One dead, ten injured on Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain

JesterMN: That statistic comes from my database of amusement ride fatalities covering the last 25 or so years. Rider misconduct accounts for a higher percentage of minor injuries, but is less common for fatal injuries. For fatal injuries mechanical failure is the number one cause, with rider misconduct and operator error about tied for second place.

It is an often repeated legend that the vast majority of fatal ride injuries are caused by rider misconduct. It just isn't so, though rider misconduct seems to be somewhat on the increase as a cause in recent years. It's difficult to be certain about any trends in ride fatalities since there are so very few of them.

One thing worth noting is that it is sometimes difficult to identify a single cause for an accident. Often they are the result of several things going wrong at once. The recent death at SFNO is a good example. It appears that the victim was not where she was supposed to be (misconduct). There was also an issue of poor visibility for the operator (design problem) and possibly insufficient caution on the part of the operator (operator error).*** This post was edited by Jim Fisher 9/7/2003 12:56:31 PM ***

I wonder what arrow (I think it's arrow who created this coaster - I'm not sure though) or the maker of the coaster has to say about it...?

The designer of the coaster was Vekoma, not Arrow. They made three or four other mine train coasters besides the four BTMR coasters and those are all outside the United States.

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Bob Hansen
Resident Airtime Whore

The only Disney coasters that are not Vekoma are Matterhorn and Indiana Jones, and the Mice. (no pun intended)

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If given the choice I'd choose a hamburger over a hotdog anyday of the week.*** This post was edited by MagnumForce 9/7/2003 5:07:07 PM ***

And California Screamin', which is an Intamin.

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The Trip: CP, SFWoA, PKI, KW, HW, IB, SFGAm, MiA and LeSourdsville too.
8 Days- 10 parks. May 2003

and Space Mountain? I was under the impression it was done in-house.

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--Maddie--
What do I Listen-To?
May the Schwarz be with you.

Conflicting reports on Space Mountain, most indications are that Vekoma was at least partially responsible.

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If given the choice I'd choose a hamburger over a hotdog anyday of the week.

The victim was 22 years old.

These 2 recent accidents make you wonder about the safety of ALL coasters. Both of these accidents happened at supposed high quality parks........at least when it comes to maintenance. Are corners being cut to save dollars so some exec can get a big bonus?
*** This post was edited by super7 9/8/2003 9:54:26 AM ***

Brent- Both American Space Mountains are Vekoma, although WDI had a big part in it. Also, Indy is wholely WDI, even though it's the farthest thing from a coaster you can get.

Edit: Unless you mean the Indy coaster at DLP and not the Indy ride at DLR. Then disregard the Indy thing.

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- John
Homepark: Cedar Point
Home-away-from-homepark: Paramount's Kings Island*** This post was edited by Michael Darling 9/8/2003 9:32:21 AM ***

Disregarded John ;)

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If given the choice I'd choose a hamburger over a hotdog anyday of the week.

This roller coaster is very dear to my heart. My 13 year old son and I voted it our favourite ride at Disneyland just over a month ago. We were there for five days and kept looking for another chance to ride, alas, the lines were too long.

Incidently, my friends, Ken and Christine, were the first "Civilians" to ride on this coaster when they were on their honeymoon. When I heard the news I felt weird because during the ride with its thrilling sense of no control, especially in the tunnel, I wondered what would happen if it derailed.

Terribly sad for those involved in this accident, you never expect it to happen in the happiest place on earth.