dreams would I anticiapte anything more than dizziness (as if spinning on a teacup ride) or upset stomach.
That is one thing is so upsetting -- who would have thought this could happen to someone so young? We would not be as surprised if it had been an adult with a history of health issues.

Personally I think (as other do) he had a pre-exsitent issue. Maybe he got scared by the internsity of the ride and triggered off a asthma or something

 

[Lil_Tink]

About the Gravitron.. When i was little about 6 I almost went on it. not knowing what it was.. Glad I didnt

 

[Lil_Tink]

Personally, I believe this poor little child must have had some pre-existing condition. The whole thing is tragic.


From today's NY Post:

June 15, 2005 -- The 4-year old son of a United Nations finance officer died on a chilling Walt Disney World ride that simulates a rocket launch and has a history of sending thrill-seekers to the hospital.
Daudi Bamuwamye, who was with his mother and 8-year-old sister at Epcot Center, seemed OK when he boarded the "Mission: Space" ride on Monday.

But as the ride continued, "he grew rigid and his legs were extended," according to police.

His mother, Agnes, thought the youngster was scared because of the gravity-defying ef- fects, so she clutched his hand.

But when the ride ended, he had stopped breathing.

His panicked mother ran off the ride holding her lifeless son and Epcot employees frantically attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but to no avail. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

During an eight-month period in 2003-04, six people over age 55 were taken to hospitals for chest pain and nausea after riding "Mission: Space." No one had any serious problems.

At that time, it was the most hospital visits for a single ride since Florida's major theme parks agreed in 2001 to report such problems to the state.

Motion sickness is common, and barf bags are stowed in each compartment on the ride.

The ride was closed after the tragedy but reopened yesterday morning, said a Disney spokeswoman.

The boy's heartbroken mother said, "We would like to thank all those in the Orlando area, as well as those back home for their outpouring of concern, prayer and support."

She said the family, which has homes in Secaucus, N.J., and Bucks County, Pa., was struggling "with this heartbreaking and devastating loss."

His father, Moses Bamuwamye, works in Manhattan on the International Advisory and Monitoring Board for Iraq dealing with economic issues.

He was not on vacation with his wife and kids, according to U.N. co-worker Teklay Afeworki.

"He's a very nice gentleman," said Afeworki of the Ugandan native. "He's definitely devoted to his family."

Afeworki had met the dead boy once.

"It's very difficult for me to talk about," he said.

Officials said the boy met the 44-inch height requirement for the ride and his mother said he had no history of medical problems.

Sheri Blanton, a spokeswoman at the medical examiner's office in Florida, said trauma did not cause the death, but more tests are needed to figure out exactly what did.

The $100 million ride, Disney's most technologically advanced attraction, is a simulator that uses spinning centrifugal force to create the sensation of a rocket launch.

Additional reporting by Heidi Singer


http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/48426.htm

This is really sad to think about as when I was about 8 and my brother 4 we went to DW wihtout our dad to...

 

[airlarry!]

Nothing I have read anywhere suggests that Disney hired any 'independent safety experts.'

In fact, my reading of this thing is that Disney did all of the final testing and safety analysis in house, except for a perfunctory check-and-report by a professional engineer---hardly what I would call a industry-leading "independent safety experts."

 

[YoHo]

That is, Allegedly according to Discovery on ETC's lawsuit yes?

And I believe if you check this document

http://www.themeit.com/thea2004/crmissn.pdf
which appears to be comprehensive, you will find absolutly nobody listed as an outside safety consultant.

 

[airlarry!]

That's fair. Let's agree that at least publically, there is no evidence of any cadre of independent safety consultants. As I noted in my response to you in the Gomez topic, Disney hired one professional engineer to check the ride right before opening, who wrote up a report based upon Disney's own internal safety analysis and testing, and turned it in to the Dept of Agriculture.

(Which would be fodder for any late night comedian. The same government agency that makes sure the satsuma crop isn't beetle infested is in charge of safety oversight for a $150 trillion dollar Gravitron 2.1).

I googled her name, and came up with a bunch of different hits. She could have been one of a number of different engineers. There was even one who worked on a NASA project concerning weightlessness....I wonder....

