Roller Coaster Accident Hurts 8 at O.C. Fair

Eight people, including one man who remains hospitalized, were injured late Monday night in a chain-reaction collision on an Orange County Fair roller coaster after the ride’s operator apparently failed to activate its brakes.

A two-car train on the fair’s popular Cyclone ride crashed at high speed into an empty train in the ride’s loading bay about 11:30 p.m, sending it into a third train that was being loaded, authorities and victims said.

The six occupants of the moving car were slammed against their safety bars and tossed back in their seats. They suffered bruised necks, backs, chests and stomachs. Two more victims in the car that was being loaded were injured when the empty car crashed into theirs, victims said.

Four of the eight fair-goers were taken to a local hospital for medical care, but only one--Chris Pitts, 21, of Huntington Beach--remains hospitalized. Pitts is recovering at Huntington Beach Medical Center from a painfully bruised spine caused by blunt trauma to the abdomen, chest and back, said Dr. Alex Kafi, Pitts’ physician.

The six victims in the moving car said they realized something was wrong only seconds before the crash, when the car failed to slow down as it approached the loading bay.

“The cars came into the bay and didn’t stop, didn’t ease up whatsoever,” Pitts said from his hospital bed. “I was thinking, ‘We’re going to stop, we’re going to stop--well, maybe not.’

“Then we hit, and from there everything was kind of crazy,” he said. “I got slammed around back and forth. We hit it pretty darn hard.”

Buddy Merten, president of B & B Amusements, the Yuma, Ariz.-based owner and operator of the Cyclone, said the ride operator was somehow distracted and kept his hand on a lever when the car arrived at the loading area, instead of removing it to activate the brakes.

“I don’t know what he was thinking. I don’t know what he was looking at. It’s very hard to determine something like that,” Merten said. “He didn’t know quite what happened. He was really shook up.”

Merten said he asked the ride operator if he would take a test for drug and alcohol use shortly after Monday night’s accident. The worker was willing, so Merten decided it wasn’t necessary, he said. There was no reason to believe the employee was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, Merten said.

The worker, whom Merten would not identify, was not disciplined and will continue to operate the roller coaster but not work the brakes, Merten said. He had worked on the ride for about six weeks.

“You don’t fire a good employee just for making an error,” Merten said.

The ride was reopened at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday after a state safety worker determined it was safe, said Norb Bartosik, the fair’s general manager.

A state safety engineer who inspected the ride on Tuesday believes that initial information points toward the operator failing to activate the brakes, said Rich Stephens, a spokesman for Cal-OSHA, the state’s occupational safety and health office.

Jeffrey Martin, a safety inspector with Coulter Consulting Group, an Ohio-based firm that works for the fair, said he also inspected the ride and found it “mechanically sound.”

Another state inspector with more expertise in amusement park rides was flying in from Sacramento for a more detailed check, Stephens said.

Bartosik said he didn’t consider the accident major. “I’m sure (the occupants) feel shook up. Whenever . . . cars on a roller coaster bump, there’s going to be bruising,” he said.

Merten refused to comment on whether there were any previous accidents with the Cyclone, which is in operation at seven to nine fairs throughout the West per year.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 168,077 people had visited this year’s fair, with as many as 1,400 of them riding the Cyclone each hour. In the few minutes after the ride reopened, a line of about 30 youngsters eager to ride it formed.

Merten said the only training the ride operators receive is on the job. If any violations of the state labor code that governs the safety of carnival rides are found, B & B Amusements could face fines of up to $7,000 per violation.

As a general rule, Cal-OSHA inspects and issues permits for every mobile amusement park ride in California at least once a year, before the ride is used in the state, Stephens said.

“We don’t necessarily inspect them every time they set up. But we usually get around to them at least once during the course of the year,” Stephens said.

Stephens did not have details Tuesday of when or where the Cyclone ride was last inspected. Merten, however, said Cal-OSHA inspected it the day before it began operating in Costa Mesa. He added that operators stop the ride for about half an hour daily to check the track and cars, and that no malfunctions had been detected.

Stephens said accidents are rare at California carnivals and fairs. Monday’s collision was the first one reported this year, and only one was reported last year.

Several of the victims and some of their parents said they were upset by the lack of backup safety measures at the fair ride and were contacting lawyers.

Pitts, who was hurt the worst, said he found the fair’s safety precautions and medical care inadequate, contending that only one doctor was available and it took him about 45 minutes to check Pitts’ injuries. He said he was surprised to hear that there were no backup systems in case of a mistake with the brakes.

Dean Reed, an emergency medical technician on contract with the fair, said his team reached the accident site within a few minutes and immediately began to check on victims. He said all refused ambulances.

In addition to Pitts, the victims were Jeremy Buchanan, 17, of Irvine, Jessie Cooper, 18, and Melinda Greenleaf, 17, both of Huntington Beach, all treated at Huntington Beach Medical Center for back pain and released, and Melinda Araki, 27, of New York, Mike Kuriyama, 30, of Gardena, and Alma Gomez, 23, and Pedro Leggrota, 25, both of Santa Ana, all treated at the fair’s first aid department.

“Everything hurts--my back, my ribs, my shoulders, my feet. I’m going to be in bed for the next two weeks,” Greenleaf said.

Kafi, Pitts’ doctor, said Pitts has no neurological damage or internal injuries, but will have to go through two to three months of rehabilitative therapy. He will probably be released from the hospital today.

“He was going really fast, at least 20 to 30 m.p.h. If he wasn’t this young, I would have expected much more severe injuries,” Kafi said.