Coaster Accidents
Victoria M Althoff
1989: Cedar Point
I understand that there were two failures on the Magnum XL-200, neither of
which resulted in what the State considers injuries. On one occasion, the lift
chain broke, the train jammed up on the anti-roll back as it is supposed to.
On another occasion, the train stalled in the turnaround knot, 95' in the air.
Passengers had to be offloaded by cherry-picker; a couple of minor injuries
from that.
1990: Cedar Point
On Disaster Transport, an Intamin bobsled coaster that had just been enclosed
and themed, one of the theming props fell from the ceiling into the trough.
One of the sleds struck the prop, coming to a sudden halt, and causing a
whiplash-type injury to one of the passengers in the back seat. The safety
system successfulle stopped all other sleds on the ride; there were no further
injuries, and the ride was reopened in a few days.
1991: Kings Island
On a particularly bad day, three people were killed. An inebriated man entered
a pond in the park, and began to have problems. Two other people entered the
pond in an effort to rescue the man, and were electrochouted by a faulty
circulation pump. The original victim, by the way, survived 8-(.
On the same day, a woman rode alone in the outside seat of one of the pods of
the Flight Commander, an Intamin flight trainer ride. She was secured in the
restraint, but I haven't been able to determine from articles whether or not
the restraint was fastened on the vacant seat. The restraint consists of a
shoulder bar (as on a Corkscrew) and a lap bar. The ride began, and the woman
apparently lost consciousness. Her capsule began a slow barrel-roll, and she
slid to the inside seat, then out of the capsule, landing {THUD} on the
pavement and suffering a fatal injury. An autopsy indicated that she was
intoxicated with a BAC of 3.0+. Kings Island has installed seat dividers and
modified the capsule controls, and re-opened the ride.
1992: Wyandot Lake (Columbus, Ohio)
Two boys were riding the Eli Bridge HY-5 ferris wheel, and were rocking their
seat, against the instructions of the ride operator. Apparently, when the seat
was about half-way up, it flipped completely over, dumping the two boys, who
struck the wheel structure before landing on the pavement. As I understand it,
the injuries were not fatal. There was some question about the lap bar
mechanism; investigation indicated that the bar came off of the car, not due to
failure, but from being grabbed from the outside by the victim. In other
words, there was no mechanical failure. The park has since modified the bar
locking mechanism, and reopened the ride.
1993: Dorney Park
In a much publicized accident on Hercules, the failure of a track position
sensor caused an empty train to be held on the back brake instead of rolling
into the station when the loaded train was dispatched. The loaded train
continued its course, eventually colliding with the parked train at about 15
mph. Several injuries, but not serious or catastrophic. Well documented in
ACE News.
1993: Circleville Pumpkin Festival, Circleville, Ohio (Kissel Shows)
An operator stepped into the path of a moving gondola on a Fabrifarbi Kamikaze
ride, was struck twice, knocked to the platform and thrown against a railing.
He was listed in serious condition in a Columbus hospital.
Empty coaster failures I've heard about:
1992: Cedar Point
An over-zealous operator sent the blue train on Gemini empty on a cold opening
day, instead of sending it 'round once loaded. Roll-back between first- and
second hill.
1993: Kennywood
Steel Phantom: Roll-back on the big drop.
And a bizzare failure...but I was there to see it happen--
1993: Cedar Point
Sunlight struck an optical track position sensor on Gemini at just the right
angle, confused the computer, and caused a ride set-up. No injuries; ride
reopened within a half-hour.
How's that?
Notice that, except for Hercules and Disaster Transport, the major injuries
were caused by the park patrons? Notice also that the severity of the injuries
caused by patrons was greater than the severity of injuries caused by ride
failure?
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
(Amusement Ride Scholar)
Robert Davis
I'm from Missouri, so I know of a few there:
Early 80's (1980 or 1981?) Silver Dollar City
It's an indoor themed coaster-type ride called
Fire-in-the-Hole (not exactly a coaster because it is driven most of
the way and only coasts down three fairly small dips) which can run 3
trains. Operator error caused a train to exit the third dip and veer
into the service area instead of heading back to the loading platform.
One of the riders stood up (the only restraint is a single-position
lapbar) and was struck by something hanging from the ceiling and
killed. No other riders were injured and no other trains left the
normal track run. The ride was closed for the rest of the season
(about 6 months) -- this was/is the park's only fatality in nearly 100
years of operation. The ride has since reopened and doesn't seem to
have any change in the restraints. I'm not sure if any safety
mechanisms were changed.
1991? Worlds of Fun
I don't know the exact details, only that during the first
week of the season one train of the Timber Wolf was sitting at a break
either in or just before the station and was struck from behind by
another train. I'm not sure who or what failed -- most of the riders
were treated for whiplash. I've heard that one person broke his legs,
but hmmm... The Timber Wolf is, of course, open now.
Weren't there several accidents in the 80's with standup
coasters? Worlds of Fun used to have a boring, extremely short looper
called the Scream Roller that was replaced with a stand-up and called
the EXT Extreme Roller. My memory is fuzzy on some of the details,
but I remember news reports of a woman passing out on the ride and,
according to her husband who was riding next to her, slipping out of
the restraints. She was killed. I know the ride is no longer there
-- the last time I was at WoF was 1986 or so, and there was only an
EXT sign -- no coaster.
It seems like SFMidAm had a short-lived stand-up as well that
had an accident, but I don't know. What companies made standups
before B&M came to be?
