Accident at DL

[tmq2766]

Just heard on the radio that there was an accident at DL on BTMR and that several people are injured and at least 1 critical...... What the heck??????

 

[jwfla422]

My mom just told me that she heard on the radio that it derailed!!

 

[Buschfan]

Found this on the wire

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- A locomotive broke loose from a train on Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad attraction Friday, injuring at least 11 people, police said.

Additional information wasn't immediately available, police Sgt. Rick Martinez said.

The roller coaster accident occurred at 11:20 a.m., Disneyland spokeswoman Ruthy Flores said.

Television helicopters showed a triage unit set up near the ride and one person being wheeled to an ambulance on a stretcher.

 

[jwfla422]

I'll have to put on CNN and find out details, that's pretty scary!! Hey, Buschfan-are you guys getting soaked up there???

 

[BCVOwner2002]

Oh my goodness! I hope everyone is okay!! Annmarie

 

[Buschfan]

Nothing on CNN yet. Hope that is a good sign that it is not a major accident. Rain is just now cranking up jwfla422.

 

[FloridaCat]

Rain starting in the Volusia area. Very dark and angry clouds.

 

[mom2of2]

Just heard, 11 injured that was all they said, more at 5pm

 

[tmq2766]

The radio station in Chicago just reported that 1 person has died.

 

[zurgswife]

Here is a link

http://www.nbc4.tv/news/2459380/detail.html


abc news just confirmed that the injured man did die...very very sad story...

 

[wahaha1]

Feeling bad... Sad thing shouldn't happen in Disney....

 

[drgnfly30]

Just came through on our East Coast news, one man died & at least 10 others injured. That is my youngests favorite ride... how sad
Christine

 

[FloridaCat]

Local 5:00 PM news, Orlando. WDW confirmed that one man has died in the DL Thunder Mountain accident. WDW Thunder Mountain is closed for scheduled rehab

 

[DisneyDude10171]

I don't want to sound heartless, but for the individual who died, are they reporting him/her as dying in Disneyland (or Anaheim, what-have-you) or at a hospital. I recall hearing that Disney tries to avoid if at all possible being recorded as the place of death. Does anyone know?

 

[roymccoy]

Our thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families.

I think that the "massive cut" years under Paul Pressler need to be part of this investigation. Time after time rides were just rehabed (painted and touched up) instead of the major overhaul's that should have been done. Now, unfortunately, we're seeing the end result of not spending money on the infrastructure. (If it ends up that this had anything to do with maintenence.) Disney has only been spending money if it helps to raise attendance. (ie new rides, shows and food carts) Money being spent on existing rides to just make sure that they will last awhile wasn't spent, IMHO.

Space Mountain is having to be rebuilt because of safety concerns. The submarine ride can't even come back because it's too far gone to salvage. The Fantasyland Carousel had to be rebuilt because of years of neglect. Now, BTR is probably going to have to have some sort of overhaul. Disney, PLEASE spend money on the existing rides NOW, instead of having to either shut them down or spend a ton more money rebuilding them later. Please don't risk our lives with your cost cutting. We want you to make a buck, but not at our safety's expense.

Again, my whole-hearted condolences to the families and victims and especially to the family of the guest that passed away.

Roy

 

[WDWguru]

The latest AP story says that the accident happened in a tunnel portion of the ride, that the man died there and that they were keeping his body there during the initial investigation.

It sounds like it had to be on one of the pull chains when the car is going up? Those are the only places I remember a tunnel, aside from the quick one with the banked turn. It makes more sense to me that damage could happen if the engine came loose from the cars while trying to pull them uphill.

 

[dsnylndmom]

There has been constant updates on the mouseplanet site, including pictures of the surrounding areas that are shut down.

From there I got there will be a new conference at 4pm.

 

[Buschfan]

This ride was built by Vekoma who also built the Rock N Roller coaster at MGM of a different design. There are other versions of this mine ride in Six Flags Belgium and Phantasialand in Germany . I would hope that these mine train rides would be checked out at the other parks also as a precaution.

I really doubt it happened on an uphill portion WDWguru. There are anti-rollback ratchets on all coasters that prevent trains from going backwards on lift hills. That is why the trains make that clicking noise on the way up. I have to believe that any derailment happened elsewhere.

 

[BCVOwner2002]

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those injured in this tragic accident. Annmarie

 

[Geoff_M]

I recall hearing that Disney tries to avoid if at all possible being recorded as the place of death.

This is a bit of a red herring. There's anecdotal evidence of this, but some of it is determined by state regulation. In Florida (I realize this accident was at DL), EMTs are required by law to continue life saving efforts, once begun, until a hospital is reached even if the patient is obviously a goner.

The initial reports on the accident today indicated that the man was in critical condition. If true it would make sense that they'd want to transport him to an ER as quickly as possible for obvious reasons, and would not related to the fear of upsetting guests or to avoid bad PR.

Update: I just read the latest report. It stated that the deceased was in the first car and he had to be freed from the car by the paramedics.

http://www.snopes.com/disney/parks/declare.htm