Thunder River Rapids Incident Coronial Inquest

[themagician]

28 minutes ago, dbo121 said:

Name Implies it’s turns to me . Oh well . Good photo 

When the ride originally opened, this turntable did operate, but at some point was obviously turned off and the queue was modified

[New display name]

5 hours ago, pushbutton said:

I am curious about this, and also wonder if these questions have arisen at the inquest. 

There will be a third sitting of the Inquiry scheduled in November 2018. Many of the witnesses will be technical specialists.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

1 hour ago, dbo121 said:

people speak of this turntable . It never had one? If so where exactly .

 

1 hour ago, dbo121 said:

Name Implies it’s turns to me . Oh well . Good photo 

You speak with such authority, and yet you always appear so ignorant.

I've never seen TRRR's turntable operate. TBH in it's set up at the time of the incident, it had probably been modified in such a way that you could never make it turn again, but it did once - otherwise there is no need for the round station house. there is no need for guests to walk a bridge from queuehouse to load zone.

Almost every rapids ride i've ever seen has a turntable load station, or at least had one when it first opened. There are some notable exceptions, such as Singapore's Jurassic Rapids, which lifts rafts out of the water on a conveyor, and people load whilst on the conveyor, and then the rafts are lowered back down, but all these rides - whether they be turntable station or conveyor, were all designed to be continuous load arrangements.

Some parks (Wonderland and Dreamworld are both examples) disabled the turntable, and preferred instead to 'stop' the rafts at points in the station, to allow guests to board from one stable object to another, as opposed to two moving objects.

 

Here's a quick video of DCA's grizzly river:

 

And here is how Universal does it in Singapore:

 

[Jdude95]

Alright I’m back at the inquest day, liveposting has commenced  

Jacob Wilson 

Been working at the park since 2012

Electrical maintenance 

Performed the park technician role often. 

Mr Wilson states that the park technicians were stretched thin on a regular basis. 

Mr Wilson was encouraged to raise any safety concerns with his supervisor. The supervisor would then determine the importance of that concern and address it accordingly. 

Mr Wilson wasn’t asked to read the breakdown policy often, he read out out of his own curiosity. 

Mr Wilson has been involved with evacuation scenarios on Buzzsaw and tiger escape scenarios and these took place in 2015 and 2016 prior to the incident but states that these scenarios are practiced within the maintenance department. 

Mr Wilson also completed first aid/CRP training. 

New lockout procedures were put in place for every ride prior to the 2016 incident. 

Mr Wilson was not the park technician on the day of the incident but heard the “code 6” breakdown call and decided to head over there anyway. He states he called extra maintenance staff to assist with the “code 6” as TRR would generally require more staff if the guests had to be evacuated. 

Previous issues that Mr Wilson has attended the TRR for include the conveyor not moving, water in a sensor, a problem with a jack or a ride op has shut the ride down. 

The supervisor sent 3 additional maintenance team members with Mr Wilson to attend the TRR breakdown.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

 

A problem with a jack? are we talking the pneumatic \ hydralic rams that lock the rafts in place in the station or is there something else?

[Jdude95]

Mr Wilson has attended TRR due to a pump fault previously and states that it’s a semi regular occurrence. 

Mr Wilson was shown photos of the control room/switchboard and states that the safety PLC systems were updated in May 2016. 

Photos from the switchboard show that all the labels are hand written on. 

Mr Wilson would take a photo of the fault error code on the pump controls for future reference/discussion. 

Mr Wilson is being shown photos of the switchboard and explaining the functions. 

I won’t go into details with this as there was no new or interesting information from that walkthrough. Reference pictures would also need to be seen to understand the explanations given by Mr Wilson.

[Jdude95]

Mr Wilson confirmed the e-stop button functions and their locations which lines up with the e-stop run down I posted on Tuesday. Mr Wilson did confirm there were 2 lanyard e-stops along the conveyor, one either side. 

Mr Wilson wasn’t aware of the speed at which the e-stop buttons functioned and is aware that there are two different buttons with different speeds at which they stop the ride but isn’t sure if he was aware of this prior to the 2016 incident. 

Mr Wilson has previously completed an insulation test and a continuity test on the pump motors.

[New display name]

Catch up from before Mr Wilson:

First witness Joe Stenning a former casual ride operator who worked on the Thunder River Rapids Ride between 1999 to 2001.

Stenning on working as a deckhand at River Rapids Ride “I didn’t think it was a terribly difficult ride to operate in my position”

Counsel to Stenning “where you ever told or trained about possibility of rafts flipping? Replay “No” Rafts colliding or capsizing? “Not that I recall”

Stenning on duty in 2001 when 4 rafts collided at the end of the conveyor in almost identical circumstances to fatal accident. He was shown photos of the rafts piled up & flipped.