Rob
--
| Robert Davis da...@sonata.cc.purdue.edu
| "Look up, Hannah." NeXT Mail accepted
--
Christopher E. Hagen
>Hokay, quickly, here's what I have on recent accidents:
>1991: Kings Island
>On a particularly bad day, three people were killed. An inebriated man entered
>a pond in the park, and began to have problems. Two other people entered the
>pond in an effort to rescue the man, and were electrochouted by a faulty
>circulation pump. The original victim, by the way, survived 8-(.
>On the same day, a woman rode alone in the outside seat of one of the pods of
>the Flight Commander, an Intamin flight trainer ride. She was secured in the
>restraint, but I haven't been able to determine from articles whether or not
>the restraint was fastened on the vacant seat. The restraint consists of a
>shoulder bar (as on a Corkscrew) and a lap bar. The ride began, and the woman
>apparently lost consciousness. Her capsule began a slow barrel-roll, and she
>slid to the inside seat, then out of the capsule, landing {THUD} on the
>pavement and suffering a fatal injury. An autopsy indicated that she was
>intoxicated with a BAC of 3.0+. Kings Island has installed seat dividers and
>modified the capsule controls, and re-opened the ride.
The restraint was not pushed down on the other side, which is one
reason why she wasn't able to get money out of Inatmin, only KI.
1992(?) A maintenance person was killed when he stepped into the path of the
big Bad Wolf at Bush Gardens: The Old Country in Williamsburg, VA.
1991- Kentucky Kingdom - A lady sued Kentucky Kingdom for causing problems with
her back after riding the Starchaser rollercoaster. I think she won an ungodly
sum of money, but it was overturned or greatly reduced on appeal because the
park has gads of warning signs about back problems, and being pregnant or
being overweight, which I think she met all 3 limitations and still rode the
ride.
1986 Kings Island (?First year King Cobra was open, look in the FAQ?) 4 people
were injured when a car on the King Cobra came partially off track and was
hanging loosely from the track for about 45 minutes before they were able to
bring those 4 people down. The wheels were designed and replaced after that I
believe.
Somewhere around 86, someone was thrown from a Six Flags Stand-up in either St
Louis or Chicago... I think they later said that it was because the ride was
not originally designed for those type of cars so the g-forces worked against
the bars. The person in question was too small and slipped through the
restraints.
-chris
--
* Chris Hagen "<risco" *MAIL ME ANYTIME!* ceh...@kiwi.ucs.indiana.edu *
Home: (812) 282-1934 "The love you take is equal to the love you make."
Pete Babic
In a previous article, da...@sonata.cc.purdue.edu (Robert Davis) says:
>
> Weren't there several accidents in the 80's with standup
>coasters? Worlds of Fun used to have a boring, extremely short looper
>called the Scream Roller that was replaced with a stand-up and called
>the EXT Extreme Roller. My memory is fuzzy on some of the details,
>but I remember news reports of a woman passing out on the ride and,
>according to her husband who was riding next to her, slipping out of
>the restraints. She was killed. I know the ride is no longer there
>-- the last time I was at WoF was 1986 or so, and there was only an
>EXT sign -- no coaster.
>
> It seems like SFMidAm had a short-lived stand-up as well that
>had an accident, but I don't know. What companies made standups
>before B&M came to be?
Togo is one of them and PKI had an accident on their Togo standup soon after
it opened. One of the wheel sets broke in back of one of the cars causing the
car to skew and slide off the track. The coaster screeched to a halt. Minor
injurys.
--
Pete Babic - p...@po.cwru.edu |*| RAPTOR flies May 7, 1994
Library Information Technologies |*|
Case Western Reserve University |*| "Rules The Sky!"
Bird Rendell H.
>
>Somewhere around 86, someone was thrown from a Six Flags Stand-up in either St
>Louis or Chicago... I think they later said that it was because the ride was
>not originally designed for those type of cars so the g-forces worked against
>the bars. The person in question was too small and slipped through the
>restraints.
Here's the story I heard: Six Flags over Mid America (St Louis) had
two mine-train coasters, one with conventional trains, and the other
had been retrofitted with stand-up cars (!!). One day someone managed
to slip out of the restraits.
The second mine train was then sold to Dollywood where it was
re-fitted with "regular" mine train style cars and runs to this day.
**Except**, didn't the computer fail once on this same coaster at
Dollywood and let fail to stop a returning train on the brake
run (and let it ram into a train parked on the loading area)?
I think this happened last year.
And don't forget the Air Racer at Six Flags over Georgia. High winds
caused the computer to register that two of the plans bumped into
each other. The ride completely shut itself off/down, leaving the
riders about 50-60 feet in the air. A cherry picker was used to
get them down. I don't think anyone was hurt.
Hmmmm..."There's something strange going on tonight",
Rendell
Bill Buckley
>In article <1993Nov9.1...@usl.edu>, r...@ucs.usl.edu (Bird Rendell H.)
>writes...
>>"Christopher E. Hagen" <ceh...@mango.ucs.indiana.edu> writes:
>>
>>Somewhere around 86, someone was thrown from a Six Flags Stand-up in either St
>>Louis or Chicago... I think they later said that it was because the ride was
>>not originally designed for those type of cars so the g-forces worked against
>>the bars. The person in question was too small and slipped through the
>>restraints.
>Here's the story I heard: Six Flags over Mid America (St Louis) had
>two mine-train coasters, one with conventional trains, and the other
>had been retrofitted with stand-up cars (!!). One day someone managed
>to slip out of the restraits.
>
>The second mine train was then sold to Dollywood where it was
>re-fitted with "regular" mine train style cars and runs to this day.
