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Drayton Manor Park - Splash Canyon Incident

Just caught up on this morning's proceedings and I must say it isn't looking too good for Drayton. The bosses will be asked why they didn't implement the changes requested by the ride staff and it sounds like procedures were possibly the downfall in this instance.

CCTV clearly wasn't adequate from both a coverage and screen size.

They also say that concerns were raised over the state of signage on the ride.
 
I think the girls planned to do this before they even got on the ride. That’s why they asked the teachers if they could go on the ride on there own.
I think this accident could have easily happened at any park but Merlin had the change to update there’s with more staff around the ride, the doors added and water effects switched off. I think the ride could reopen if theses things were put in place but the park may feel a ride 26 years old and not been touched in 2 and a half years is not worth saving.
 
Themeparksandy1981 said:
I think the girls planned to do this before they even got on the ride. That’s why they asked the teachers if they could go on the ride on there own.
I think this accident could have easily happened at any park but Merlin had the change to update there’s with more staff around the ride, the doors added and water effects switched off. I think the ride could reopen if theses things were put in place but the park may feel a ride 26 years old and not been touched in 2 and a half years is not worth saving.
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Being a smaller park they may take the Dreamworld approach.

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I don't think whether the e-stop is applied or not has any relevancy to this incident. Perhaps more relevant is how the staff respond to reports of people in the water, if they don't witness it themselves. It would be wise to stop the turntable and then physically go to the area where the report is and check with your own eyes, rather than rely on CCTV.

My understanding is that on a rapids ride, if there's somebody in the water then (generally) you do not e-stop it. This causes the pumps to cut out and the water level therefore rises substantially at the lowest part of the course, which ironically is just before the lift and where most people in the water are likely to end up.
 
Alsty said:
how the staff respond to reports of people in the water, if they don't witness it themselves. It would be wise to stop the turntable and then physically go to the area where the report is and check with your own eyes, rather than rely on CCTV.
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The one question i have is. How many in the water reports do they have a week to have check CCTV policy?

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Obviously speculation is dangerous but you can see the primary issues that could relate to a criminal prosecution

1) Inadequate CCTV coverage
2) The fact the risk was highlighted by staff and not acted upon by the company. Either through a change of operating practice, investment or bare minimum a risk assessment.
 
They will probably also be fined for lack of equipment and training. The ride op said there was no water rescue equipment around the ride and they didn't get water rescue training. Not good.
 
Some major updates here:

'There was no water rescue equipment available at the attraction'
The jury returns after lunch and hears more from the worker, who describes the lack of training or equipment for staff having to deal with people falling into the water, which did happen occasionally.

He told the jury: “I had heard rumours of people jumping in out of mischief or falling in.

“We had no formal training in water rescue. There was no water rescue equipment available at the attraction.”

He said he had no dealings with people in the water until the day Evha died.

Worker didn't notice Evha and friends misbehaving
The worker said he did not spot any misbehaviour from Evha and her friends, but did not watch them on the ride, despite having nine CCTV monitors of Splash Canyon.

The coroner asked him: “Would you expect to have a glance at each vessel during the ride?”

He replied: “Yes, but unfortunately with the blindspots and the size of the [CCTV] tiles you might not catch them.”

He was then showed CCTV stills of the girls clearly standing up on the boat but he told the jury he did not recall noticing them standing up, misbehaving or having to use the public address screen to tell them to stay in the vessel.

Problems with the CCTV
During the safety meeting at Drayton Manor Park problems with the CCTV were raised.

The worker said staff wanted the CCTV images to be more easily visible.

He said: “We were asking for possibly having extra monitors for having larger images on each.”

He said there was also discussion about moving the emergency stop button to make it easier for the ride operators to reach.

The inquest has now been adjourned for lunch.
 
This won't end well for them by the sounds of these updates. It will be a much heftier fine than Smiler was surely and can they survive that? Probably not.
 
Fines are in proportion to income as well as severity of the crime, if you or me were fined the same as Ant McPartlin for drink driving (£86,000) then we would probably be bankrupt. Therefore I don't expect Drayton Manor to be fined as much as Merlin were fined for the Smiler.
 
Thameslink Rail said:
Fines are in proportion to income as well as severity of the crime, if you or me were fined the same as Ant McPartlin for drink driving (£86,000) then we would probably be bankrupt. Therefore I don't expect Drayton Manor to be fined as much as Merlin were fined for the Smiler.
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That's true I suppose.

However can they afford any substantial fine? Their riding offering is already pretty poor and they've just lost one of their 'major' rides in G-FARCE.

I don't think this will end well for a park already struggling. Just my opinion.
 
Benjsh said:
That's true I suppose.

However can they afford any substantial fine? Their riding offering is already pretty poor and they've just lost one of their 'major' rides in G-FARCE.

I don't think this will end well for a park already struggling. Just my opinion.
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They potentially have insurance that will cover the fine, obviously premiums will go up.
 
The park have been holding back any investment until the verdict is given, also I think the park are shifting their focus to families because the Thomas Land side of the park is doing far better than the rest of it.
 
spinba11 said:
Going back to the seatbelt discussion, some rides maybe rough enough to the point that an unrestrained person could end up on the floor of the boat but the user MUST be able to undo them in the event of the boat capsizes.
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I always see riders on oblivion struggle to undo the belts in a non emergency situation, let alone I can imagine someone in an upside down dingy trying to undo one.
 
RoyJess said:
I always see riders on oblivion struggle to undo the belts in a non emergency situation, let alone I can imagine someone in an upside down dingy trying to undo one.
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Has there ever been one that flipped upside down?

I know the one in Australlia did but wasn't that one out of the water at the time and on the lift hill?
 
RoyJess said:
I always see riders on oblivion struggle to undo the belts in a non emergency situation, let alone I can imagine someone in an upside down dingy trying to undo one.
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Reminds me of canoe escape drill.

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