Dreamworld inquest: ride operator Peter Nemeth did not know two buttons had different stopping times
AN operator at the controls of the Thunder River Rapids Ride did not know two emergency stop buttons had two dramatically different stopping times, an inquest into the Dreamworld tragedy has been told.
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AN operator at the controls of the Thunder River Rapids Ride did not know two emergency stop buttons had two dramatically different stopping times, an inquest into the Dreamworld tragedy has been told.
The ride operator pressed the slower stop button to try to halt the conveyor carrying the ill-fated raft with its six passengers, but that did not work.
The raft struck another that had blocked its way, causing it to flip. Four of the occupants were killed.
IT TOOK 20 SECONDS FOR CONVEYOR TO STOP
It was revealed yesterday that two children who were also on the ride remained secured in the raft by seatbelts and were not thrown clear, despite media being told at the time by a police spokesman that they ended up in the water and were pulled to safety.
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Ride operator Peter Nemeth, who could operate nearly every ride in the theme park, made the shocking revelation about the emergency buttons yesterday on the second day of the inquest into the Dreamworld disaster of October 25, 2016, which killed tourists Kate Goodchild, Roozi Araghi, Luke Dorsett and Cindy Low.
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The inquest in the Southport Coroners Court has been told there were two buttons which stopped the conveyor belt — one on the main control panel Mr Nemeth was operating, which took about eight seconds to stop.
The second was about 12m away near junior ride operator Courtney Williams, which was able to stop the ride in two seconds.
Ms Williams had been trained in operating the ride the morning of the tragedy and, the inquest has heard, did not know what the button did and was told not to worry about it.
Mr Nemeth said he was one of the top 10 ride operators and had been working at the park since 2012.
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Under questioning from Matthew Hickey, barrister for Ms Low’s family, Mr Nemeth said he had not been aware of the halt time difference between the two buttons.
Mr Hickey asked: “If you had known the emergency stop button near Courtney Williams (stopped the conveyor faster) you would have been prepared to move to that place to stop the conveyor more quickly?”
Mr Nemeth: “Yes.”
Mr Hickey: “But you didn’t do that because you didn’t know that was possible?”
Mr Nemeth: “Yes, that is correct.”
The inquest was also told by forensic crash investigator Senior Constable Steven Cornish that judging by when the conveyor stopped, the slower stop button – which would take eight seconds to bring the Thunder River Rapids Ride conveyor to a halt – was pressed 10 seconds after the incident.
The fast stop button near Ms Williams was never pressed.
Under cross examination, Sen-Const Cornish was asked whether the tragedy would have been avoided if the fast stop button had been pressed.
“It would not have avoided it,” Sen-Const Cornish said.
“It may have limited some injuries. Possibly.”
In the days before the accident, staff had been discouraged from using the fast stop button near where Ms Williams was standing.
“The e-stop situated at the unload platform must only be pressed in the event the main control panel cannot be reached,” a staff memo read.
Mr Nemeth told the inquiry yesterday he had pressed the slower stop button on the main control panel before the rafts collided after noticing water levels dropping.
The tragedy occurred after a pump referred to as the “south pump’’ failed, causing water levels to drop significantly and beaching one raft on top of the conveyor belt.
A second raft carrying passengers then hit the stuck raft and flipped, throwing four of the occupants out.
“I do remember seeing the second raft,” Mr Nemeth said.
“I saw the second raft coming over the conveyor belt.”
Mr Nemeth said at that stage there was between five and 10 metres between two rafts.
He said he pressed the slow stop button, which would stop the conveyor belt within eight seconds.
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“It didn’t stop even though I pressed it two or three times,” Mr Nemeth said.
The control panel at Dreamworld came under fire in the first two days of the inquest.
On Monday principal investigator Detective Sergeant Nicola Brown described it as “confusing”.
A photograph shown to the inquiry showed the control panel had about 15 buttons and was not clearly labelled.
The inquest has been told there was no single button that shut down every component of the ride.
Mr Nemeth said a single shut-down button on the Thunder River Rapids Ride would have “been easier”.
He said he was working through panic and shock as he watched the rafts about to collide.
Mr Hickey: “If there had been a single button would that have made an instinctive response easier?”
Mr Nemeth: “It’s hard to tell. I cannot really comment on that.”
Mr Nemeth then said it “probably would have” been easier if there was just one button to stop the ride rather than multiple stop buttons.
He said his training did not involve any drills but that would have assisted him.
Mr Nemeth had two lots of 15-minute “refresher’’ training on how to operate the ride in the months before the tragedy.
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Documents tendered to the inquiry showed Mr Nemeth received 15 minutes of refresher training in May 2016 on being a deckhand, loading the ride and operating the ride.
A second lot of 15 minutes was completed in June.
Mr Nemeth had also completed an hour and 45 minutes of training in August 2015 to become a level-two operator for the rapids ride.
He said he was not sure why the three components were all at the same time in the 15-minute slots.
“It could have been in relation to an updated procedures,” he said.
The documents showed Mr Nemeth’s training in June 2016 was conducted by a Jason Johns.
Counsel assisting the coroner Ken Fleming asked Mr Nemeth if he remembered training with Mr Johns.
“No, not to my recollection,” he said.
Mr Nemeth is due to finish giving evidence this morning.
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