Stenning statement “A raft came over the conveyor & Melinda didnt see a raft stopped at the unload bay. The momentum of the conveyor pushing the second raft into the stopped raft, causing the stopped raft to flip”

Stenning “ I was thinking she (the operator Melinda)might have been in a bit of trouble. I think she realised then the gravity of what had just happened to the raft”

Stenning talking about reaction of Melinda to raft pile up “it would’ve been quite frightening for a situation like this to happen. I hoped she had been pushing the stop buttons”

Stenning “we were taken away to give statements. I wasnt allowed to speak to Melinda again. I didnt see her again for quite some time”

Stenning shown an internal Dreamworld Report on 2001 raft pile up. It concluded the accident happened due to guest distraction & the operator panicking and responding inappropriately from lack of confidence, decision making in emerg situation.

Stenning “were you ever made away of this report and the recommendations?” Reply “No” Ever asked why you think it happened? “Just distraction from the senior operator”

Dreamworld Lawyer to Stenning “You never raised any concerns with the safety department about the TRR ride? Reply “I don’t believe so” Raise it Angus Hutchings (park safety boss)? “Don’t know who that is” Anybody? “No”

Dreamworld lawyer to Stenning “why do you think the rafts collided? Your assumption?” Reply “someone wasnt doing their job properly and keeping spacing”

Stenning has finished evidence.

 

Other notes: The inquest has now been extended.

The second session of Dreamworld Inquiry will be held in October a new third session will be held November 12 to 23 but it may roll on longer after review.

Counsel Assisting Coroner has advised the court will be closed this afternoon for a period of time while the coroner and lawyers view the CCTV of the fatal accident from 2016.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 28, 2018 by Skeeta

[Jdude95]

In the switchboards, it’s common place for them to be hand labelled wither either writing on tape or writing directly onto the switchboard. 

Mr Wilson states that the labelling “could be better” of the controls in the switchboard and that about 50% of the switchboards are labelled in similar fashion. 

In the switchboard room, the PLC box has the word “e-stop?” hand written on the inside of the door. Mr Wilson was grilled about the reason for this but isn’t sure of why it would be there. He speculates that it could be there due to a previous technician writing it was a note to himself. Mr Wilson confirmed that there were a few instances throughout the park of notes being written on important equipment.

[red dragin]

I've seen that done too by electricians. Often on surfaces that will be later covered though.

[Jdude95]

Mr Wilson had previously reported that the TRR lockout isolator key didn’t isolate the control to the conveyor and it was reported to a supervisor. The response his supervisor gave was “that’s how attractions wanted it”

Mr Wilson believed all the the equipment at Dreamworld was in working order. 

An adjourned for lunch 

[webslave]

2 hours ago, AlexB said:

Almost every rapids ride i've ever seen has a turntable load station, or at least had one when it first opened. There are some notable exceptions, such as Singapore's Jurassic Rapids, which lifts rafts out of the water on a conveyor, and people load whilst on the conveyor, and then the rafts are lowered back down, but all these rides - whether they be turntable station or conveyor, were all designed to be continuous load arrangements.

Some parks (Wonderland and Dreamworld are both examples) disabled the turntable, and preferred instead to 'stop' the rafts at points in the station, to allow guests to board from one stable object to another, as opposed to two moving objects.

I'm quite sure Bermuda also had a working turntable that was later disabled.

[dbo121]

Thanks for the info on the turntable. I don’t know everything about this ride. I suspect i did not know this fact as it was not used in the 90s. 

Yes bermuda had one .

 

not sure why the rapids ride would of needed it even with its modifications over years. Any historians on this around ?

Edited June 28, 2018 by dbo121

[Themeparkfan]

36 minutes ago, dbo121 said:

Thanks for the info on the turntable. I don’t know everything about this ride. I suspect i did not know this fact as it was not used in the 90s. 

Yes bermuda had one .

 

not sure why the rapids ride would of needed it even with its modifications over years. Any historians on this around ?

When it first opened with the rest of gold rush country it was a very popular ride in fact one of the most popular rides in the park apart from the thunderbolt and the eureka mine ride, I recall  over an hour wait time in the queue some days the turn table was needed at that time to load/unload guests as fast a possible 

Edited June 28, 2018 by Themeparkfan

[RabbiJody]

Can anyone recall how the rafts were stopped for loading/unloading? 

[MacPark]

Im am going to assume the turntable was taken away as it cost too much to maintain and dreamworld used the "how can we save money" mentality even if it slowed the ride loading.

[Themeparkfan]

3 minutes ago, RabbiJody said:

Can anyone recall how the rafts were stopped for loading/unloading? 

As far as I can recall the turn table moved rafts continuously during load /unload but if they had to stop a raft I think they had to stop the turn table?  I think? 

Edited June 28, 2018 by Themeparkfan

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

When the turntable was operating, the rafts were not stopped. See the disney grizzly rapids video I posted above for an idea of how they did they.

Once the turntable was switched off, there would have been a steel panel, hinged on the floor, with a hydraulic or pneumatic ram attached to it that would move sideways - towards and away from the loading platform. When the raft was in the correct position, the operator would engage the ram, which would sandwich the raft between the station and the ram, keeping it wedged whilst guests were loaded \ unloaded.

Although this kept the raft in position, as a single pivot point, loading on an angle (if the gap didn't line up properly) would cause the rafts to wobble a little - which is why (i think) the rails were installed under the water in the station, to prevent the rafts from tilting much under the shifting weight.

