Sad Day

[Harpo]

Apparently, there's been another accident at a Six Flags park. Unlike the "Two Face" problem that didn't really deserve the attention it got, the latest incident resulted in a fatality. From the looks of it, this is the type of accident that can occur from ride operators failing to be attentive. That's an issue I've discussed at length with Six Flags, including putting it in writing. I'm sorry to see that my letters and phone calls to Six Flags failed to save this person.

WDSU in New Orleans posted this news item:

A New Orleans woman died Wednesday night in an accident involving a ride at Six Flags theme park in New Orleans East.


The circumstances are unclear, but police said the woman, Rosa Donaldson, 52, was in the area of the Joker's Jukebox teacup-style ride at about 6:30 p.m. when the ride started up and she was hit by one of its cars.


At the time of the incident, the cars on the ride were about 3 feet from the ground, according to park spokeswoman Ann Willis.


Donaldson died at Lakeland Hospital of blunt-force internal injuries, police said.


Willis said New Orleans police and the state Fire Marshal's office are investigating the incident. No charges have been filed.


TheNewOrleansChannel.com will update this story as details become available. Please refresh this page for the latest.

[RCT101]

if she was't in her seat, that's her problem. how did she get hit?

[Frito]

If you read the article Harpo provided a link to, you would know how she got hit.
From what the article says, I deriving that she wasn't going to ride this particular ride. She was doing the operator's job by making sure her grandson was properly fastened in. She probably heard about SF employees don't pay much attention, and that is what appears to have caused her death, some ride operator not paying attention.
I didn't see much operator inattentiveness when I went to SFoG in July 2002, so I can't confirm what I keep hearing about this subject. I've been wanting to go to SFA, and I probably will still go despite this, but I definitely will pay attention to the ride operators.

[Frito]

Maybe it's because this preventable incident just occured earlier today, but I do hope Six Flags will keep the public informed of the situation through SFNO website like Holiday World did in June. But I somehow doubt Six Flags will since it's looking like thier negligence caused this to occur.
I personally hate it when they refer to things like this as an accident. There's no accident here, just negligence on somebody's part that could've been prevented. If this does turn out to be operator error, then what the operator did was perform an action (starting the ride) with careless disregard for the safety of the public. This translates to involuntary manslaughter to me. But I need to hear more about the events leading up to this woman's death to form an informed opionion.

[Harpo]

My biggest gripe with Six Flags has been the attentiveness issue.

At amusement parks, you're dealing with heavy machinery. When used properly, they can be very safe and fun. But, it's easy to use them improperly, which can be exceptionally dangerous.

The general public is not always going to do what is expected. As a result, the ride operators MUST be extra attentive in order to avoid any incidents.

Right now, I cannot say for sure if the operator is truly the one to blame. A question I have: What was the procedure the operator was trained to follow? If the operator was trained to scan the area before starting the ride (which would be appropriate), and the operator failed to do so, then it is the operator's fault. On the other hand, if the training failed to require such a scan, then management is to blame for improper training. I'll never forget being stuck on Time Warp at Six Flags Worlds of Adventure in May 2002, where, while waiting for maintenance, the operator told me he didn't know how to run the ride. As maintenance was working on the ride to get me off, one of the maintenance people told the operator, "As soon as we get these people off, I'll show you how to run the ride." The operator also told me that the Mr. Hyde ride kept breaking down because those operators didn't know how to run that ride. Such incidents force me to question the quality of the training being provided to the operators.

An update to the story indicates that the ride operator was still unaware of the incident until other riders hollered that the ride needed to be stopped. Reading this article, I can't help but think of what I saw at Six Flags America last year, where the operator for the Mind Eraser coaster was too busy t******* his fingernails to pay attention to the ride. When a lap bar checker told him he could send the train, he didn't even look up. He asked her if it was clear, and then he hit the start button. If someone had been in the way, he would never have known it.

Checking back on my notes from my May 2003 visit to Six Flags New Orleans, I noticed some of the same traits at that park, most noticeably on the Dizzy Lizzy ride. I don't recall if I rode Joker's Jukebox, and I didn't specifically make a note about that ride.

[Terentius]

No website update yet that I've found. Neither mainsite nor
SFNO make mention of this accident.

[Frito]

The only thing I can find on this death are from various local news agencies in New Orleans. One of them quoted the New Orleans Police Dept as saying that the death appears to be accidental. From the brief description of this "accident," I would say it's everything but "accidental."
Also kinda funny that the only place on SFNO website that I can find anything about Joker's Jukebox is on the Park map. It isn't listed under thier rides list at the moment. Hmmmmmm.
Maybe there is something to all the complaints I keep hearing about operator unattentiveness.

[BUSYHANDS2003]

I have been to sfog 8 times this season, and have had great attention paid to loading and unloading of myself and my two daughters and spouse. Can this laziness and carelessness be to contained to one or two parks and not all of them.

