Mass. coaster death probe raises red flag for Six Flags
By Elisabeth J. Beardsley
Friday, May 7, 2004
Six Flags workers failed to properly secure a disabled man who was flung to his death from a roller coaster last weekend, according to an investigation that has prompted the state to ban an apparently insufficient safety device and has raised an alarm nationwide.
The report, obtained by the Herald and set for public release today, assigns blame to amusement park operators, the ride's manufacturer and to victim Stanley J. Mordarsky himself for not alerting workers he suffered from cerebral palsy.
``Oh yeah right, he rides up in a scooter and they don't know he's disabled? That's about as silly as it gets,'' Mordarsky's twin brother, Daniel, said last night after returning from the wake. ``Anybody that doesn't know he's disabled doesn't live on this planet.''
Daniel Modarsky said his brother used a handicapped entrance to get on the ride. Witnesses say attendants helped him into the car.
While the investigation found ``no apparent mechanical defects,'' the operator of the Superman Ride of Steel should have denied Mordarsky admittance because his large girth prevented a ``T-bar'' lap restraint from fitting firmly against his thighs, the report says.
``Had the ride attendant identified that the `T' bar lap restraint was not in a position necessary to protect the patron from ejection, the patron would have been removed from the ride,'' the report says.
The 20-year-old attendant, whose name was not released, tested negative for intoxicants after the incident, officials said.
Mordarsky, 55, had been previously turned away from the same ride. His family has said he was 5-foot-2 and about 230 pounds. The Bloomfield, Conn., man also had a ``pre-existing medical condition,'' which he failed to report to ride operators despite state laws requiring it, the report says.
A Six Flags New England official was unable to comment because she had not seen the report.
Park visitor Faith Thomas, who was seated behind Mordarsky, noticed he was ``getting air'' and grabbed his suspenders in a futile attempt to hold him, the report says, adding that his left hand was severed before he plunged 31 feet to the ground.
Another heavy-set man was thrown from the same ride at a Six Flags in New York in 1999. He survived and won $4 million in damages. Manufacturer Intamin later installed lap belts, but Mordarsky slipped out of his belt, which state officials criticized as giving a ``false sense of security.''
The use of T-bars as a primary restraint will now be banned, officials say. Among the state's 40 permanent amusement parks, only the Superman ride is affected, and the park must either replace the T-bar with a new device or acquire a state-approved fix from the manufacturer.
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=21996