3 minutes ago, MacPark said:

Im am going to assume the turntable was taken away as it cost too much to maintain and dreamworld used the "how can we save money" mentality even if it slowed the ride loading.

I think both Australian rapids rides had similar issue with the turntable - in a risk averse world, there was too great a risk of someone falling into the water with a moving platform and a moving raft. By stopping both, it was deemed 'safer' - but because stopping rafts increased chances of collision, other control measures were needed to maintain safety. By all accounts it sounds like Wonderland did, and Dreamworld didn't manage those control measures effectively.

1 minute ago, Themeparkfan said:

As far as I can recall the turn table moved rafts continuously during load /unload but if they had to stop a raft I think they had to stop the turn table?  I think? 

I can't speak for dreamworld, but in the rotating turntable days at wonderland, usually - guests would simply be sent on another round, and the turntable would only be stopped in a serious emergency. In other words if a guest was taking too long to get in \ out, the ride would not be stopped, and they'd be instructed to stay on \ stay off and wait for the next one.

The turntable could be stopped, but that would muck up the spacing for the entire ride, so would only ever be done for an emergency.

[Jdude95]

Francoire De Villiers

Electrical maintenance 

Has been employed for 4 years 

Has worked with the fitter/turners when he started so he could learn the mechanical side of the ride. 

Mr De Villiers has advised that he wasn’t required to and never tested the e-stop button at the unload station. 

At around midday on the date of the incident, Mr Villiers was aware of 3 previous times the south pump has tripped in the previous week.

The CCTV footage was shown to the court but the court was closed while this took place. I saw the first frame of the paused CCTV footage before it was turned off. That may be the closest we’ll get to any actual vision of the accident. 

On the control booth wall, there is a hose with a valve on the end which is used to inflate and check the inflation levels of the raft which should be done daily. 

Upon inspection of the inside of the control panel, the wiring was described as a “rats nest” of tangled, loose wires and wires not being connected to anything. It was described that due to this, the panel could have launched rafts and caused faults on its own without operator input. Mr De Villiers states that there was supposed to be upgraded to the ride prior to the incident that would update the control panel. Photos of the panel were shown and it was a cluster of messy wires.

[Jdude95]

After the pump had 3-5 issues within the week leading up to the incident, an external electrician was being brought in the day after the incident to inspect the pump. 

Mr De Villiers was the electrical maintenance engineer who advised the park technicians how to restart the pump on the day of the incident as the electricians were busy in White Water world at the time. The park technicians then had the knowledge to reset the pump by them self.  

Mr De Villiers has been an electrician since 1992

Mr De Villiers ended his time on the stand by offering his sincerest condolences to the families of the victims.

Quentin Dennis 

Electrical maintenance

Been employed since Oct 2008. 

Outlined his general duties in his role which are the same as the previous electrical maintenance staff. 

Outlined his knowledge of the park policy and the breakdown procedure which is the same as previous maintenance staff. 

If a fault occurred on TRR, due to the complex nature of the ride, a supervisor must attend. If there was a fault on TRR an alarm would go off through the park radios alerting maintenance staff and the supervisory team to send all available staff to TRR. 

Mr Dennis has brought it to the attention of supervisors before about the unsafe and dangerous nature of the wiring in the main control panel. Mr Dennis states that it was brought up often and that the wiring should be labelled.

 

And with that we are adjourned for the day. I shall post the compiled notes later and pick this up tomorrow. 

[themagician]

Just read that at some stage during the rides operation, during testing four rafts collided, one filling completely over

[RabbiJody]

11 minutes ago, themagician said:

Just read that at some stage during the rides operation, during testing four rafts collided, one filling completely over

This was the 2001 incident I believe, during testing with no guests. 

The below is a summary of the 2014 incident with guests on board. From the New Zealand Herald:

[New display name]

Very crude layout of the original turntable.

 

What the turntable evolved to.

The turntable didn't go from A to Z in one step but took 20 years to turn it into a bastard.

When the turntable was first stopped the timber turntable remained but it was fixed in place with only a small portion of the turntable removed. (marked in yellow)

The turntable was propelled by a drive wheel which sat on top of the turntable.  Similar to a wheel pushing a pirate ship ride.  The wheel sat within a timber box.

I can't remember if the original floating ramp to the turntable had a roof.

Some time in the last 20 years the timber turntable was completely removed and the concrete pad that was under the turntable (marked blue) has been raised where required (marked red).

Roofs A, B, C were all constructed at different times after the turntable was removed.

The original control panel was in the centre of the turntable but was moved to B.

I'm having flashes of memory the turntable was stopped around the time the Skylink Chairlift was built 1989. (only flashes)

 

 

@themagicianread what I posted earlier today.  That is in relation to what you are talking about.

Edited June 28, 2018 by Skeeta

[pin142]

If people are still unsure how it loaded with a moving turntable this video of the rapids at Knotts shows how it is done and works
 

 

[joel]

this video shows the old turn table how ever the new stop start system is already installed. But all the slats are there on the conveyer with no gaps.