 

[Bandman3X]

I've been following this thread and similar threads elsewhere and something is really starting to bother me. Is anyone else getting the impression that some posters are really hoping an investigation shows that Disney ( actually ME ) was negligiant in the manner in which it tested M:S ?

 

[DancingBear]

I think it's more like, IF Disney was negligent, they should get nailed and make appropriate changes--a position I heartily agree with, although I fall on the side that, at this point, thinks Disney was probably not negligent.

 

[mitros]

I think a lot of folks out there blame Ei$ner {after 1991 or so,} for Disney's overall ills and problems. And a lot of it is valid, although I can see this thread suddenley changing direction to Ei$ner bashing. Not that there's anything wrong with that ! {To quote Jerry Sinefeld}

 

[airlarry!]

I for one don't want to see Disney get nailed. At the same time, and it may be nothing more than sheer coincidence, the confluence of the questionably lack of maintenance in California, focus on thrill rides, marketing, cutbacks in WDI, debate over the type of ride this is, and the lawsuit all raise more than a few eyebrows.

What self-respecting fan of the company and its ideal of The Happiest Place on Earth wouldn't question and dig?

I want to know that Disney took every reasonable precaution before opening this attraction to guarantee the safety of its intended riders. That has nothing to do with blaming Disney or ETC or the poor victim's health. This unfortunate incident is just a place to jump off and re-examine the whole M:S debate, but now with a little hind-sight instead of predictions.

 

[YoHo]

Exactly, This isn't as new topic of discussion by anymeans. There is just new information to be digested now. I have no desire to see Disney's name besmirched ...... If they didn't do anything wrong. If they did do something wrong, I want the book thrown at them. I mean, I like Disney, but that doesn't excuse them in anyway in my mind.


I'm predisposed based on what I know about this company under Michael Eisner and what has been implied or hinted at, that it's very possible that they made 1 or many mistakes here that will haunt them.

 

[WDSearcher]

I'm predisposed based on what I know about this company under Michael Eisner and what has been implied or hinted at, that it's very possible that they made 1 or many mistakes here that will haunt them.

I don't understand this. I mean, your total dislike of ME aside, eight million people have ridden the ride. There is no indication that the ride was responsible for this boy's death. And yet, you're there, thinking that maybe Disney made a big mistake that will haunt them, but this wouldn't have happened if anyone in the world other than Eisner was in charge?

Come on.

Let's try to remember that ME didn't build the ride, nor did did he inspect it or clear it. There are a lot of people who signed off on that ride -- inspectors, Imagineers, safety experts, contractors, consultants, etc. They're the people who are pacing back and forth wondering if they missed something. They're the people who put their reputations on the line when they said, "Yup ... safe to ride." By saying that maybe Disney "made 1 or more mistakes that are going to haunt them," you think you're saying that about ME. But you're really saying that about those other guys. And even though you have a lot of info on ME and what he's done wrong and why he's evil, you don't even know the names of the other guys. But you're basically saying that since Eisner is so evil, they'd all be willing to cut corners and make something unsafe just because the evil overlord karma has somehow rubbed off.

You may not give Eisner any points at all for integrity, but I don't think it's fair to imply the same about the other guys.

 

[YoHo]

You've completely missed the point of my post and I have to wonder if it was willful.

Of course there are others that could have been in charge and could have had the same thing happen. But others WEREN'T in Charge Eisner was. It's Eisner's Disney company we're talking about here and the expectations I have of his company.

If a similar situation happened under somebody elses stewardship, then I would be equally concerned about what role managment played. I may not be predisposed to suspect something, but I would be equally demanding of answers. Why you think the issue center's on Eisner hatred is beyond me. Eisner is the FACT. How I would react If Joe Blow were CEO is a fiction.

 

[airlarry!]

Well, certain people at ETC did seem to think Mr. Ei$ner had something to do with it, Miss WDSearcher. Allegedly.







(My apologies.)

 

[WDSearcher]

Well, certain people at ETC did seem to think Mr. Ei$ner had something to do with it, Mr. WDSearcher. Allegedly.

It's Miss WDSearcher, actually.