Skip to content

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 19/06/18 in Posts

  1. Quality work again by GCB, they have a timeline of all the events, here is a couple of the “events”... hmm, anyone spot the problem?
  2. On the contrary: I've spaced your statements out for impact, but your allegation was categoric. The tragedy could have been avoided if they pressed the button they had almost a minute to press the button i'm not sure why they didn't press the button in this minute, unless they weren't doing their job properly they have to live with that. I've refuted your statement on the basis that your assumption of 'almost a minute' is way off base, and also on the basis you assume that there is no conceiveable reason why they wouldn't have pressed the e-stop unless they were distracted. I've called into question your timeline (it's wrong) as well as the reasons why they didn't (training, policy, not identifying an issue until the last moment - hardly 'distracted'). I'm sure some operators will read these forums. Maybe even those giving evidence. Your statement isn't supported by the evidence and is downright disgusting. I'm sure (given we've heard of self harm incidents) that these people are living with this every day - without anyone suggesting that they were derelict in their duties (simply distracted) and had almost a minute to save these people, when in reality the first real indication for them that something was wrong was probably when the raft lifted out of the water. Are you an operator with knowledge of the attraction? You've said this twice, and yet we've already heard evidence at the inquest that the unload operator had access to a conveyor belt stop button, which has been referred to as an emergency stop, or '2-second stop' button - which suggests that there was more than just green buttons to left the rafts flow by. If you're only drawing on publicly accessible images to make your assessments, then please shut up - clearly evidence before the inquest has already discredited you, and you're just making a fool of yourself.
  3. 'a fan at the top' doesn't magically make them comfortable. On hot days, the airflow simply evaporates their sweat faster, dehydrating them quicker. Costumed characters go through hell. I've seen characters get backstage and literally collapse in a heap of sweaty plush, red-faced and all, after only 'sitting' in position for photos for 20-25 minutes.
  4. I think that is a very hard line to take, and I would argue - inappropriate at best. The 57 second timeline, from what I have read, is the time from the pump failure, until the time the raft flipped. I've seen this style of ride in startup and shutdown, although i've never seen one operating on half it's pumps. I can imagine, given the time it takes the water level to drop in a total shutdown, that the shutdown of only one pump would make the water level drop a much less significant observation. Basically, with all the water rushing through the station area, guest communications, and mechanical noises, It is doubtful that one pump stopping would be all that noticeable immediately, both from a mechanical noise perspective, as well as a water level perspective AT THE TIME (ie: timeline 0:00) Also from what we have heard, the main operator panel has no visibility to the unload area, and had no responsibility for that area, which is why there was a separate unload operator. (In later years, Wonderland's snowy could be operated by a single operator using CCTV, with load and unload taking place on either side of the control booth). It is unfair to be making statements that 'either operator had 57 seconds' to prevent this. Or that they will have to 'live with that'. Yes, at some point before hand, the water level could have been noticed, the stalled raft at unload could have been noticed - in fact, in both cases, SHOULD Have been noticed - however this doesn't pin it on the operator. For all we've heard so far, Dreamworld's policies, dreamworld's training, and dreamworld's ignorance of previous recommendations brought this about, and in reality, nothing the operators could have done would have saved people by the time it became apparent. Even the stalled raft may not have appeared 'stuck' but only 'not moving yet' and it may well have been practice on the ride to allow the next raft to 'bump' it along - so even at THAT point, mere seconds before the flip, the unload operator may have not perceived anything wrong, because of the practice of the park's policies. TL:DR - with everything we have heard, it is not appropriate nor fair to pin the loss of these four lives on an operator, or to suggest that they had almost a full minute to perceive and react to save them. The park's culture appears to have taught them that everything was normal, and only when the raft lifted into the air would they have seen a problem worthy of e-stop, which by then would have been too late.
  5. According to the Courier Mail article I posted above, only the "scum lines" gave a rough visual indication of the water level to the operator. Pretty pathetic considering how critical it was to the safety of guests.
  6. Two different applications/uses of a sensor output. An axle counter can operate a level crossing, but can also serve as part of a block (at the same time even)
