Disney Acknowledges Fault in BTMRR Accident

[DisneyKidds]

How big do you think the settlement will be?

Disney Takes Blame on Ride Upkeep
It acknowledges faulty work on coaster that claimed the life of a Gardena man, but denies a broader problem. State due to issue its report.

By Kimi Yoshino
LA Times Staff Writer

November 26, 2003

As the state prepares to release its report on the cause of September's fatal crash on Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the attorney for the victim's family said his experts have determined that faulty maintenance was to blame and questioned whether it was part of a larger safety problem at the Anaheim amusement park.

Disneyland officials acknowledged late Tuesday that required tasks on the ride were not completed, but they issued strong statements denying broader maintenance flaws.

"Our own analysis found that the accident was caused by incorrectly performed maintenance tasks required by Disneyland policy and procedures that resulted in a mechanical failure," said Leslie Goodman, senior vice president of strategic communications for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.

"At no time have we ever done anything which we believe would compromise the level of safety required for the safe operation of our attractions."

Disneyland did not specify what safeguards were in place to ensure that workers followed maintenance procedures and if those safeguards also failed. Park officials declined to comment further until the report from the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health was released.

The crash occurred Sept. 5 when a wheel assembly on the roller coaster fell off, causing the locomotive to separate from the passenger cars, in turn causing a partial derailment. Marcelo Torres, 22, of Gardena died at the scene; 10 others were injured.

After the crash, employees told Anaheim police that they noticed an unusual clanking sound on the train in question at least 30 minutes before the accident and were getting ready to take it out of service.

Other sources have said that maintenance had been called to look at the ride days beforehand.

After the accident on the coaster, which simulates a runaway mine train, many former employees complained that Disneyland had serious maintenance problems stemming from budget cuts and a department reorganization in the late 1990s. That contention was echoed by Santa Ana lawyer Wylie Aitken, who represents Torres' family.

Aitken said his experts believed that bolts holding an "upstop" wheel — a wheel that travels below the track and helps keep the train from jumping out — were not tightened. In addition, a safety mechanism that would have kept the bolts in place was not used, he said.

"We're pretty comfortable that when that train left the station, that upstop had already fallen off," he said. "That vehicle was already on a mission to fail."

The problem, he said, is similar to Disneyland's last ride-related fatality, in 1998, when an iron cleat broke off the Columbia sailing ship and struck a Washington state man.

"To me, it's a systemic problem with the corporate culture that is now running Disneyland," said Aitken, who also represented the wife of the victim of the Columbia accident.

But Disney official Goodman said: "Our long-standing commitment to safety remains the same. Anyone who suggests otherwise is simply wrong…. We believe that our maintenance system incorporates the best modern management practices and safety procedures. We constantly evaluate and explore new ways to improve our operations."

 

[crusader]

How big do you think the settlement will be?

Unfathomable.

The cost to Disney goes way beyond this settlement.

 

[DisneyKidds]

The cost to Disney goes way beyond this settlement.

That's what I like...............debate right from the first post . Does it really? If yes, how so? Do you think people are going to decide not to go to Disney parks because of this? I'm still figuing out my position on those questions...................but I do think it is more likely than not that if Disney settles quickly it won't be all that long (a year......two.........) before this incident becomes a somewhat distant memory. I could be very wrong though............................

 

[cindyfan]

The cost to Disney goes way beyond this settlement

Interesting thought! But the way this whole thing reads.....
Even though Disney is liable, it is the fault of the maintainance crew. So They can pull themselves out of this in many ways....
Making sure there are a few "fall guys" to start....meaning that Disney will fire anyone on that crew, making them the guilty parties.
And then go on to state their policies and procedures are in place and up to standard and code, bla bla.....

Like it reads.......

Our own analysis found that the accident was caused by incorrectly performed maintenance tasks required by Disneyland policy and procedures that resulted in a mechanical failure,"

Yep....they have a fall guy. And IMHO.....it will blow over without that much effect on business.

ps.....I better add that I am not trying to be callous or insensitive to the family...my heart truely goes out to them.......But it wasn't intentional. Someone just wasn't doing their job and a horrible accident occured because of it. And, yes, Disney will most likely make changes to their follow up procedures to make sure it doesn't happen again.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Someone just wasn't doing their job and a horrible accident occured because of it.

I do think that things will subside quicker if the police do not reopen the case and there are no charges of criminal negligence or the like.

