Dreamworld supervisor tells inquest ride conveyor was never stopped after fatal collision
Updated
Photo:
The partner of Kate Goodchild, who was killed on the ride, questioned staff. (AAP: Dan Peled)
The partner of one of the four people killed on Dreamworld's Thunder River Rapids ride questioned staff about why the ride was not stopped after the two rafts collided, an inquest has heard.
Kate Goodchild, Luke Dorsett, Roozi Araghi and Cindy Low were killed as a result of the malfunction in October 2016.
The coronial inquiry into the incident previously heard a large water pump feeding the ride failed and two rafts collided after one became stuck on the conveyor belt, causing the victims' vessel to flip.
The court heard that at the time of the incident, Ms Goodchild's partner David Turner asked staff: "Why didn't you stop the ride?"
Ride supervisor Sarah Cotter testified that when the emergency calls came through the radio, she assumed the conveyor had been running through the whole incident.
"My opinion is that the conveyor was never stopped," Ms Cotter said.
"I don't know if it was ever stopped or just jam stopped."
Last week, senior ride operator Peter Nemeth, who was running the Thunder River Rapids ride at the time of the fatalities, told the inquest he hit the conveyor stop button two or three times from the main control panel before the two rafts collided.
Ms Cotter also told the inquest she thought it was "ridiculous" that the ride had broken down twice before the four people were killed, and was told by engineering staff that it would be shut down for the day if it happened a third time.
Barrister Matthew Hickey for Cindy Low's family asked why she did not call an engineering supervisor herself if she was concerned about the frequent breakdowns.
"I trusted that they knew what they were doing and it was safe," Ms Cotter said.
"They know more about how the rides work than I do … if they say it's ready and it's safe then I am going to believe them."
Sarah Cotter trained junior staff at Dreamworld and said she never informed her colleagues about past incidents on the ride because she was never told about them.
Ms Cotter told the court she had worked on other rides in the theme park, which broke down more than three times in one day and were not shut down.
'Safety culture at Dreamworld very sound'
Mechanical fitter Michael Stead said he performed "comprehensive" daily, monthly and annual checks on the Thunder River Rapids ride.
The court was shown his statement to police following the fatal collision, in which he said the "safety culture at Dreamworld is very sound".
"Along with the regular checks, we do the annual shutdown, which is very comprehensive and much of the expendable equipment (nuts, bolts etc) is replaced at that time," the statement said.
Mr Stead said there were many long-term employees in his department.
He said nobody ever reported any safety concerns to him about the ride and if they had, he would have reported it to supervisors.
Topics: courts-and-trials, law-crime-and-justice, emergency-incidents, disasters-and-accidents, community-and-society, southport-4215, coomera-4209, brisbane-4000, qld, australia
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