Family Rescued From CWoA Ride

[GavG]

A father trapped with his frightened family 5m above the ground on an amusement park monorail has called for the ride to be shut until a full inquiry is held.

Mark Coates, 37, a teacher from Slough, was stuck for an hour-and-a-half with his son, five, daughter, two, and teenage niece on the Safari Sky Way at Chessington World of Adventures.

Mr Coates said his family and about 30 other passengers were left increasingly anxious as they waited in the pouring rain for staff to fix the ride on August 28.

Mr Coates said the passengers had "no confidence" in the youthful amusement park staff, who he claimed were not "properly trained" to deal with the ride breaking down.

However, a park spokesman said "experienced" staff were on site quickly to carry out "well-rehearsed procedures".

He has now contacted the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and called for a full review into the park??????s emergency contingency plans.

Mr Coates said: "They have offered us free tickets but there is no way I would go back there until I was completely sure they had made sure the rides were safe.

"The only explanation they could offer was that the monorail had not broken down since the 1980s. There seemed to be was no rescue plan if something like this went wrong, which for a theme park such as Chessington, is shocking and unacceptable."

The Safari Skyway, which opened in early 1986, was designed to take in a birds-eye view of Chessington Zoo??????s many animals, including gorillas, lions, tigers, and sealions.



In August 2009, fire crews were called to rescue about 40 people who were stuck on the monorail for more than three hours.

On this occasion, Mr Coates said parents started to become concerned for the welfare of their children after being stuck on the ride in the cold and rain for more than an hour.

He said: ??????Inevitably it started to rain and after being on there for more than an hour with no blankets to keep us warm it was clear that the kids were getting upset.

"My daughter was very cold and clearly uncomfortable."

A spokesman for Chessington World of Adventures said: ??????Experienced resort staff were on site quickly to assist with immediate guest care including providing blankets and ponchos for their comfort as well as looking after them when the ride was safely returned to the station.

"This was done manually using our well-rehearsed procedures but unfortunately, even though the ride was not full, this exercise takes approximately 45 minutes. At no point were the guests on the ride at any risk.

"We appreciate however that this caused some concern and inconvenience and would like to apologise to all those affected."

The park is under the ownership of Merlin Entertainments, which also owns nearby Thorpe Park.
Source

[Coasterkidmwm]

Sounds like a wuss

[mkingy]

Pathetic. Take the free tickets and get on with life. Next we'll see Skoda in the news because one of their cars broke down on the side of the motorway.

Take the free tickets and get over it.

and the HSE have sent him a letter back which says that the ride and the saftey regulations are inspected at leat once and year and the mechanical operation and saftey of the ride is inspected every day. true story bro