  7. It’s not odd about share price if you believe in market efficiency. My understanding is no block sensors except in unload/load section which were there to alert attendant to push rafts through only.. at least not in the 10 years prior.
  8. For people trying to picture the distance from the unload to @joelE-Stop. I have circled it in red.
  9. I had occasion to visit Sea World yesterday for an extended family outing. Here are my thoughts... For reference: 4 adults, 4 kids, (all over 90cm). First up (and I know we've discussed this elsewhere) but whatever happened to Kirby's promise to have 'everything open' ? We were meeting family in park, so we decided not to detour to McD's on the way, and pick up something for breakfast \ brunch when we got there. On arrival, we climb the steep hill to the top, only to have a disinterested, corporate (VRTP) branded staff member casually observe our membership cards in hand, before lazily raising an arm in the direction of the alternate entrance saying 'oh, you've already got your tickets - this way'. There's something about childhood memories... of walking up that hill, with the blue dolphin looming overhead, quick stop for mum to frame a photo of the kids under the dolphin before a quick stroll through the ticket booths before opening up onto the lake proper... These days, this 'alternative entrance' which is dark, dingy, clearly not set up as an entrance, and appears to be primarily set up in this way so as to allow the greenscreen upsellers to make a buck, isn't really the best way to welcome people into the park - even if they hold annual passes, and have 'been there, done that'... especially as you then channel them out the doors towards some 'temporary' ticket booth scanners. It fucks with the flow. All guests inbound to the park should flow in one direction - unfortunately these two entry points cause contra flow - so a dingy, shitty look, and poor pedestrian flow = bad. Ok - we're in. Now for food - Lakeside happens to be right next to the 'alternative entrance'. Its shiny, clean and fresh looking, with some big TVs advertising a really nice bacon and egg burger, for under $10 - sounds delicious... except - theres a small A4 sign saying they're closed... and that you can be served at another outlet 30 metres away... which is fine - except there's nobody staffing that outlet either (they're all clustered around the espresso machine madly trying to serve all the coffee orders). We ask if the lakeside menu is available through the other outlets - No. We ask when will it open? They think 10... or maybe 10:30... but then one girl remembers that they'll be a bit later to open today because so-and-so was late. Oh, but did I mention, if you'd like to order Ice Cream at 9:50am on a frigid wintry morning - you can certainly do that... We decide to head to the plaza. They have a village bean, and a few other outlets... Maybe we'll have better luck there? Fat chance. even the Village Bean isn't open. Its 10:10. Bathroom break, ride the carousel, decide to head back to Lakeside for food. Staff were busily setting up sippers\drink bottles. the sign was still up. heat lights were on in the kitchen which was at least a positive. No communication except that damn A4 sign. Eventually, one of the staff told me they'd open in 5 minutes. 20 seconds later, the other staff member removed the A4 sign. 30 seconds later the first staff member took my order... and about 5 minutes later my burger shot down the chute of the food warmer. ...2 minutes later the original staff member put down the box of sippers they were packing and handed me the burger.... The burger was good. For theme park pricing, it was about what i expected, but it was hot, and the egg was runny (which was a surprise, but luckily no mess and thoroughly enjoyed it). It was tasty, and I probably would have gotten the same thing down the road for only $2 less, so value wise it was pretty good, and everything was fresh. So then we're finally off into the park. The park has a popup 'experience' desk just past the front building, offering 'dolphin pat and a seal hug, with photo for $xx'. It was a good combo deal, but it just repulsed me that the experience would be reduced just down to the 'pose, smile, click, get out' structure - SW's many animal experiences have for years been about much more than just the photo - and it seems like they'd boiled it down to 'how can we get as many paying people through as possible' - more focus on the revenue than the animals and the preservation messages, which to me just made it seem cheap \ pet porpoise pool style - not really suited to sea world at all. The helicopters were kept busy all day with asian tourists - this doesn't really impact anyone else and if someone wants to pay a fortune to enter a park to pay another fortune to fly over it, then thats just less people in my next queue... The seal show had an early 10:15 showtime, which was a great start to the day, except there was no signage or anything directing people up to the stadium. it was quite empty - we passed on this on our earlier walk-through. I have wanted to see it since it was re-done, but what little I caught as I walked past struck me that I probably didn't need to see anymore. Storm was closed, and with Vikings gone, it leaves a real hole in the park's 'central energy'. With the kids we spent a lot of time around Nick Land, and the kids got