[Frito]

It is possible busyhands. I went to SFoG myself last summer and saw no evidence of operator unattentiveness at that particular park. I did see a problem that seems to affect alot of SFI parks and that's inadequate staffing. Several rides at SFoG were closed with signs that said not enough staffing available to open this ride. I went there on a Sunday in the middle of July, so I was quite surprised to see that sign. I could understand that problem at the start and ending of the season when all the kids are still in school, but in the middle of the summer, on a weekend? I'm planning on going to SFA soon and I'm going to really keep an eye out for gross unattentiveness.

[Frito]

The Times Picayune (http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1057904969290720.xml)
Interesting...Grandmother strapping in a 4 year old on a ride that you must be at least 46" tall to ride. Point being, maybe this is rider stupidity again. What four year old is at least 46" tall (thats almost four feet). Hmmmmm. Very much looking forward to the final verdict on this one.

[Harpo]

Looking at my notes regarding my visit to SFOG on July 5, 2002, I don't see any specific instances noted of operator inattentiveness. However, I did see a SERIOUS safety issue. On The Great American Scream Machine, maintenance was oiling the track while the ride was in motion, loaded with park guests. A mistake by the maintenance people could have caused injury or death to the maintenance person and/or riders on the train. It was particularly disturbing since a maintenance person was killed at that park earlier that year -- I would have thought such an incident would have sent a very clear message.

While my notes didn't indicate inattentiveness at SFOG, they did indicate that it was the single least efficient park I've ever visited. Also, there was an abundance of line jumping without anyone doing anything to stop it. Upon entering the park, I noticed quite a few of the metal detectors beeping without security paying any attention. Mine beeped due to my camera, but they didn't even look my way -- I just kept right on going.

(I should comment that I really hate metal detectors at amusement parks. It gives me the sense that I'm in an unsafe area. I'd feel more comfortable with added security patrolling the park, which is the method employed by Cedar Fair.)

Just to give a sense of how carefully I observe the parks that I visit: I noticed in the Georgia Cyclone queue a sign warning about "inidividual health risks." I've usually found three i's to be sufficient in "individual." Of course, the sign error is "iniconisequential," but it shows the type of detail I tend to notice.

[Xzentrificenceo]

Originally posted by Frito
The Times Picayune (http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1057904969290720.xml)
Interesting...Grandmother strapping in a 4 year old on a ride that you must be at least 46" tall to ride. Point being, maybe this is rider stupidity again. What four year old is at least 46" tall (thats almost four feet). Hmmmmm. Very much looking forward to the final verdict on this one.


Umm my daughter was 48" tall when she was 4. She was able to get onto every ride at Disneyland then. It was pretty close on IJ, but she was just tall enough.

[Frito]

Has anyone heard anything new about this? The only think I can find anywhere are news bullets from 7/11/03.

[Harpo]

Yes... Some high-priced consultant is now stating what I've already said, and is indicating things that I told to Six Flags a year ago.

You can read the consultant's comments here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ibsys/20030711/lo_wdsu/1694324

[iAMpaste001]

I heard about this on the news the day it happened and though it may have been unwise for the lady to be standing next to the ride, I can't think of any way where the blame could be put on her and not on the ride operators/Six Flags management. Yeah maybe if the kid was only 4 he might not have been tall enough to be on the ride, but isn't it the ride ops job to check the height anyway? And even if the lady was standing where she shouldn't have been, the area should have been checked to make sure it was clear before the ride was started. You can't always count on people to use common sense and good judgement or to follow the rules in parks, that's why the workers are there: the check the things guests don't. It really is unfortunate what happened to her and while she may have been at fault based on where she was standing, I think it was a completely preventable situation that would have been avoided if the workers had been more attentive.

[IEATPASTE001]

Kinda like not checking your harness on Superman?

[iAMpaste001]

Exactly like not checking my harness on Superman! Yes, it's true I do have hands and I've seen harnesses checked enough to know how to do it myself. BUT IT'S NOT MY JOB! Now if they want to start paying me to go to their park (which I think would only be fair, really!) then I'll be glad to check all of my own restraints. But as long as they're getting paid to do it, they better jolly well do it! :mad: :sour:

[Frito]

The last I've heard is that this ride, Joker's Jukebox, has reopened. But I haven't heard of any official ruling on the cause. Is it operator unattentiveness, or rider stupidity, or something else?
I've searched, but came up empty.

[Harpo]

There is no doubt that operator inattentiveness was part of the problem. Perhaps the lady should not have been where she was, but the operator absolutely should not have started the ride with her in that location. There is no excuse for having started the ride when a person was standing in the ride area.

From what I understand, the witnesses indicated that the operator didn't even notice she was hit -- they had to holler for the ride to be stopped.

[Frito]

I'll still like to see an official report on what happened. It may well not be operator unattentiveness, he could've checked the area before he started the ride, only to have this lady jump into the area, which would explain why he didn't know she had been hit till witnesses started yelling at him.
Maybe, maybe not. Still like to know for sure.