three people were injured when knocked out of a raft on the ride. One was critically injured.
Follow-up:
i was employed by the park at the time, and was aware of the incident..it is a matter of public record and i have provided a link to a brief description of it. the passengers in question were standing, and not following any of the "pre-ride" rules...and the response of the park safety teams as well as the ride operators were to say the least, exceptional. [For more information about this incident, visit http://www2.richmond.com/localguide/themeparks/kd_safety.cfm] -- Submitted by Name Withheld on 4/20/2002
I remember the incident well, as I happen to be one of the passengers in the raft. There was no one standing in the raft. I was seatbelted in when the raft flipped. We caught up with the raft in front of us in a tight turn and got wedged in. When the waves started to push the first raft through, our raft rode up on the edge and flipped over. It was a freak accident, but we were following the rules. The only thing true in the other follow up is the response. The response time was exceptional. The park had divers in the water before we reached the next gate. Things could have been a lot worse. I was in ICU at MCV for 5 days, but the KD staff was beyond helpful. They even brought real food to the hospital for me. -- Submitted by beardednewt on 6/8/2007
I worked at Kings Dominion from 1990-1994; 1990 -1993 at the White Water Canyon and 1994 at the Water Park. I was working the day the incident took place working in the main station loading passengers onto the ride. All stations on the ride are connected by headphone communications, and when the tower one operator radioed in that we had a boat flip over, the shift supervisor yelled at me that we had a boat flip over, at which point I took off in a dead sprint for the second tower/gate to get to the people and boat. The supervisor hit the kill switch which currents the current to the ride which brings the boats to a stand still. When I reached the 2nd gate a guest from the flipped over boat yelled to me that he thought his sister was still trapped under the boat; at which time I entered the water. I am the one in the water that the other member of this forum is referring to. I dove under the overturned boat (very dark) and felt around for someone, but there was no one there. When I resurfaced for air some other guests yelled to me that the girl had gotten out. At this time there were other employees in the water and some emergency personnel were beginning to arrive. I then went over to the opposite side of the trough and rendered first aid to 2 guests, one with internal injuries and the other with a deep cut to his arm (I took my shirt off to help control the bleeding). By this time EMS was on the scene and they began to take over control of the situation. The quick actions of the supervisor to send me to the 2nd gate and to shut down the power helped prevent further injuries. This was a random accident that had nothing to do with the guests ‘behavior on the raft. Two rafts did catch up to each other which caused them to wedge a narrow point in the ride, and the force of the water flipped over one of the boats. King’s Dominion does and did have in place safety procedures for the ride, but since the boats are not a track, but rather free floating 1:1,000,000 accidents can happen. I mentioned earlier that I used my shirt to stop the bleeding of a guest. This is only relevant because since I did not have on my uniform top EMS personnel thought I was a guest in shock that was claiming to be an employee so I got herded with the injured guests instead of the employees as the situation began to resolve itself. This is how the incident happened as I was directly involved in not only the incident, but all the debriefing and counseling for the whole White Water Canyon Team that the park did after the incident. After that incident we even went and got tee-shirts made that we wore around the park, depicting a Raft, our names (on shark fins), with the Logo “White Water Canyon Crew…Tried and True”. Hope this adds some clarification to this incident. Thanks Will -- Submitted by WTJ06 on 8/19/2007
That's wild. I actually got chills reading your account, Will. No complaints whatsoever. I just wanted to Thank You for your response here and your response time at the park. My brother was the one with the deep cut on his arm. I was in MCV for drowning (more or less). The guy with internal injuries suffered a ruptured pancreas, spleen, and kidney. We owe you and the EMT's a lot more than a thank you. -- Submitted by beardednewt on 8/29/2007
I was also employed at Kings Dominion during this time. I first worked on the Grizzly coaster and later moved to a position as Foreman of Rides Department Training, where I was responsible for the hiring, initial training, and placement of seasonal staff on each ride in the department. I offer my input here to also verify Will's comments (he and I became very close friends while working at the park) and to point out the park's efforts to provide the safest experience for their guests. I am confident they continue to maintain high standards for safety. The park has always taken the safety of its guests most seriously and specific training is provided to those people who work each ride to make sure they are prepared to handle every situation. Everyone should feel very safe at Kings Dominion knowing that the employees on those rides, while they are mostly young people, are trained, tested, and (in the case of water rides or the water park) certified to perform their jobs. The crew of White Water Canyon that summer did an outstanding job and I am sure the current staff at the park is equal in their ability and dedication to guest safety. While park ownership has changed over the years, many of the park's full-time managers have been there a long time, some since the early 70's. These are the key people who have continued to instill the policies, procedures and standards that make the park such a great place to take our families. DR -- Submitted by CDR93 on 8/13/2008
its nice to know that the park operators are getting the well training for if the needs should arise and make the parks safer for the guest -- Submitted by banditt on 6/23/2009
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