Cleat, Training Focus of Probe in Disney Death

A state investigation of an accident that killed a tourist at Disneyland on Christmas Eve is focusing on whether the park was regularly misusing a cleat on the tall ship Columbia to stop the boat as it reached its dock, a source said Wednesday.

The investigation also is looking at whether a key employee was adequately trained, the source said.

The accident occurred when the Columbia approached a dock too fast. Contrary to standard procedures for when the boat is moving fast, the employee on the dock attached a mooring line to a metal cleat on the bow. The line stretched taut, then ripped the cleat loose and flung it into a crowd waiting to board the ship for a ride around the park’s Rivers of America area. A Washington state man died and his wife and the dock worker were seriously injured.

But more than just operator error might be involved, the source said. The question is whether that cleat was meant to be used for stopping the boat at all, or simply for holding it in place once the boat was fully docked. Repeated improper use, if it occurred, might have put undue stress on the cleat, the source said.

“This was a cleat designed to hold a boat motionless, not a cleat designed to slow a

boat down,” said a source familiar with the investigation by the state’s occupational safety agency, Cal/OSHA.

Cal/OSHA regulations say “equipment shall be of adequate design and shall not be used or operated under conditions of speed, stresses or loads which endanger employees.”

The Cal/OSHA source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was unclear whether use of the cleat was “inappropriate” enough to call for citing Disneyland.

The other focus of the investigation is whether the employee who attached the bowline, Christine Carpenter, was fully trained, the source said. The 30-year-old assistant manager had been assigned to the area where the accident occurred just two months earlier, and was filling in for a regular ride operator when the accident occurred.

Disney spokesman Ray Gomez has said that park records show Carpenter was trained in dock procedures, including not attaching the line when the ship was approaching too fast. But Cal/OSHA officials said the records are inconclusive. Gomez could not be reached for comment late Wednesday on how the cleat was meant to be used.

Cal/OSHA is investigating the accident because Carpenter suffered a severe foot injury in it. Disney also is investigating; a police probe was closed after finding no evidence of intentional sabotage or criminal negligence.

It was unclear what fines might be assessed if Disney is found to have violated work-safety rules. The formulas for penalties include safety history and cooperation with investigators.

Cal/OSHA has investigated eight accidents or complaints of unsafe conditions at Disneyland in the last three years, its records show.

It levied fines three times: $225 when a seamstress fell through a Goofy’s Bounce House floor hatch left open; $7,465 when a worker broke an ankle because of an overloaded crane at the Matterhorn; and $1,200 in a case involving potentially harmful fumes released on a Jungle Cruise dock.