>
>**Except**, didn't the computer fail once on this same coaster at
>Dollywood and let fail to stop a returning train on the brake
>run (and let it ram into a train parked on the loading area)?
>I think this happened last year.
>
>Hmmmm..."There's something strange going on tonight",
>Rendell
I heard what Rendell heard -- SFoMA originally had a dual-tracked Arrow
Mine Train ride. In later years, Arrow had outfitted the ride with stand-up
coaches, but there were problems with the design, and it did eventually lead
to an accident. The coaster was removed and sold to Dollywood in Pigeon Forge,
TN.
BUT -- before Dollywood was called Dollywood, it was called Silver Dollar City
(not to be confused with the park of the same name in Branson, MO!!!). One
year, there was a death on the mine train ride at SDC/Dollywood, but not due
to the coaster -- a nest of poisionous snakes (think they were rattlers) took
to home under one of the seats ... the snakes were never noticed until they
bit an unsuspecting passenger one day.
Buck
Charles Cox
buc...@powdml.enet.dec.com writes:
>>Here's the story I heard: Six Flags over Mid America (St Louis) had
>>two mine-train coasters, one with conventional trains, and the other
>>had been retrofitted with stand-up cars (!!). One day someone managed
>>to slip out of the restraits.
>>
>>The second mine train was then sold to Dollywood where it was
>>re-fitted with "regular" mine train style cars and runs to this day.
>>
>>**Except**, didn't the computer fail once on this same coaster at
>>Dollywood and let fail to stop a returning train on the brake
>>run (and let it ram into a train parked on the loading area)?
>>I think this happened last year.
>>
>>Hmmmm..."There's something strange going on tonight",
>>Rendell
>
>I heard what Rendell heard -- SFoMA originally had a dual-tracked Arrow
>Mine Train ride. In later years, Arrow had outfitted the ride with
stand-up
>coaches, but there were problems with the design, and it did eventually
lead
>to an accident. The coaster was removed and sold to Dollywood in Pigeon
Forge,
>TN.
I used to live in St. Louis about six years ago and I heard about a
standup coaster
at SFoMA from people who had ridden it. All I remember is that it was
called either
Railblazer or Trailblazer and two people were killed in two separate
accidents in the first month it was open. It was then closed for the
rest of the season and removed
before the next season. I don't know for sure if this was the modified
mine train
or not, but there was a mine train operating when I went to the park in
1986-87.
I remember being disappointed that only one side of it was operating the
first time
I went there because it definitely appeared to be a double-track ride at
that time.
Charles P. Cox, Jr. Computer Engineering
chu...@b61506.cwru.edu Case Western Reserve University
Tom Maglione
>"Christopher E. Hagen" <ceh...@mango.ucs.indiana.edu> writes:
>>
>>Louis or Chicago... I think they later said that it was because the ride was
>>not originally designed for those type of cars so the g-forces worked against
>>the bars. The person in question was too small and slipped through the
>>restraints.
>
>Here's the story I heard: Six Flags over Mid America (St Louis) had
>two mine-train coasters, one with conventional trains, and the other
>had been retrofitted with stand-up cars (!!). One day someone managed
>to slip out of the restraits.
As I heard the story, the one who slipped out of the restraints was a
rather large obese woman. This event has prompted the (sick humor) joke
that states: "It's not over till the fat lady flings.".
>
>The second mine train was then sold to Dollywood where it was
>re-fitted with "regular" mine train style cars and runs to this day.
I believe that the mine train ride which experienced the accident was
the one sold to Dollyworld, and it was sold as a sit-down ride, not as
a stand-up.
>
>**Except**, didn't the computer fail once on this same coaster at
>Dollywood and let fail to stop a returning train on the brake
>run (and let it ram into a train parked on the loading area)?
>I think this happened last year.
>
I don't know about this.
>
>And don't forget the Air Racer at Six Flags over Georgia. High winds
>caused the computer to register that two of the plans bumped into
>each other. The ride completely shut itself off/down, leaving the
>riders about 50-60 feet in the air. A cherry picker was used to
>get them down. I don't think anyone was hurt.
>
Never heard this one either.
>
>Hmmmm..."There's something strange going on tonight",
>Rendell
Tom Maglione
Raymond L Juers
was on a platform outside the station of the Big Bad Wolf, below the
level of the coaster cars. A set of cars left the station, striking
him and making him fall from the platform. At least that how I remember
it... Anyone want to confirm it for me?
Ray L. Juers
Victoria M Althoff
Someone, I believe Pete Babic, mentioned that mechanical failures that are not
harmful--set-ups, failed lift chains, and so forth--really shouldn't be called
accidents.
Perhaps it would be helpful to define accidents the same way that the Ohio
Department of Agriculture does: an accident is an occurance involving the
injury of a park patron, employee, or other person. An injury, by the same
definition, requires immediate first-aid; so banging your knee into the lap-bar
release solenoid housing on the PKI Racer doesn't count.
I don't have the actual definitions in front of me, but somewhere, I have a
booklet describing Ohio's ride safety legislation, including these definitions.
Maybe I'll condense and post... (comments on the idea?)
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
(It seems as if we've talked about this before...)
Jeffrey Michael Casello
I've just discovered this newsgroup & WOW! this is too cool. Anyhow,
I seem to recall an accident at Riverside Park in Agwam, MA, a few years back.
This is all from memory so correct my errors. I think it was right around
the opening of the Cyclone, when a women fell out of the train. I don't know
if the restraint failed or if she took it off or what, but when the train
came to the top of the second hill and went into the corner, she didn't. I
believe it was a fatality.
