Press release

On Friday the 14th of June the Swedish Accident Investigation Authority published the final report of the investigation into the accident at Gröna Lund last summer where one person died and several were seriously injured. Safety actions are required on several levels.

The accident

The accident occurred as the supporting arm (of the wheel suspension) at the front of the train burst.

The parts of the supporting arm of the train, to which the wheels on either side are attached, separated and fell off.

This led to heavy retardation when the wagon's undercarriage sank down towards the track and hit joints in the track construction. The heavy braking caused the passengers to be hurled forward and towards the safety bars. As a result, three of the passengers fell out of the wagons and several others suffered serious injuries.

The breakage of the supporting arm occurred as a result of too low strength in its construction due to deficiencies in the welding seams and as an essential part of the construction was missing. The investigation shows that the ordering process of the supporting arms did not set out sufficient requirements on how they were to be manufactured nor on the manufacturing process itself. Furthermore, the investigation shows the absence of sufficient checks that should have been carried out during the manufacturing and before the arms were put into service. The safety work carried out at Gröna Lund did not provide adequate protection against accidents occurring on the roller coaster. The investigation also reveals shortcomings in the rules for amusement parks and a weak public oversight.

Causes

The accident was caused by deficiencies in the ordering process, the manufacturing and the controls of new

supporting arms for the Jetline trains. As a result, a supporting arm with insufficient strength was used in the train and burst.

Contributing to the serious consequences of the accident was that the passenger restraint structure was not dimensioned to counteract the forces that arose.

The underlying factors of the system-level accident were:

• Absence of a defined and established methodology at the amusement park to identify, assess and manage risks of the attraction activities.
• unclear rules on the operator's responsibility for safety; Insufficient public oversight

Safety recommendations have been issued to Gröna Lund, to the Swedish Police Authority, to the Swedish government and to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.

The report in English will be published when it has been translated.

Contact

Investigative Chair: Mr. John Ahlberk, +46 (0)8 508 862 26, e-mail: john.ahlberk@shk.se