UPDATE: LAKE DELTON (WKOW)—Mount Olympus, a Lake Delton resort, is getting rid of the roller coaster a man fell from last month. This comes after state inspectors issued four code violations against Mount Olympus.
The Wisconsin Department of Safety and professional services conducted an investigation in to the Mount Olympus Opa! roller coaster, after a man fell from the ride on March 6. The state report says the park didn't follow all manufacturer-recommended maintenance on the roller coaster and that a lap bar malfunction is to blame for the accident in which a 63-year-old man was thrown and fell 15 feet.
The report states, "Our investigation determined that components of the lap bar system were defective and/or worn, which resulted in the lap bar malfunction."
State inspectors used dummies and weights to recreate the accident.
"It should be noted that the weight restriction for passengers is a total of 660 lbs,” the report states. “The estimated weight of passengers at the time of the incident was a total of 720 lbs."
The victim, 63-year-old Anthony Theisen, sustained a fractured skull and brain injury in addition to fractured vertebrae and other bones, according to his attorney, Todd Korb.
"He came out of a coma yesterday,” Korb said. “He still has respiratory issues and we don't' know the full extent of his brain injury but at least he is showing some good signs."
Shortly after the report's release, Mount Olympus issued a statement saying in part:
“The important fact is the ride is permanently closed and will be removed from the park. No fines have been issued…However, other findings regarding weight limitations, bulletins and the inspection of lap bars are inconsistent with what our internal investigators found.”
State inspectors did issue four code violations to Mount Olympus for the maintenance failures, those would need to be corrected if the ride were to reopen.
"They should have been doing the things to maintain the ride,” Korb said. “This is not just one part that was malfunctioning...four of the 12 bars were failing."
Korb did say he believes Theisen and his family will be pleased to hear the ride is closed for good. Korb says it's too soon to determine if they will file a civil suit. He says first they need to know the extent of Theisen's injuries and his prognosis and that could take months.
WISCONSIN DELLS (WKOW) --- The Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services has issued 4 code violations against Mt Olympus Theme Park after a roller coaster accident in March sent a man to the hospital.
A copy of the report filed by the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services(DSPS) was provided to 27 News. It shows Mt. Olympus was not following all manufacturer-recommended maintenance on the ride and the group on the coaster at the time of the accident exceeded the ride's weight limit.
Police reports show Anthony Theisen fell more than 15 feet from the Opa Roller Coaster on March 6, injuring his head. Theisen's attorney told 27 News Tuesday his client is now out of a coma, but is still hospitalized.
State investigators found the theme park did complete daily inspections of the Opa Roller Coaster, but was unaware of a bulletin issued by the manufacturer in October 2010 requiring additional daily maintenance for the ride's lap bars. That service bulletin recommended daily, careful checking of all individual bars to see if they close correctly. DSPS ordered Mt. Olympus to implement that maintenance.
Another code violation found that the lap bar malfunction was caused by defective or worn parts and that Mt Olympus must replace those part.
Weight capacity was another violation, with the report stating the total passenger weight limit is 660 pounds. At the time of Theisen's fall, the coaster was operating with a total of 720 pounds on the ride.
The last violation was no documentation of training for ride operators. DSPS found the operator had received training but there was documentation of the training recorded by the business.
The findings of the state investigators matched those of police investigators, with both noting the lap bar in the seat where Theisen was sitting had failed and would not lock into place. The DSPS report says, "the locking teeth and pawls were not locking properly and that the mechanisms and components appeared to have wear."
The report notes "total lap bar failure" on seats 1 and 4 of Car 6, which Theisen was in when he fell.
How was there that much weight in the car? The ride works fine. This model has never had any issues in the past and I dont think that Mt Olympus needs to go as far as to remove it. Were the riders obease? Because every single injury/death of a rider on a roller coaster in the recent past has been overweight. I just think theres a pattern forming here and riders need to be mindful of their decisions as well as the ride operators.
Blaming it on obesity is premature. The ride has a stated limit of 660 pounds per car, which would easily be surpassed by 4 adults of average weight. That is why SFGAm put the 3 adults per car rule in effect on Ragin' Cajun.