BTW, could someone please e-mail me the location for the FAQ? I'd
appreciate it.
Peace,
Jeff
--
**********************************************************************
* Jeff Casello cas...@rpi.edu Go Phillies!!! *
* You're listening to live RPI Engineer Hockey, on 91.5 FM WRPI Troy *
Moof Moof
at Great America in Gurnee, IL. I was there a few days before the
problem happened. Car fell down the "up part" -- many safety
mechanisms failed. Three or 4 kids were banged up. I remember they
got modified t-shirts, "I went over the edge, and survived."
They ran the Edge a year after the accident, always testing it, never again
with people in it as far as I could tell. I guess they couldn't reproduce
the failure. They ripped the ride out. An identical ride still exists
at Paramount's Great America here in Santa Clara. Cool ride.
I also remember reading in some magazine about some looping coaster --
either 1 or two kids fell from the ride (1 I think, a girl) in the
loop, and was run over when the train completed the loop she fell out
of. I think it was one of those rides where there is a straightaway/hill,
loop/straightaway hill or something. not a shuttle loop, but different.
It might have been at Great Adventure.
Steve
Mike S.
I happened to have worked at Six Flags over Mid America for several
years, starting in '85. The Railblazer accident happened in '84,
coincidentally (or not?) on Media Day, so all the local news crews
were present.
I knew many of the people who were working the ride that day, and
heard of the long court case that followed the accident. From all
that I have heard, it sounds suspiciously like the victim's husband
may have actually loosened the restraints and pushed his wife out to
collect an insurance settlement. She probably couldn't accidentally
'slip out' of the restraints; she was a large person.
[This all led to great park Halloween legends, btw! :) ]
After the accident, the ride reopened a bit later in the season
with additional restraints. This caused the throughput to drop
greatly and it was not reopened the next year.
As to the two tracks, originally there were two sides to the ride
(both sitdown), but eventually one side was closed (actually, I
think they alternated yearly between sides for a few years) to make
way for the Railblazer. After the accident the OTHER side (not the
Railblazer side) was sold to Dollywood--the side Railblazer was on
remains open as a sit-down coaster to this day at SFOMA.
There was also a fatal accident with the skyride at the same park in
'78 or '79.
Mike
--
mike%j...@wupost.wustl.edu
SCOTT MATTHEW ESTRIN
>either 1 or two kids fell from the ride (1 I think, a girl) in the
>loop, and was run over when the train completed the loop she fell out
>of. I think it was one of those rides where there is a straightaway/hill,
>loop/straightaway hill or something. not a shuttle loop, but different.
>It might have been at Great Adventure.
Yup, it was on Lightenin' Loops at Great Adventure... (one of the loops is
now on a boardwalk in Maryland, I don't know where the other loop is. The
'death train', minus cars 3 and 4 are now on the GASM)
Here's the story, as I heard it:
She was going to ride with her boyfriend, but chickened out as the last minute
so she waited behind the airgates. If you've ever been on the ride, you know
that, after the ride is dispatched, a spring "winds up" before the catapult
pushes it down the hill. (There is no lift, it starts at the top). Well, the
operater dispatched the train, and then she changed her mind and decided to
ride. During the winding stage, she jumped over the airgates and tried to
climb under the shoulder harness while attendants tried to pull her back, then
the train shot out. At the top of the loop she lost her grip and fell, and
landed between the third and fourth cars at the bottom.
Since that time, an E-stop has been installed to prevent future catastrophes.
--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scott M. Estrin sm...@Lehigh.EDU "If it's broken, take it
Box 619 Lehigh U. apart and look around. If
29 Trembley Drive ,,, it's not broken, take it apart
Bethlehem, PA 18015-3041 -(o o)- anyway. Then it will be."
----------------------------oOO--(_)--OOo------------------------------------
Bill Buckley
>In article <1993Nov17.1...@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu>,
>sm...@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (SCOTT MATTHEW ESTRIN) writes...
(also in response to a Question posed by Dave Althoff, Jr. on the fate of
LIGHTNING LOOPS from SFGAd)
>>It might have been at Great Adventure.
>Yup, it was on Lightenin' Loops at Great Adventure... (one of the loops is
>now on a boardwalk in Maryland, I don't know where the other loop is. The
>'death train', minus cars 3 and 4 are now on the GASM)
The "Non-Death" half of Lightning Loops (the taller half) is now installed
and operating at Wild World; Largo, MD as the PYTHON. If you look closely,
you can still see the grey bents and red track, even though the coaster is
now painted black and yellow (Tierco does a lousy job re-painting coasters
... sans the FC Wildcat, of course!).
The "Death" half of Lightning Loops (the shorter half) is currently located
at Wild World as well, but will be soon shipped to Frontier City; Oklahoma
City for 1994 installation. Indeed, the Lightning Loop train went over to
the GASM ... Tierco has purchased a train for the as-yet-unnamed Arrow
shuttle loop from Silverwood Theme Park in Athol, ID (their *original*
Arrow Corkscrew coaster had a spare which the park never used).
Happy rails,
Buck
--
William J. Buckley, Jr. \
buc...@powdml.enet.dec.com \ "Happiness is a smooth Arrow shuttle loop"
Digital Equipment Corporation \
Stephen Jonke
sm...@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (SCOTT MATTHEW ESTRIN) wrote:
>
> Here's the story, as I heard it:
>
> She was going to ride with her boyfriend, but chickened out as the last minute
> ride. During the winding stage, she jumped over the airgates and tried to
> climb under the shoulder harness while attendants tried to pull her back, then
> the train shot out. At the top of the loop she lost her grip and fell, and
> landed between the third and fourth cars at the bottom.