through a few rides. By now it was nearing 12pm, and it was time to checkout the Paw Patrol show, which Master Two usually goes crazy for. In terms of this, I'm just going to say that they've got two pup suits, and a banner, and the show consists of about 15 minutes of dancing with some audience involvement. It has about as much to do with Paw Patrol as it does to do with Sea World, and you could literally pick ANY intellectual property, get two suits, with two 'human' hosts alongside, and the show would be the same, provided the 'pup'-language was changed to suit whatever the IP was. It was generic, and even Master Two was bored. We checked out the polar bears - Mishka wasn't on exhibit, and then headed to Ray Reef. For me, I thought it was lacking, which is to say that there seemed to be a lot less Rays than there used to be. The fact that 'feeding' is not currently available is probably more an indicator of this as the rays aren't encouraged to interact with guests, rather than there being any change to population. There was also a maintenance worker in the tank scrubbing the sides - who was pleasant enough to interact with, but it struck me as odd for this sort of task to be done during park opening hours. We moved onto Shark bay whilst the older kids headed to Jet Rescue. Shark Bay also seems to be lacking some of the life it used to - I feel like there used to be more variety of shark and fish in the 'reef' side - I did however note the 'big shark' side had a turtle in it - something i'd never seen before. By this stage, we were getting closer to the time for the Jet Ski show. Deciding it was time for a (late) lunch, and not really having much interest in the Jet Skis, we decided to leave, and pick up a cheaper lunch elsewhere. Yes, this trip wasn't really about rides (for me) but it is really a stark contrast just how little there is to 'do'. There's plenty to 'see', but there is so much about our day thatcould have been better with very little effort. I can't imagine we'd have ridden storm had it been open, nor would we have done vikings, battle boats, or the splash play area, as it was just too damn cold. Little wonder there was nobody in the water for animal experiences either. The park has lots of summer things to do, but it's missing the land-based stuff that keeps a winter guest happy.... like hot fresh food first thing in the morning. We've discussed VRTP standards in detail, but I do feel that much of that discussion has centred around Movie World, with very little about SW or WnW - but it is just as apparent to me that SW is worse off than MW is - because at least one could stay busy all day at MW. We could easily have left SW by midday had it not been for certain showtimes, and there was little to occupy us in between. Forget the standards at MW right now - Sea World needs urgent help... NOW.
  10. it would be nice if some of these perks were extended to memberships as well though. I mean - not the $50 vouchers - but even just the TG membership, or some ongoing discounts
  11. Here's what we know so far - feel free to comment and i'll make edits where possible. a similar incident occurred in 2001 with no one on-board, was put down to operator error, no modifications were made and emergency response training was instead increased operating the ride was difficult, noting that operators "must perform numerous tasks simultaneously, many of which are cognitively draining." Ride's e-stop button was "totally un-marked" and the main control panel was "confusing" The main e-stop button would take seven seconds to stop the ride & the second e-stop button could have shut down the ride in two seconds Operators were told "not to worry about that button (the second e-stop) [because] no one uses it." A memo was sent to staff less than a week before the incident advising only to use the second e-stop button if the "main control panel cannot be reached" to prevent "false alarms." "Button" on the unload platform stops conveyor belt, but staff were told not to worry about it Nothing beyond a scum line was used to measure water levels (no electronic indicators or a depth ruler) - rafts getting stuck were another sign Dreamworld's safety compliance rate in 2016 was nearly half (41.7%) of the 75% that is considered to be compliant The same pump that failed had an "earth fault" twice that morning that caused the pump to stop and had tripped on October 19, 2016 and was scheduled to be checked on October 27. Police were never able to replicate the incident with or without dummies With thanks to journalists Lea Emery from GCB and Alexandria Utting from CM for the live coverage so far.
  12. Actually, no. The screen is just a 3D object for projection mapping. By definition a screen is a specially prepared, light-reflecting surface something may be projected.
  13. Hang on a minute, you've had second hand information from the tabloid press over a day and a half of evidence-giving in a hearing - but we are already talking in absolutes about who did what, when they did it, what the buttons were set up as, and who is to blame? Fuck me sideways we are getting ahead of ourselves, aren't we?
  14. Not a good topic to joke about.
This leaderboard is set to Brisbane/GMT+10:00

Account

Navigation

Search

Search

Configure browser push notifications

Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.