Kentucky Kingdom ride operator says she couldn't reach emergency stop

In response to Pagoda:

A couple elements come into play there:
1. She heard something unusual, but failed to stop the ride from dropping because she wasn't near her e-stop.
2. The dropping resulted in the girl's injuries.

So yes, had the ride op been watching, the outcome might very well have been the same (because we don't know if the broken cable was visible), but the unusal sound should have been enough to alert the ride operator to press the E-Stop. Either way, she was not in a position to do so, which could possibly indicate the operating guidelines set by the park are to blame as well.

I work as a ride operator at a Six Flags park, and we have to be within arms reach of an e-stop at all times. Regardless of if the e-stop would have helped, I sure bet that ride operator wishes she had been able to press it... to save this little girl from this tragedy.

I believe there is no way Six Flags can win this case. In all honesty, I believe they should sell the park and use part of the proceeds to honor the law suit, and use the rest to pay back debt owed.

Six Flags is deep in debt and the stock is plummeting. Selling SFKK may help save the rest of the company.

IMHO.

Why would you sell off one of the few parks in the chain that actually operates "in the black" just to use that money to satisfy the law suit? That's what the park has insurance for isn't it?

Humm, Lets see, (Not knocking the young lady operating here)

Understaffed, Lack of training and IMHO if the E stop isn't the easiest button to push, Bad design. Why would she have to yell for someone else to do it unless she wasn't in her possition? I just don't get it.

Chuck

"too much responsibility"

I was in a leadership position when I was 16, working for six flags...I never had enough responsibility.

This honestly, does not surprise me to hear, from a typical 16 year old ride operator.

Why would you sell off one of the few parks in the chain that actually operates "in the black" just to use that money to satisfy the law suit? That's what the park has insurance for isn't it?

Even if it was operating in the black, earnings fell 46% for the company and attendance was swayed by 600,000 after the accident at that park. It is becoming clear maintenance was shotty and operations was lacking.

At a time when the company is fighting for its validity, it can not afford to have a negative asset. Six Flags can get out of this park now and show the rest of the parks it is serious about safety.... put up or get out.

Also insurance premiums will now go up for the company, something they can not afford right now. Unacceptable.

*** This post was edited by coasterghost 1/16/2008 2:07:35 AM ****** This post was edited by coasterghost 1/16/2008 2:09:16 AM ****** This post was edited by coasterghost 1/16/2008 2:10:21 AM ***

So you sell the park, then your left with the still gaping hole in attendance , 46% loss in earnings, PLUS your positive sales park resulting in another negative. In this case the negatives are not adding up to make a positive.
Nobody is denying that the maintenance is the issue but the general public are pretty forgiving when it comes to this kind of thing as long as the park does right by the "victim". In this case the company will probably end up paying a settlement to the girl and they are removing the ride.

I've been to Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom as a guest several times, including last year and I'd like to clear up a few things.

1.) The park doesn't seem understaffed. Every ride seems to have someone in the proper place, and they've actually increased ride attendants sometime between 2004 and 2006.

2.) No ride at the park has ever felt unsafe to me, nor have I ever heard of any one else that has felt in dangered. And anytime a ride was down, the maintenance people where there swiftly.

3.) It was actually a huge shock locally, being that the park has had such a wonderful safety record, ever since it opened in the early 80s when I was a kid. I can only recall 2 major incidents. The indoor roller coaster they had, and Vampire. Vampire got stuck upside down, but to attest to the park's safety everyone was fine when it happened, and it did a few times before they got rid of it. I don't think it was an isolated incident though, a buddy of mine went up to the new england area and was told one of their rides was actually the Vampire and that the ride had been several places and the problem still re-occurred.

4.) As far as the people being trained goes, I've never had a problem with them. They have "leaders" of some sort on a group of like 3 rides (I talked to one of them one day), and he or she watches over everyone, and makes sure they're doing their jobs correctly. One of them was up at Greezed Lightening while we were riding, and he was making sure they were tugging up on the restraints properly as a "check" to make sure they were locked properly, which is something I've never seen outside of Kentucky Kingdom, and made me feel pretty safe. This occurred before the incident, by the way.

5.) Prior to 2006 I met their old manager who didn't really impress me that much, but in 2006 I met the park manager who was extremely nice. We had gotten to walk in the parade with our kids and got to meet him. Very personable guy, and he seemed very on top of things. He was great with kids, but I saw him in the park one day with who I think was his wife and kid in the kiddie area, which was comforting, but I could be wrong.

Don't get me wrong here, I really feel for everyone involved with the incident, and what happened. But I just can't throw this park under the bus after what I've experienced there as a kid, and with my own family. I really think everyone forgot about the kids that work at this place, who have to deal with what happened, even thought it's not their fault.

I'm also really concerned about the ride operator, and what he has to be dealing with after all that's happened. I've ridden Superman before, and the attendants really can't go anywhere while the ride is in operation. They basically stand behind a panel near the entrance, and in a cubby near the exit until the ride stops. I would assume the e-stop is on that control panel, and in that situation did the e-stop just "seem" far away? Plus, they have those canopy's over the area next to the ride, because punk kids throw change and stuff off the ride, so could he have really seen what was going on in time to stop it?

I don't know, this situation is a lot more complicated than we all think.

Cardcoaster since you are in Loiusville, haven't you heard about the lack of maintenance at the park from the maintenance managers deposition? He said they only inspect their rides 2-3 times a week. Industry has set standards at daily inspections. Don't think I'd be taking my family there again. Also, doesn't seem like any of the managers are on top of their game, ride op too far from E-stop? Sounds like great training. Sounds like you have some ties to the park, because last time I was the it looked like a dump, overgrown with grass needing a paint job desprately and rude ass people.*** This post was edited by Raphael 2/28/2008 10:55:26 AM ****** This post was edited by Raphael 2/28/2008 12:22:40 PM ***