If this is an accurate re-telling of the story, then I certainly hope that
the park was not sued successfully. What a complete and total idiot!
Steve
------------------------
jo...@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov
"One more for deluxe!"
------------------------
John Todd Jr
: Hokay, quickly, here's what I have on recent accidents:
Wasn't there an accident on Willard's Wizzer, or The Demon at (Then)
Marriot's Great America in Santa Clara, around 85-86?
--
Spreading the news around the world...
joh...@netcom.com
Eric Gortner
>Victoria M Althoff (valt...@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu) wrote:
>: Hokay, quickly, here's what I have on recent accidents:
> Wasn't there an accident on Willard's Wizzer, or The Demon at (Then)
>Marriot's Great America in Santa Clara, around 85-86?
Yeah, as I recall there were two accidents on Willard's Whizzer. The
first was around 1980 (roughly) and involved one train mysteriously
running through two sets of brakes and colliding with a train loading
in the station. A 13-year old boy was killed in the accident (he was
boarding in the back seat and was apparently thrown back and crushed
by the "runaway" train). There was clearly a sensor failure but I
remember GA desperately trying to duplicate the scenario and not being
able to.
The second accident happened in '84? This one sounded more spectacular
in that one of the trains careened back down the circular lift hill
and collided with a train in the station, once again sending people
flying, but fortunately no one was killed. With the electrical lift,
the trains originally had an anti-rollback wheel, which had worn down
on this particular train. GA subsequently set up the standard anti-
rollback ratchet system.
I kind of miss the Whizzer, now (it was probably my first real coaster
ride). However, I remember being repeatedly stuck somewhere on the track,
it had notorious down-time.
Cheers,
Eric
Mary Ann Pike
>
> Here's the story, as I heard it:
>
> She was going to ride with her boyfriend, but chickened out as the last minute
...
> ride. During the winding stage, she jumped over the airgates and tried to
> climb under the shoulder harness while attendants tried to pull her back, then
> the train shot out. At the top of the loop she lost her grip and fell, and
> landed between the third and fourth cars at the bottom.
A question about this accident: Was she thrown out of the car going down
out of the station? It seems to me that if she was seated, even without
restraints, she should not have been ejected from the car. I rode the
Lightning Loops at Great Adventure, and the only time I felt like I might
need the restraints to stay in was when I was sitting in the first car
(last car going backwards) and we went backwards out of the station.
Aren't most rides designed so that you don't actually need the restraints
to stay in the car when the ride is operating correctly? Perhaps the woman
had not seated herself. From the description of the accident given, it
sounded like she may not have actually been sitting if she was trying to
get under the shoulder harness.
Speaking of standing on roller coasters, last time I was at Great Adventure,
some idiot stood up as we were going up the lift hill on Rolling Thunder.
I was thinking, great, this will be the first time I've been on a roller
coaster where someone gets injured, but he sat down just before going
down the first drop, and didn't try anything else. No wonder parks worry
about their liability.
Mary Ann Pike (map...@sei.cmu.edu)
Software Engineering Institute
Carnegie-Mellon University
Pittsburgh PA
Dave Krug=
: joh...@netcom.com (John Todd Jr) writes:
: >Victoria M Althoff (valt...@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu) wrote:
: >: Hokay, quickly, here's what I have on recent accidents:
: > Wasn't there an accident on Willard's Wizzer, or The Demon at (Then)
: >Marriot's Great America in Santa Clara, around 85-86?
: Yeah, as I recall there were two accidents on Willard's Whizzer. The
: first was around 1980 (roughly) and involved one train mysteriously
: running through two sets of brakes and colliding with a train loading
: in the station. A 13-year old boy was killed in the accident (he was
: boarding in the back seat and was apparently thrown back and crushed
: by the "runaway" train). There was clearly a sensor failure but I
: remember GA desperately trying to duplicate the scenario and not being
: able to.
Are you sure it was the GA in Gurnee? As far as I know there has never been
a ride-related death at GA. Several injuries, but no fatalities.
: I kind of miss the Whizzer, now (it was probably my first real coaster
: ride). However, I remember being repeatedly stuck somewhere on the track,
: it had notorious down-time.
It user to run five full-size trains at once. Probably set up like crazy.
Kind of like Shockwave its first year. It had four trains (instead of the
three it now has - ever notice there are 4 storage tracks?) and a slow
driver or slow guests boarding the train would set it up as there is only
room to stack 2 trains behind the station. Downtime city! After a while,
they sold off the fourth train.
--
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
: "...I'll just lie back and think pleasant thoughts. : :
: Chicken pot pie... Chocolate covered RAIsins... : Dave Krug :
: EEGlazed Hammmmm... They think I'm crazy... But I : :
: know better... It is not I who am crazy... It is : kr...@cs.uwp.edu :
: I who am MAD!... : :
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Vincent C. Rubino
< post regarding accidents at GA in Gurnee >
Are you sure it was the GA in Gurnee? As far as I know there has never been
a ride-related death at GA. Several injuries, but no fatalities.
This comment may have been meant to imply roller coaster fatalities,
but I do know of several fatalities concerning a ride called "The
Edge." I was there ten years ago when (I believe) four junior high
school students were killed. This was at GA in Gurnee.
A post several months ago said the actual ride was moved to Rocky
Point in RI. Let me tell you, it's a lot scarier to go on when one
has the personal history that I do with this ride...
