Fatal Accident Delays Opening of Thrill Ride

Knott’s Berry Farm postponed indefinitely the opening of a new big-drop ride after a fatal accident on the park’s plunging flume ride.

During a private party at the park Friday night, Lori Mason-Larez, 40, of Duarte came out of the safety belt of the Perilous Plunge’s boat as it made its steep descent down a 115-foot drop at the end of the 90-second ride. She was pronounced dead at the West Anaheim Medical Center.

As park employees stood at the entrance and exit to Perilous Plunge on Sunday informing guests it was closed, just a few hundred yards away, other employees were testing the new VertiGo ride. Knott’s has billed VertiGo as “the most intense thrill ride of the planet.” VertiGo, at 320 feet, is 68 feet higher than the park’s current highest plunge ride, the Extreme Scream.

Knott’s officials spent several hours Sunday testing the new ride and giving operators further training. Park-goers who wanted to try the ride Sunday were told by employees that the park hoped to have it open before day’s end.

But park spokeswoman Susan Tierney told The Times that no opening has been set. VertiGo had been scheduled to open Saturday, she said, but that was put off because of the fatal accident.

“We definitely thought it would be inappropriate to open that ride in light of what happened Friday,” Tierney said.

The accident is under investigation by state investigators, who will try to determine how Mason-Larez slipped from the ride. Her seat belt and lap bar were reportedly in position and latched when the ride ended.

Len Welsh, a spokesman for the California Department of Occupational Safety and Health, said much of the investigation will hinge on the county coroner’s report.

“A lot of it depends on how clear the coroner’s office is with its findings,” he said. “If they made an unequivocal finding on the ride being a cause or not being a cause, that would aid us greatly. In this case, we have to look at how the woman got out of her seat and what was involved there.”

Chief Deputy Coroner Cullen Ellingburgh said his office, which has ruled that the woman’s death resulted from “multiple, extensive blunt traumatic injuries,” is still awaiting the results of toxicology tests, which may not be available for weeks.

Mason-Larez, a mother of five, was riding with one of her sons in one of the 24-passenger Perilous Plunge boats about 10:20 p.m. The family was there as part of a private party sponsored by Target stores for their employees and guests. The victim’s sister works at a Target in Duarte.

Three other people have died this summer on amusement park rides in California.

VertiGo, which looks like a small spacecraft with six open-air seats, is held by guide wires from three 300-foot poles, which sit at a triangle. At the beginning, riders hear a whoosh sound like a rocket launch, then are shot into the air at 45 mph and sent soaring about 20 feet higher than the top of the poles. Riders start out sitting up, but along the ride, most of the seats flop so the riders are sent belly forward, as if suspended in space.

“At the top, it feels like zero gravity,” said Bruce Lolley, who has tested the ride and works for the video camera team for the park. “It’s scary all right, but then, isn’t that what makes rides so much fun?”

The ride costs extra--$8 for those who ride upright (the Hot Rocket), $11 for what’s called the Big Bang or the Big Bang Plus, where the seat allows the passenger to fall face-forward during the ride. For an additional $14.95, Knott’s will sell a short videotape of the park-goer’s ride.