Dreamworld operator on 'her first day' when four people died on rapids ride
One of the two operators managing the Thunder River Rapids ride at Dreamworld on the day four people were killed had only been trained that morning, a court has heard.
Senior ride operator Peter Nemeth told the inquest his younger colleague Courtney Williams, who was managing the ride with him, only started that day.
"Was that her first day?" counsel assisting the inquiry Ken Fleming QC asked.
"Yes, I found out she was trained that morning," Mr Nemeth replied.
Mr Fleming suggested training documentation obtained from Dreamworld looked as though Mr Nemeth had only been trained as high as a level two operator — but Mr Nemeth said he recalled being trained up to a level three.
Mr Nemeth has taken the stand as part of a coronial inquest into the deaths of Kate Goodchild, Luke Dorsett, Roozi Araghi and Cindy Low at the Gold Coast theme park in October 2016.
Operator 'surprised' there was an emergency stop
Mr Nemeth said he was "surprised" to learn there was an emergency stop button near the level two operator that could halt the conveyor within two seconds.
He testified he would have been able to shut the ride down more quickly had he have known.
"But you didn't do that because you didn't know it was possible?" barrister Matthew Hickey, acting for Ms Low's family, asked.
"Yes, that's correct," Mr Nemeth replied.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Nemeth told the court he pushed a "slow stop" button on the main control panel "two or three times" before two rafts collided, killing the group.
The button could stop the conveyor in eight seconds.
On Monday, the court heard Ms Williams had access to the emergency button, but she told police she was not aware what the switch really did.
Mr Nemeth was asked about the collision between the two rafts, which resulted in the deaths of the four people.
"I saw the second raft coming over the top of the conveyor … so about five to 10 metres between them," Mr Nemeth said.
"What button did you press?" Mr Fleming asked.
"The one to stop the conveyor moving," he replied.
"How many times did you press that button?" Mr Fleming asked.
"I turned around and I pressed it more than once to make sure the raft stopped before it collided with the other one," Mr Nemeth said.
"Did the conveyor stop?" Mr Fleming asked.
"No, it did not stop, even though I had pressed it, as I said, two or three times," Mr Nemeth told the court.
"It did eventually stop but that was when the rafts collided."
Previous incidents
- January 2001 — Collision of rafts due to operator error
- October 2004 — A visitor fell into the water while unloading when rafts bumped together
- August 2005 — Three rafts mounted up together at the same time
- 19 October 2016 — Water pump failed but nobody hurt
- 25 October 2016 — Two water pumps failed at 11:50am and 1:09pm
- 25 October 2016 — Fatal incident at 2:00pm when pump failed and two rafts collided on conveyor
More at link