Vince
/-------------------------------------------------------------\
| Vincent C. Rubino | "What fun is it being cool |
| | if you can't wear a sombrero?" |
| v...@cs.brown.edu | -Hobbes |
\-------------------------------------------------------------/
Pete Babic
In a previous article, v...@cs.brown.edu (Vincent C. Rubino) says:
>
>This comment may have been meant to imply roller coaster fatalities,
>but I do know of several fatalities concerning a ride called "The
>Edge." I was there ten years ago when (I believe) four junior high
>school students were killed. This was at GA in Gurnee.
>
>A post several months ago said the actual ride was moved to Rocky
>Point in RI. Let me tell you, it's a lot scarier to go on when one
>has the personal history that I do with this ride...
The junior high school students were not killed, just injured when a car fell
on the lift part of the ride.
Tom Maglione
>sm...@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (SCOTT MATTHEW ESTRIN) wrote:
>>
>> Here's the story, as I heard it:
>>
>> She was going to ride with her boyfriend, but chickened out as the last minute
>...
>> ride. During the winding stage, she jumped over the airgates and tried to
>> climb under the shoulder harness while attendants tried to pull her back, then
>> the train shot out. At the top of the loop she lost her grip and fell, and
>> landed between the third and fourth cars at the bottom.
>
>A question about this accident: Was she thrown out of the car going down
>out of the station?
A good point, Mary Ann. I don't agree with the story as told above; as I
recall, she was trying to board a car somewhere near the end of the train.
As far as I remember, she did get into the seat, but of course was prevented
from sitting by the already-closed over-the-shoulder harness. Then, as the
ride shot out of the station (and down the first hill), the typical
whiplash-type forces normally felt at the end of the train caused her to
be ejected from the seat. Recall some basic physics here: the property of
inertia states that an object in motion tends to remain in motion in a
straight line unless acted upon by external forces. The train leaving the
station is travelling on a roughly straight level path, then abruptly the
tracks exert a force on the train forcing it to go downwards; The unrestrained
rider will continue to travel forwards, and the accident is explained.
As I recall, she landed on the ground (I think
it was head-first, too). It was this fall that killed her, and I don't
remember anything about her falling out in the loop (she never got that
far) or striking the train during her fall.
>It seems to me that if she was seated, even without
>restraints, she should not have been ejected from the car. I rode the
>Lightning Loops at Great Adventure, and the only time I felt like I might
>need the restraints to stay in was when I was sitting in the first car
>(last car going backwards) and we went backwards out of the station.
Of course, the situation you describe is directly analagous to riding
in the back seat and going forwards out of the station.
>
>Aren't most rides designed so that you don't actually need the restraints
>to stay in the car when the ride is operating correctly? Perhaps the woman
>had not seated herself. From the description of the accident given, it
>sounded like she may not have actually been sitting if she was trying to
>get under the shoulder harness.
I think you are correct in that most rides are designed so that you don't
really need the harness as long as the ride is operating normally (e.g.-
doesn't stop or slow down during inversions). But once again, this woman
was not riding normally and was not even sitting normally; actually she
was prevented from doing so by the lowered and locked shoulder harness!
>
>Speaking of standing on roller coasters, last time I was at Great Adventure,
>some idiot stood up as we were going up the lift hill on Rolling Thunder.
>I was thinking, great, this will be the first time I've been on a roller
>coaster where someone gets injured, but he sat down just before going
>down the first drop, and didn't try anything else. No wonder parks worry
>about their liability.
Agreed. I'm surprised that they didn't stop the train on the lift and go
up to yell at/remove from the park the offending patron.
>
>Mary Ann Pike (map...@sei.cmu.edu)
Tom Maglione
Chad M. Dershaw
>It user to run five full-size trains at once. Probably set up like crazy.
>Kind of like Shockwave its first year. It had four trains (instead of the
>three it now has - ever notice there are 4 storage tracks?) and a slow
>driver or slow guests boarding the train would set it up as there is only
>room to stack 2 trains behind the station. Downtime city! After a while,
>they sold off the fourth train.
>
Does anybody remember a young boy who died on the Shockwave during the Summer
of 1990? He may have died of heart failure? This is Shockwave at Six Flags
over Georgia.
--
Chad Dershaw der...@rs6000.tcs.tulane.edu \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Tulane University (504) 865-4340 /////////////// \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
New Orleans, LA 70118 ////////////////////////////////// \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////// \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Cedric Williams
>operater dispatched the train, and then she changed her mind and decided to
>ride. During the winding stage, she jumped over the airgates and tried to
>climb under the shoulder harness while attendants tried to pull her back
If this is the case I rescind my last post. (Just goes to show, you should read
the complete thread before you respond to it :))
--
_______________________________________________________________________________
Copyright 1993 by Ced Vicious |"If you can't blind them with brilliance,
cvic...@lamar.colostate.edu |baffle them with bullshit." -Dick Hewins
\/ | < | () \_/ $ | It has to warm up...so it can KILL YOU!!
Dave Krug=
: < post regarding accidents at GA in Gurnee >
: Are you sure it was the GA in Gurnee? As far as I know there has never been
: a ride-related death at GA. Several injuries, but no fatalities.
: This comment may have been meant to imply roller coaster fatalities,
: but I do know of several fatalities concerning a ride called "The
: Edge." I was there ten years ago when (I believe) four junior high
: school students were killed. This was at GA in Gurnee.
THEY WEREN'T KILLED!!!!! Three of them suffered minor injuries, the fourth's
were more severe, but they are all fine today!