 

[DancingBear]

It's a big admission by Disney that their people were at fault; however, from the company's statement it seems clear that they are looking to establish that this was not a systemic problem, and therefore minimize claims for punitive damages which could astronomically increase the amount at issue. Plaintiff's counsel, of course, is claiming this is a systemic issue.

 

[crusader]

When this first occurred, I was afraid this would be the result of a breakdown in controls.

The reality of this is what I fear to be one of the most critical areas at issue.

Everytime I see the BTMRR what will I be thinking? It will inevitably be a painful reminder of the tragic loss of one of our lives due to a company failure.

No doubt this will ease over time. But it will take a tremendous amount of effort on the part of Disney to assure the customer that the safety standards are impeccable. There would have to be a significant investment within this organization to implement a zero tolerance policy which can be relied upon.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Plaintiff's counsel, of course, is claiming this is a systemic issue.

If they are going to be successful in proving the systemic maintenance issue, thereby holding the company and not just the maintenance crew responsible, I think they are going to have to come up with more than the Columbia incident in 1998.

That assumes that this thing sees the inside of a courtroom. I don't think it will. Disney would be foolish to let this linger in the courts and the media.

 

[cindyfan]

It will inevitably be a painful reminder of the tragic loss of one of our lives due to a company failure.

No doubt this will ease over time. But it will take a tremendous amount of effort on the part of Disney to assure the customer that the safety standards are impeccable.

No offense, but do you feel that strong every time you see a Ford Explorer?
Even with all that.....the Explorer is still the best selling SUV.

IMHO.....Disney will come out of this pretty much untouched. They will implement some kind of follow up procedure to make sure all of the employees are following procedure and policy.

 

[HB2K]

I think Crusader hit the nail on the head here. The cost to Disney is going to be HUGE...and as wisely noted it will not just be a monetary setback.

Just the fact that Disney is releasing this admission BEFORE OSHA's report is released speaks volumes to me...quite frankly I can't wait to see what kind of horror show the report is going to show....

As for whether this was intentional or not, of course Disney did not intentionally cause the failure...but their policies did, even if by accident. If the lawyer for this victim's family gets this to court, he'll trot out every former cast member who's been quoted by the plethora of news articles and probably even more. He can simply ask each one of them how many fatal accidents occured with no fault to the rider BEFORE this new system was put in place...

That fact alone speaks volumes...

This is going to be messy...very messy.

 

[crusader]

cindyfan -

Yes I do feel that strongly. Ford is responsible for the Pinto.

I for one have never forgotton.

http://www.fordpinto.com/blowup.htm

As for the customer continuing to patronize a corporation for a flawed product all I can say is:

The tobacco industry has been profiting from this behavior for decades.

Do we really wish our beloved Disney to be justifiably placed in the same category as this?

 

[daannzzz]

This morning I read a report from this link posted on Laughingplace.com. The report has been pulled. It was quite an interesting read and essentially showed a problem with understanding by the maintenance crew about a Green and yellow tag system for attraction vehicals as well as a policy where each person didn't sign off on their own work. Others would sign off on work done sometimes without intspecting it.
The bolts for the upstop wheel where not tightened to specs and a safety wire for the bolts was not put back on.

http://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/thundermountainaccident.html

 

[KNWVIKING]

I'll be thinking "Back row,please".

Seriously though, when BTBRR reopens it will be the safest ride in North America. For that matter, all the rides will be safer because DL will do whatever it takes to prevent this from happening again. It's a tragic wakeup call for DL.

 

[HB2K]

It's a tragic wakeup call for DL.

I sure hope so since it looks like they hit the snooze button after the Space alarm went off...

 

[crusader]

Seriously though, when BTBRR reopens it will be the safest ride in North America.

No doubt. But honestly, will we brave the front seat?

Disney caused this fear. Disney now has to reinstate our confidence in the safety of their attractions.

Particularly their Vekoma coasters.

Can I trust the safety of E:E? Is the company incorporating the same prototype?

 

[bretsyboo]

It is fascinating to me that they are only blaming maintenance. Look there are 4 avenues of blame:

1.cutbacks in maintenance
2.maintenance
3.cutbacks in CM training
4.BTM CM's

We've all heard and length about the evils of cutting back in maintenance, and I won't argue that because I fully agree with that, but:

If you work maintenance your number one job is safety, there is no excuse for this. Even if you are the only one who works there and you make 2 dollars an hour, etc. If you don't like it, quit, and make Disney scramble for someone else...when safety is a concern you must not be lazy, I would think the quality of the rides would be a point of pride for these people.

