DREAMWORLD TRAGEDY TIMELINE
1986: The Thunder River Rapids Ride is built.
Late 80s/early 90s: In a date unable to be specified, the ride undergoes maintenance to remove some wooden slats near the conveyor belt, creating a gap.
1999: A safety audit recommends an emergency stop button to halt all mechanisms of the ride be placed on the main control panel. It is never done. January 18, 2001: A raft flips on the Thunder River Rapids Ride during a dry run before the ride opens for the day. The raft flips after hitting other carriages stopped on a protrusion on the conveyor belt. In an internal email, a safety manager writes they “shudder to think” what would have happened if the rafts had guests on them. The Southport Coroner’s Court hears it was one of a “number” of incidents with the ride.
October 7, 2004: A passenger ends up in the water after two rafts collide. No one is injured.
2006: Safety audits are conducted on the ride. It is recommended that all buttons be clearly labelled. The recommended upgrades are never made.
Early 2016: A safety audit across the entire park gives Dreamworld a rating of 41.7 per cent. A pass is 75 per cent.
October 18, 2016: A memo is sent to all staff that the emergency stop button should be used only when the main control panel cannot be reached.
October 19, 2016: The south pump fails. Engineers describe it as an “earth fault” and reset the pump. Engineers and “drive managers” are booked to do further maintenance on October 27, 2016.
11.50am, October 25, 2016: The south pump has an “earth fault” again; engineers reset the pump and the ride continues. Operators had noticed the water levels dropped and stopped the ride.
1.09pm: The south pump fails again. The ride is stopped and the pump is once again reset so the ride can continue.
2.03pm: The south pump fails a third time.
2.04pm: A raft is stuck on the conveyor.
2.05pm: The raft carrying Kate Goodchild, Luke Dorsett, Roozbeh Araghi and Cindy Low and two children hits the first raft. Their raft flips, killing the four adults almost instantly.
2.45pm: Coomera CIB acting officer-in-charge Detective Sergeant Nicola Brown arrives on scene after requests from police on the ground. Sergeant Brown becomes the principal investigating officer for the tragedy.
February 20: Queensland Coroner James McDougall’s probe into the four deaths exposes shoddy record-keeping was “a significant contributing factor” and: “It is surprising, given the state of the safety management systems in place at Dreamworld that a tragedy of this nature had not occurred before now. It was simply a matter of time.” His report is unambiguous in sheeting home the blame to the Ardent Leisure board at the time of the tragedy. Such a culpable culture, he said, “can only exist when leadership from the board down are careless in respect of safety”.
February 25, 2020: Dreamworld bosses vowed to transform it into a “global benchmark” in theme park safety as the fallout from damning inquest findings continues. Ardent chairman Gary Weiss and Dreamworld chief executive John Osborne on Tuesday said they had “moved heaven and earth” to enhance safety, recruiting senior staffers from leading airlines and borrowing key strategies from the aviation industry.
June 18, 2020: Dreamworld operator Ardent Leisure hit with a shareholder class action in connection with the 2016 tragedy at the theme park that claimed four lives. Law firm Piper Alderman files Federal Court proceedings on behalf of people who bought shares in the company between June 17, 2014, and October 25, 2016. Ardent notes it will vigorously defend it.
July 9 Dreamworld advises about 50 staffers that their positions are being made redundant. With almost 900 full-time staffers, Dreamworld is one of the Queensland tourism industry’s largest employers.
July 20, 2020: Workplace Health and Safety prosecutors slap three negligence charges on Dreamworld operator Ardent Leisure. The maximum penalty is $4.5 million. No past or present Dreamworld or Ardent executives are charged.