Incidents at Herschend parks

This is a summary of notable incidents that have taken place at amusement parks, water parks or other attractions owned and/or operated by Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation. This list is not intended to be a comprehensive list of every such event, but only those that have a significant impact on the parks or park operations, or are otherwise significantly newsworthy.

The term incidents refers to major accidents, injuries, or deaths that occur at a Herschend-owned or -operated facility. While these incidents were required to be reported to regulatory authorities due to where they occurred, they usually fall into one of the following categories:

• Caused by negligence on the part of the guest. This can be refusal to follow specific ride safety instructions, or deliberate intent to break park rules.
• The result of a guest's known or unknown health issues.
• Negligence on the part of the park, either by ride operator or maintenance.
• Act of God or a generic accident (e.g. slipping and falling), that is not a direct result of an action on anybody's part.

Dollywood

• On April 14, 2004, a female passenger fell off the park's steam train while it was in motion. An investigation determined that a drink was spilled on the woman, who then lost her balance and fell out of the train. The attraction was closed after the incident, but was re-opened the next day after it was determined to be operating normally. The passenger was taken to a Knoxville-area hospital and was released a day later.^[1]

Ride the Ducks

• On April 1, 2010, a duck boat in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania became disabled when a piece of debris on the Delaware River lodged in the rudder. The captain was able to use an auxiliary cable to steer the boat and continue the tour.^[2]

• On July 7, 2010, a "Ride the Ducks" boat in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was hit by a 250-foot barge and sank in the Delaware River. The tourist boat had stalled out about 10 minutes after entering the water, with the vessel's master deploying its anchor to hold position.^[3] Nearby vessels reported the duck boat had begun sending distress calls,^[3] but calls to the tugboat Caribbean Sea that was in charge of the barge went unanswered.^[4] The Coast Guard said 37 people were on the boat, including two crew members. Of those, 35 were rescued, with two passengers missing. On July 8, Herschend Family Entertainment suspended all operations nationwide pending the results of the investigation and a maintenance review of all its vehicles; operations resumed at some locations on July 13.^[5] On July 9, the bodies of the two passengers, a 16-year-old female and a 20-year-old male, both tourists from Hungary, were found near the accident site. The female body was found near the Walt Whitman Bridge around 5am that morning, with the male body spotted by local news crews just before 10am.^[6]

Silver Dollar City

• On July 9, 1980, a 23-year-old man was killed and a 27-year-old woman was injured on the Fire in the Hole indoor roller coaster. A train on the roller coaster was accidentally switched to a maintenance track and storage area, which had low-hanging structures across the track. The male passenger's head struck one of these structures, killing him. The accident was ruled a case of human error, and after an investigation the attraction re-opened two days later. The overhanging structures were later removed from the maintenance area.^[7][8]

References