Former ATSB investigator Aaron Holman joins Dreamworld as director of engineering
From MH370 to the Giant Drop, the man who once hunted black boxes is keeping thrill rides on track as part of Dreamworld’s new dawn.
It’s the kind of shed that could make a grown man cry.
With tons of tools, meticulously organised work stations and acres of space, it’s more aircraft hangar than theme park maintenance garage … but perhaps that’s why Aaron Holman feels right at home.
Stepping around rows of disembodied roller coaster cars, Dreamworld’s new director of engineering opens the door to his office, where two curious items on his windowsill hint at a long history of thrillseeking.
A black cylinder mounted on a polished wooden plaque sits beside a small model of a Malaysian Airlines aeroplane, clues that Mr Holman’s previous career concerned the thrill of the chase, rather than the adrenaline of thrill rides.
But the fact that one of Australia’s most respected safety engineers is staking his reputation on roller-coasters is a sure sign that Dreamworld’s darkest days are behind it … with a focus on blue skies for the future.
Indeed, before moving to the theme park, his previous roles included air crash investigator at the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, chief investigator of accidents at the New Zealand Transport Accident Investigation Commission and chief safety engineer at Workplace Health and Safety Queensland.
The plaque with black cylinder is part of an infamous black box flight recorder, given to Mr Holman upon his leaving the ATSB, while the miniature airline is a replica of MH370, the lost flight that disappeared with 239 people aboard in 2014, and whose location he was tasked with finding.
While his resume might be more often seen in aviation boardrooms than theme parks, Mr Holman said Dreamworld shared the same safety mindset, where systems, trust and culture had to be airtight.
“When the ATSB was asked to help in the search for MH370, I was there from start to finish, I went out on the Ocean Shield to search the water for five weeks and when we came back I was part of the search strategy working group,” said Mr Holman, who now oversees all engineering operations across Dreamworld’s ride portfolio and technical infrastructure.
“It certainly bugs me that it’s still missing, but even though we didn’t find it, I am proud that we put a lot of information out there for public scrutiny on our approach to it, and it’s stood the test of time.
“It was a fascinating experience though, and I still keep in touch with the search co-ordinator so I’m hopeful we will find it one day. Whether the black box will be able to tell us anything after so long and presumably at a great depth is another story.
“But our job was never to say why it happened, we were there purely to assist in the search for it.”
Mr Holman said while his background was in aviation, his previous role at WHSQ included being responsible for theme parks when the new Major Amusement Park licence was introduced.
He said that role not only gave him an introduction to theme parks in general, but the culture of Dreamworld specifically.
He said there were strong parallels between the industries, with a need to constantly think ahead and build in redundancies to ensure guests could step on board either aeroplane or rollercoaster with complete trust.
So he said when Dreamworld CEO Greg Yong told him that former chief engineer Adrian Summers was retiring, he jumped to accept the “once-in-a-career opportunity”.
“There were two things that really appealed to me: being able to get my hands dirty with the team on such a huge variety of rides and machinery; and the culture, it’s just first-class” he said.
“Working with Greg Yong and (director of safety) James Redgrove is not just about working for what’s best for Dreamworld, but for the whole industry.
“Plus, my kids are just ecstatic about this job. Every day they ask if they can come to work with me.
“My younger son, he’s six, I have to get the tape measure out every morning to see if he’s hit 120cm yet to get on the bigger rides.
“But I love the rides, too. We do maintenance on the Giant Drop and you can ride the catch car up in the morning for the inspections and you can even go up above the machine room to the roof.
“It’s no good if you don’t like heights, although it does have a railing, but in the morning it’s absolutely stunning … one of the best views in the Gold Coast.
“It’s also great just to take our visitors on the rides. We had some control system engineers come through the other week and they were all very serious, like engineers often are, but then I took them on the Steel Taipan and they were just like kids.
“You just see the joy on their faces, it’s a lot of fun.”
Coming from a safety and accident investigation background, Mr Holman said he was incredibly impressed by Dreamworld’s transformation after the fatal Thunder River Rapids accident in 2016, with a renewed organisational commitment to safety, culture, and operational leadership under Mr Yong.
The Dreamworld CEO appointed outgoing director of engineering Mr Summers after his first retirement from Village Roadshow Theme Parks, where the two had worked together.
Mr Summers said, together, they “resuscitated” Dreamworld back from the brink, but it was touch and go for a while.
He said he was now looking forward to seeing what Mr Holman would do with the “recovered patient”.
Mr Holman said although it was a big role to fill, he was looking forward to the challenge, including working on the new King Claw thrill ride to open later this year.
And while that project has been smooth so far, he said the team was always on alert.
“It doesn’t matter where in the world an incident or accident occurs, we always do an immediate internal analysis and see if there’s any applicability,” he said.
“There was an accident at a park in Saudi Arabia recently with a claw-type of ride and we were immediately assembling and analysing it.
“It’s actually a very different ride, but we will never ignore anything like that … there’s no second chance.
“That’s the thread that runs through this work, whether in aviation or amusement parks: the importance of openness and transparency.
“Coming from the investigation agency, it didn’t matter what we found, we could never use those reports for prosecution. Instead, we could learn from mistakes.
“When I see people not reporting anything, that’s when I start to worry. When ‘nothing’ is wrong, that means something is wrong.
“Not that there should be major problems, but you should see a stream of little things, nothing serious, but just constant corrections. That’s how you stay on top of safety.”
As well as building new rides like the 27m-tall King Claw – which comes complete with cyclone clips in case of further wild storm action on the Coast – Mr Holman said he was also focused on the reliability of rides.
He said that when guests walked through the gates, they should be able to count on a full day of adventure.
“Guests come here expecting magic – and part of that is making sure the rides they’re excited about are open, ready, and running safely,” he said.
“My job is to make sure that happens, every day.”
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