: A post several months ago said the actual ride was moved to Rocky
: Point in RI. Let me tell you, it's a lot scarier to go on when one
: has the personal history that I do with this ride...
Actually, I thought it had moved to SFOG. (???)
--
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
: WARNING!!! Under penalty of law, : Dave Krug :
: this .Sig may not be ::::::::::::::::::::::::
: removed, except by consumer : kr...@cs.uwp.edu :
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Bill Buckley
>In article <2chd81$h...@news.cs.tulane.edu>, der...@rs5.tcs.tulane.edu
>(Chad M. Dershaw) writes...
>>It user to run five full-size trains at once. Probably set up like crazy.
>>Kind of like Shockwave its first year. It had four trains (instead of the
>>three it now has - ever notice there are 4 storage tracks?) and a slow
>>driver or slow guests boarding the train would set it up as there is only
>>room to stack 2 trains behind the station. Downtime city! After a while,
>>they sold off the fourth train.
>Does anybody remember a young boy who died on the Shockwave during the Summer
>of 1990? He may have died of heart failure? This is Shockwave at Six Flags
>over Georgia.
>--
>Chad Dershaw der...@rs6000.tcs.tulane.edu \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
???
First off, I'm not someone who spends any amount of time researching accidents
... just not my thing, but from memory (and reading through tons of stuff), I
do not recall ANY accidents, including deaths or otherwise, on any of the
"Shockwave" coaster in the Six Flags chain?! Maybe some of you SF gurus out
there can chime in and set the record straight?!? I'm guessing this to be (yet
another) coaster death urban legend.
Also of note -- To date, there has yet to be a coaster located at Six Flags
over Georgia named SHOCKWAVE. Out of all 7 of the Six Flags family of theme
parks, the only "Shockwaves" are(/were):
Six Flags over Texas -- "Shockwave" - 1978 Anton Schwarzkopf Double-looping
box-frame design.
Six Flags Great America -- "Shockwave" - 1988 Arrow Dynamics 7-looper. The
first coaster in a triplet series.
Six Flags Magic Mountain -- "Shockwave" - 1985 Intamin 4-abreast Stand-Up roller
coaster...removed at the end of 1989 and moved to
SFGAd for their 1990 season.
Six Flags Great Adventure -- "Shockwave" - Same Intamin Stand-up coaster as
mentioned above, relocated for the 1988 season.
This remained at SFGAd for another 3 season stint
before it was moved to SFAW, and renamed/re-themed
as BATMAN -- THE ESCAPE.
Six Flags AstroWorld -- None
Six Flags over Mid-America -- None
Six Flags over Georgia -- None
as an FYI...
Buck
--
William J. Buckley, Jr. \
buc...@powdml.enet.dec.com \ "Walter Bolliger is God!" -- Eric,
Digital Equipment Corporation \ please take note!! ;')
Tom Maglione
>Vincent C. Rubino (v...@cs.brown.edu) wrote:
>: In article <1993Nov18.1...@cs.uwp.edu> kr...@cs.uwp.edu (Dave Krug=) writes:
>
>: < post regarding accidents at GA in Gurnee >
>
>: Are you sure it was the GA in Gurnee? As far as I know there has never been
>: a ride-related death at GA. Several injuries, but no fatalities.
>
>: This comment may have been meant to imply roller coaster fatalities,
>: but I do know of several fatalities concerning a ride called "The
>: Edge." I was there ten years ago when (I believe) four junior high
>: school students were killed. This was at GA in Gurnee.
>
>THEY WEREN'T KILLED!!!!! Three of them suffered minor injuries, the fourth's
>were more severe, but they are all fine today!
>
>: A post several months ago said the actual ride was moved to Rocky
>: Point in RI. Let me tell you, it's a lot scarier to go on when one
>: has the personal history that I do with this ride...
>
>Actually, I thought it had moved to SFOG. (???)
>
to ride it there. It was re-constructed over a period of a few years before
they operated it, and when I was there last year, it was up for no more
than about 5 free-falls before going down again. This was repeated all
day long.
>-- Dave Krug
Tom Maglione
Tom Maglione
(some of original posts deleted for brevity)
>
>>Does anybody remember a young boy who died on the Shockwave during the Summer
>>of 1990? He may have died of heart failure? This is Shockwave at Six Flags
>>over Georgia.
>
>First off, I'm not someone who spends any amount of time researching accidents
>... just not my thing, but from memory (and reading through tons of stuff), I
>do not recall ANY accidents, including deaths or otherwise, on any of the
>"Shockwave" coaster in the Six Flags chain?! Maybe some of you SF gurus out
>there can chime in and set the record straight?!? I'm guessing this to be (yet
>another) coaster death urban legend.
>
>Also of note -- To date, there has yet to be a coaster located at Six Flags
>over Georgia named SHOCKWAVE. Out of all 7 of the Six Flags family of theme
>parks, the only "Shockwaves" are(/were):
(Buck's list of Shockwave coasters deleted for brevity)
But Buck, wasn't the Z-farce called Shockwave when it was located at SFOG?
And if this is the case, I seem to recall something about the posted accident
but I'm pretty foggy on it right now.
>
>Buck
>William J. Buckley, Jr. \
>buc...@powdml.enet.dec.com \ "Walter Bolliger is God!" -- Eric,
>Digital Equipment Corporation \ please take note!! ;')
Tom Maglione (yes, Eric, please take note of Buck's .sig!)