It was already determined that the accident was caused by a complete failure of the lapbar locking mechanism, so weight is pretty irrelevant, the bar was down far enough to satisfy the control system.
Favorite Wood Coasters: The Voyage, Ravine Flyer II, Thunderhead, Balder Favorite Steel: Steel Vengeance, Expedition GeForce, Olympia Looping Parks visited: 222, Coasters Ridden: Steel: 822, Wood: 178, Total: 1000
4 of 12 lapbars malfunctioning. That is egregious. That is unacceptable. That is something that should warrant investigation of EVERY ride at that park. 4 code violations and no fines is a joke.
1 in 3 chance that your lapbar didn't work properly. Are you kidding me. Mt. Olympus needs to get on the ball before someone dies, and the state of Wisconsin should get their act together on inspections.
Top 5 wood-5-Goliath 4-Ravine Flyer II 3-Phoenix 2-Voyage 1-El Toro Top 5 Steel- 5-Velocicoaster 4- Maverick 3- Fury 325 2-Steel Vengeance 1-X2 Coaster Count: 444
Glad to hear it. Hopefully it is replaced with something worth riding, although (realistically) that means it would probably need to be outside- slim pickings for quality indoor coasters.
Muck Finnesota wrote:Glad to hear it. Hopefully it is replaced with something worth riding, although (realistically) that means it would probably need to be outside- slim pickings for quality indoor coasters.
Replaced with something worth riding? First time for everything at Mt. Olympus I guess.
I have good memories of Hades before Mt. O needlessly went with the flavor of the month and threw an inversion into it. Zeus and Cyclops aren't anything to write home about, but there isn't anything wrong with them either.
I don't think its premature at all. Look at all the recent accidents that have happened where a rider was thrown. I dont understand why anyone would want to cram 4 people in those tiny cars.
All I'm saying is that people need to be mindful.When I was at Mt Olympus last nothing stood out of the ordinary. No more then at a Six Flags park. Operators need to be more forceful and stop playing "nice".
Cove26flags wrote:When I was at Mt Olympus last nothing stood out of the ordinary. No more than at a Six Flags park.
That's the blessed truth. Unfortunately, you wouldn't know it if you're just reading coaster message boards. Put some enthusiasts in a park where the ride ops are foreign speaking, don't look thrilled to be at work (oh no!), and mix in a few coasters with <gasp> 1 train operation (!) and you're better off throwing something at a wasp nest and sticking around to see what happens. If I didn't know any better, I wouldn't step foot inside that property without a helmet and and a primo life insurance policy. Luckily, it's not like that at all.
Cove26flags wrote:When I was at Mt Olympus last nothing stood out of the ordinary. No more than at a Six Flags park.
That's the blessed truth. Unfortunately, you wouldn't know it if you're just reading coaster message boards. Put some enthusiasts in a park where the ride ops are foreign speaking, don't look thrilled to be at work (oh no!), and mix in a few coasters with <gasp> 1 train operation (!) and you're better off throwing something at a wasp nest and sticking around to see what happens. If I didn't know any better, I wouldn't step foot inside that property without a helmet and and a primo life insurance policy. Luckily, it's not like that at all.
Hell hath no fury like an enthusiast scorned.
I think Six Flags parks are better. At least they know how to operate 2 trains.
Cove26flags wrote:All I'm saying is that people need to be mindful.When I was at Mt Olympus last nothing stood out of the ordinary. No more then at a Six Flags park. Operators need to be more forceful and stop playing "nice".
You must have been walking around with your eyes closed. I've seen all sorts of things at Mt. Olympus that would make a lawyers head explode.
- Hades ride ops sitting on the track between trains - Go kart tracks missing fences that separate them from the midway - Restricted areas that are left completely open - Piles of bolts and screws that have fallen off of rides
I'm not saying that Mt. Olympus is a certain death trap, but it's clear that spending money on safety is not their top priority. It would be way to easy for someone to do something stupid there, and I'm frankly amazed that there haven't been more accidents, except of course for the people who get beat half to death on their coasters.
