Eighteen Remain Hospitalized After Water Slide Fall

Barry Franks blinked away tears and fought to keep his voice under control Tuesday as he recalled a second of horror that turned a class trip to an amusement park into a nightmare.

Franks was near the bottom of the Banzai Pipeline water slide at Waterworld USA on Monday afternoon when the slide collapsed, sending 33 Napa High School students hurtling three stories to the ground, killing one.

Officials at the amusement park in Concord said too many students had crowded onto the slide for one last ride before going home.

Franks, 18, who was unhurt, ran to the bottom of the slide and found “just a lot of people spread out, all mostly injured. … It was pretty bad.”

He immediately began aiding the most seriously injured.

Outside Napa High School on Tuesday, rain-dampened flags drooped at half-staff for Quimby Ghilotti, a 17-year-old senior who was killed in the collapse.

Eighteen students remained hospitalized Tuesday, two in critical condition.

The Banzai Pipeline - part of a spaghetti-like maze of tubes at the 2-year-old park - broke near the top of the tower deck that anchors it to three other slides. A section collapsed on top of a second slide.

As the slide broke and then twisted upside down, it sent students spilling to the ground, hitting buttresses, trees and other slides on the way.

Experts said the water slide should have supported the burden.

Fred Langford of Waterworld Products - no relation to Waterworld USA - has designed 500 water slides, and said the structures are designed to endure the weight of 20 people standing side-by-side.