Scott Gerken
>Victoria M Althoff (valt...@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu) wrote:
>: Hokay, quickly, here's what I have on recent accidents:
> Wasn't there an accident on Willard's Wizzer, or The Demon at (Then)
>Marriot's Great America in Santa Clara, around 85-86?
>--
It was in 79 and a kid was killed on the Wizzer. At the time I was
working there on the log ride. Just before the kid was killed I and
a fellow employee were in the park after our shift waiting to ride
the Whizzer. As we were watching a train get loaded a second train
came in and bumped it. I didn't think much of it because if it was
a ride malfunction the operators would have shut the ride down. 15
minuets after we rode it the same thing happened. This time the second
train comming in hit the train that was being loaded harder causing it
to be pushed forward about 6 feet. Unfortunetly there was a kid that
was half way into a car. He was knocked between to of the cars and killed
instantly. This accident was caused by a combination of ride malfunction
and operator error. The law suit was settle pretty fast out of court.
John Todd Jr
: joh...@netcom.com (John Todd Jr) writes:
: > Wasn't there an accident on Willard's Wizzer, or The Demon at (Then)
: >Marriot's Great America in Santa Clara, around 85-86?
: The second accident happened in '84? This one sounded more spectacular
: in that one of the trains careened back down the circular lift hill
: and collided with a train in the station, once again sending people
: flying, but fortunately no one was killed. With the electrical lift,
: the trains originally had an anti-rollback wheel, which had worn down
: on this particular train. GA subsequently set up the standard anti-
: rollback ratchet system.
That's the one I was thinking of.
: I kind of miss the Whizzer, now (it was probably my first real coaster
: ride). However, I remember being repeatedly stuck somewhere on the track,
: it had notorious down-time.
No longer there, eh? I havn't been in so long I don't know what any of
the new rides are like, and I don't know what's come and gone.
Bird Rendell H.
>But wasn't the Z-farce called Shockwave when it was located at SFOG?
I don't think so.
>And if this is the case, I seem to recall something about the posted accident
>but I'm pretty foggy on it right now.
I thougtht someone got hurt on it when it was in Chicago...but I think
it was still called Z-Farce when it was up there.
Sorry for being so "un-precise". I recently cleaned-house, and now I
can't FIND ANYTHING!!! :-( :-(
Rendell
Randy Vose
>magl...@media.mit.edu (Tom Maglione) writes:
>>But wasn't the Z-farce called Shockwave when it was located at SFOG?
Correct. The ride was still called Z-Force.
>>And if this is the case, I seem to recall something about the posted accident
>it was still called Z-Farce when it was up there.
I don't recall anyone ever getting hurt on Z-Force while it was at
SF Great America. Although, it did seem like it had an incredible
amount of down time in it's last season.
Personally, I didn't think the ride was too bad. Since it was a prototype,
I doubt they really had big plans for it. I will admit that the ride got
a lot worse when the changed the shoulder harnesses after the first season.
The ride orignally had the old Arrow-style harnesses. (regular old round
harnesses w/o handles, etc.) The new ones they installed had these big
rubber things that went on either side of your head (presumably to keep
it from moving from side to side) and a LOT of people griped. Anyone
know what it's running today?
Randy Vose Internet: rv...@sparc0a.cs.uiuc.edu
University of Illinois rv...@cs.uiuc.edu
Urbana/Champaignn
Victoria M Althoff
coaster (in this country, anyway), then you will be interested to know that in
the past couple of years, it moved to Six Flags Magic Mountain. Of course,
Magic Mountain already had an Intamin Looping Starship (a big pendulum boat
shaped like a Space Shuttle and equipped to go all the way around) called
Z-force, so the name of the coaster was changed to Flashback.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
BTW: In case anyone is keeping track, I just received the October issue of ACE
News yesterday (Sat. 11/20).
Eric Gortner
>: > Wasn't there an accident on Willard's Wizzer, or The Demon at (Then)
>: >Marriot's Great America in Santa Clara, around 85-86?
>: Yeah, as I recall there were two accidents on Willard's Whizzer. The
>: first was around 1980 (roughly) and involved one train mysteriously
>: running through two sets of brakes and colliding with a train loading
>: in the station. A 13-year old boy was killed in the accident (he was
>: boarding in the back seat and was apparently thrown back and crushed
>: by the "runaway" train). There was clearly a sensor failure but I
>: remember GA desperately trying to duplicate the scenario and not being
>: able to.
>Are you sure it was the GA in Gurnee? As far as I know there has never been
>a ride-related death at GA. Several injuries, but no fatalities.
No, no, it was at GA in santa clara.
Moof Moof
Check your back issues of the Chicago Tribune. Nobody was KILLED on the
Edge in Gurnee, IL. Four students were shook up rather badly, that is all.
Steve
SCOTT MATTHEW ESTRIN
>... just not my thing, but from memory (and reading through tons of stuff), I
>do not recall ANY accidents, including deaths or otherwise, on any of the
>"Shockwave" coaster in the Six Flags chain?!
As a security guard told me, there was a death at ShockWave at SFGAd, but not
ON the ride. While waiting on line, someone was watching the ride and dropped
unconscious/dead. As it was later found, she had a high amount of cocaine in
her system...
Thomas Grisley
: In article <1993Nov17.1...@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu> sm...@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (SCOTT MATTHEW ESTRIN) writes:
: >operater dispatched the train, and then she changed her mind and decided to
: >ride. During the winding stage, she jumped over the airgates and tried to
: >climb under the shoulder harness while attendants tried to pull her back
This is interesting. Keep going.
: If this is the case I rescind my last post. (Just goes to show, you shoul: