State Probe of Disney Ride Begins

State officials were investigating Saturday whether mechanical or human error caused the first major ride accident at Disney’s California Adventure, in which at least 15 park visitors suffered minor injuries the day before.

The California Screamin’ roller coaster will remain closed for several days while investigators look at the ride’s dispatch coordination to determine whether a computer failed or a person caused the accident, said Len Welsh, acting chief of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

“The timing was part of [the accident],” he said. “We won’t reopen the ride until we understand what caused it, to make sure it is safe.”

Welsh could not say how long the investigation would take.

The accident occurred shortly after 6:30 p.m. on the coaster, which propels riders through a silhouette of Mickey Mouse’s head. The trains, each carrying 24 passengers, were about to reach the end of the ride. The first train stopped, but the second hit it, said John J. Nicoletti, a spokesman for the city of Anaheim.

By 11 p.m., all of the injured had been treated and released from hospitals, he said. He said that 39 of the 48 riders walked off the ride. One was taken out on a board, put on a lift operated by the Anaheim Fire Department and transported over a wall. Eight others were removed by ladder.

California Screamin’, which opened in 2001, was billed by Disney as evoking “the great thrills of wooden roller coasters from days gone by.” It catapults riders to 55 mph in less than 5 seconds and has a 108-foot drop.

Sandor Kernacs, president of Intamin AG, the ride’s Switzerland-based manufacturer, declined to comment Saturday. There have been three fatalities on Intamin rides in other parks in recent years, but they were related to passenger restraint systems.

In March 2004, a jury ruled against a Milwaukee doctor who alleged he suffered whiplash on the California Screamin’ ride.

A 22-year-old man was killed in the 2003 derailment of Disneyland’s Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster; it was built by another manufacturer.

Friday’s accident comes a month after the California Supreme Court toughened safety classifications for roller coasters. Operators of roller coasters and similar attractions must ensure the same level of safety as those who run buses, trains and other means of public transportation, the court ruled. The court majority wrote that theme park operators must use “the utmost care and diligence” for the safety of riders rather than mere “reasonable care.” Most states require operators of amusement rides to use only “reasonable care.”

The ruling could make it easier for those injured on rides to win lawsuits against amusement parks, legal experts say, but it could also lead to the removal or modification of thrill rides.

Taking his fourth Disney trip in two years, Kevin Bromagen, 38, an insurance claims adjustor from Lincoln, Neb., and daughter Taylor, 6, were aboard the front train at the time of the accident.

“We were stopped for about 60 seconds. We had never stopped that long,” Bromagen said. “I could hear the other car coming. We couldn’t do anything but get ready to be hit. We couldn’t move and we couldn’t see it coming.”

Then, he said, he “heard a tremendous smack and then people screaming,” including Taylor. The two chose not to be treated at a hospital, he said.

Bromagen said Saturday afternoon in a telephone interview after returning to Lincoln that he had had a headache since the accident. Taylor woke up three times Friday night screaming “Get me off this ride,” he said.

Bromagen said park staff gave him $30 worth of food and front-row seats at a show, but that compensation wasn’t adequate.

“I’m not sure I’ll be rushing back,” he said.