Training was cut back, CM's are still trained to hear the clicking sound right away, but it's not emphasised nearly as much as it was.

The CM's are trained...when that clicking sound comes, you E-stop as soon as possible. Reports are it clicked for 30-45 minutes while CM's discussed what to do. Pitiful, pathetic, they were scared to shut it down. Why they were scared needs to be examined. Better safe than sorry should be the motto, but I know plenty of people who are only about the numbers rather than the show.

Cutbacks can't be the full blamce, maintenance workers and the cm's are trained to do their jobs, and in this case neither did it. If they didn't because of pressure from their managers, then they should be blamed as well. Plenty of things had to go wrong for this to happen, and they all did...and I think it can easily happen again because I can say that at the points I know of for WDW at least, nothing has been changed in the training or maintenance areas.

What could be interesting to see is if the settlement is more money than disney saved doing all of these cutbacks...I for one think it will be by a considerable margin.

Then of course, they'll have to cut something else back to make up that money...

Then something else horrible will happen...

Well, it will keep us on these message boards.

 

[raidermatt]

Well, at least we can get past the "stuff happens" position, as everyone can agree the system failed in some way.

There's going to be a certain amount of negative fallout for Disney. The only question is how much.

The State's report will be interesting. If they chalk it up to an isolated incident, then I don't believe the fallout will be overwhelming.

If, however, the State says there is a systematic problem, or even hints that there might be, Disney could have a pretty big issue. Not the kind that will turn DL into a ghost town, but a big problem nonetheless.

Beyond that, the question isn't just how many people will stay away because of this one incident. Its what does it do to Disney's rep, and specifically, to DL's. Two deaths in 5 years because of a failure by Disney (either the company or its employees) is just not acceptable, and I think most people would agree.

So while this one incident will not in and of itself keep people away in droves, its possible that it will have an impact by being one of many things doing damage to Disney's rep.

 

[raidermatt]

Seriously though, when BTBRR reopens it will be the safest ride in North America. For that matter, all the rides will be safer because DL will do whatever it takes to prevent this from happening again. It's a tragic wakeup call for DL.

Why didn't the Columbia death wake them up? Why didn't the near disaster on Space Mountain wake them up?

I'm sure they will address the specific problem, but I'm not convinced that the CULTURE will change, as alluded to in bretsy's post.

I'll agree that there is no excuse for somebody not doing their job, but at the same time, we have to consider two things:

1- Its possible that its not a simple case of a maintenance worker not doing their job. That's the best case scenario at this point, but its possible Disney is trying to admit a little upfront because its better than the alternative.

2- There are supposed to be procedures in place to ensure things are being done, and that one person can't cause a death because they didn't get enough sleep the night before.

The CM's are trained...when that clicking sound comes, you E-stop as soon as possible. Reports are it clicked for 30-45 minutes while CM's discussed what to do. Pitiful, pathetic, they were scared to shut it down. Why they were scared needs to be examined. Better safe than sorry should be the motto, but I know plenty of people who are only about the numbers rather than the show.

To take it a step further, this isn't even about numbers over the show. We know that thinking has creeped in, and we constantly debate why and how much. But, even in Walt's day, safety was listed above Show. If CMs are hesitant to make decisions like this, or maintenance workers don't have time to finish their work, or aren't qualified/motivated, or verification procedures have been removed due to cost, or anything else along those lines, it goes WAY beyond Mickey Head Butter and Chicken Fingers.

 

[hopemax]

It looks like someone has mirrored the DOSH report.

http://www.mpimages.net/dlr/compressed/Disneyland/Frontierland/ThunderAccident/thundermountainaccidentreport.pdf

 

[DisneyKidds]

Thanks Hope..............interesting read. I'm not quite sure it would support a conclusion of systemic maintenance cutbacks which led to the accident. Rather, while the maintenenace staff was reduced, it was the conclusion of the investigator and staff that the level of maintenance staff provided at BTMRR was adequate.

Clearly there was a lack of understanding of propoer procedure, both on the part of ride operators and outside machinists/maintenance personnel. That could be the result of reduced training I suppose.............but it could also be due to inattentive employees.

It is a shame that if proper procedure had been followed the fatality quite possibly could have been avoided.