Real Death in the Real World

In the aftermath of a fatal injury to a tourist at Disneyland last week, an autopsy report has raised fresh questions. When Anaheim police learned of a possible fatality at the Columbia sailing ship ride on Christmas Eve, officers waited in a Disney conference room while park employees tidied the scene. The delay meant time for company spin, and time lost while witnesses vanished into the crowd. Satisfied that no crime had occurred, police allowed Disneyland to collect and keep the evidence.

Who else would have been afforded such latitude to control the scene of so serious an accident? It is hard to imagine the same protocol on any other dock.

Disneyland is a franchise player in Anaheim, but this should not mean that it gets to frame the response when people are killed or badly injured. If the unsightly mess was the consideration that Disneyland says, Anaheim authorities could have secured the area, keeping onlookers at a distance.

The report also raises questions about basic seamanship and training of personnel for handling a ship approaching a dock. Workers apparently violated their own procedures for securing Columbia, which approached too fast. Even in the nostalgic world of Frontierland, ships cannot be regarded as mere props on a set.

And how is it that these basic facts must be gleaned from a coroner’s report? Were it not for a state Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation arising from the injury to a worker, there would not be much stirring by way of public inquiry.

In the end, the land of make-believe should give way to the scrutiny and standards of the real world. Safety is the public’s business, even at a theme park where everyday cares are checked at the front gate.