Texas Giant Accident

[DK745]

Really? Look at some other park's track records as well. This wikipedia page is full of incidents at WDW which has way fewer parks than Six Flags: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incidents_at_Walt_Disney_World

As for the Houdini's Great Escape incident, what about the Dudley Do-Right fire or the Enchanted Tiki Room fire or the Astro Orbitor fire or any of the nine fires at the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot? That incident is so minor compared to things that have happened in Disney/Universal parks that it seems laughable to even include it when there are "many more" that you could've posted.

Let's not forget about Forbidden Jounrey. I'm sure that's because Universal is a step below Disney and isn't safe though. http://www.wesh.com/132-Evacuated-When-Harry-Potter-Ride-Breaks-Down/-/11788876/13148944/-/uvl3nmz/-/index.html

 

[Disneyhead]

Trust me. As ghetto as some Six Flags parks are, they take guest safety very seriously. By sheer numbers of parks/attractions, Six Flags will have a higher number of incidents. Combine that with the seasonal nature of the parks and the problem is compounded. That doesn't mean that ride ops are less trained as much as less experienced.

This appears to be a tragic situation where everyone did everything right, and it still turned out with tragic results.

 

[Teebin]

Thanks for finding and posting that Bob. Really rests the case as possible.

I wonder what a park's solution is to this:

"Please lift your stomach as this needs to be firm against your thighs and near your pelvis"

or

"Sorry, you cannot ride"

 

[Disneyhead]

Thanks for finding and posting that Bob. Really rests the case as possible.

I wonder what a park's solution is to this:

"Please lift your stomach as this needs to be firm against your thighs and near your pelvis"

or

"Sorry, you cannot ride"

"Sorry, you can NOT ride. There is a food trough over by the Funnel Cake Stand where you can wait for the rest of your party."

 

[maxairmike]

maxair, do you know if it is possible to push down on a restraint and get more clicks in the middle of the ride, or if hydraulic, one could push it down more in the same situation. I have never had the occasion to try this as I yank it to crush force before leaving the station.

I have yet to find a restraint that I couldn't tighten further during a ride, especially hydraulics. Case in point is Maverick at Cedar Point. I always left the station with the bar just above my lap (barely touching) and by the end I can't get out quick enough because it has a death grip on my thighs despite every attempt to hold it up.

 

[bobwadd]

I don't even know where to start here. This is insane. Every state, including Texas, has a government agency that inspects and regulates amusement rides: from the traveling scrambler to the Texas Giant.

For those of you who do not know Disney, Universal and Busch Gardens are exempt from state inspection. Direct from the Florida agency that oversees amusement rides:

10) EXEMPTIONS.—
(a) This section does not apply to:
1. Permanent facilities that employ at least 1,000 full-time employees and that maintain full-time, in-house safety inspectors. Furthermore, the permanent facilities must file an affidavit of the annual inspection with the department, on a form prescribed by rule of the department. Additionally, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services may consult annually with the permanent facilities regarding industry safety programs.

A few excerpts from Texas OCCUPATIONS CODE

TITLE 13. SPORTS, AMUSEMENTS, AND ENTERTAINMENT

SUBTITLE D. OTHER AMUSEMENTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

CHAPTER 2151. REGULATION OF AMUSEMENT RIDES

Sec. 2151.101. REQUIREMENTS FOR OPERATION. (a) A person may not operate an amusement ride unless the person:

(1) has had the amusement ride inspected at least once a year by an insurer or a person with whom the insurer has contracted;


Sec. 2151.102. INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS. (a) The inspection required by Section 2151.101(a) must test for stress-related and wear-related damage of the critical parts of a ride that the manufacturer of the amusement ride determines:

(1) are reasonably subject to failure as the result of stress and wear; and

(2) could cause injury to a member of the public as a result of a failure.

(b) If at any time the inspection reveals that an amusement ride does not meet the insurer's underwriting standards, the insurer shall notify the owner or operator.

(c) If repair or replacement of equipment is required, it is the responsibility of the owner or operator to make the repair or install the replacement equipment before the amusement ride is offered for public use.

A story that gives a little more insight into the insurance and inspection procedures in Texas.

From msn

With no safety oversight, Six Flags will investigate coaster death itself

By M. Alex Johnson, Staff Writer, NBC News

The investigation of the death of a woman on a roller coaster at Six Flags Over Texas will be led by Six Flags itself, because there's no state or federal agency responsible for enforcing the safety of amusement parks.

Rosy Esparza of Dallas died Friday night when she fell from the Texas Giant, which is billed as the world's steepest wooden roller coaster.

Six Flags initially said in a statement that it was "working with authorities" to figure out what happened. But it later had to admit that it was running the investigation itself because there are no authorities to work with.

No federal agency has legal authority to enforce safety standards. And Texas is one of 21 states that have no agency responsible for ensuring the safety of amusement park rides.

While he was previously in the House, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., introduced legislation every congressional session to establish federal regulation of amusement park rides beginning in 1999. But the measure never passed.

Markey renewed his call Sunday for federal regulation of "roller coasters that hurdle riders at extreme speeds along precipitous drops."

"A baby stroller is subject to tougher federal regulation than a roller coaster carrying a child in excess of 100 miles per hour," Markey said in a statement. "This is a mistake."

The Texas Giant, a 14-story-high, 4,900-feet-long roller coaster that is among the premier attractions at the park in Arlington, Texas, remains closed until Six Flags concludes its investigation, a park spokeswoman said. The park gave no timetable for reporting any information.

Nadine Kelley, who had been waiting in line for the ride Friday night, told NBC 5 of Dallas that riders who were sitting behind the woman said that "right when they came down off the first bump and hit that first turn, she flew out."

The woman was accompanied by two children, who were "hysterical," Kelley said. "They were saying that their mother flew out of the car."

"It was sad. It was very sad," she said. "We kept telling them to let them out because they were hysterical. The daughter and the son said, 'We have to go get my mom. We have to go get my mom.' We were kind of in disbelief, and we just said a prayer for her."

Alfred Cannon, Esparza's next-door neighbor, said Esparza was "an incredible mother to those kids."

NBCDFW: Neighbors recall woman who died on Six Flags coaster

Texas: Safety certificate 'not an endorsement' of safety
The Texas Giant is what's called a "super hybrid" — a roller coaster with traditional wooden components that rides on steel tracks.

"This track allows us to do much more with a wooden structure: steeper drops, steeper banks," Fred Grubb, president of Rocky Mountain Construction of Hayden, Idaho, said after his company rebuilt the ride two years ago.

The rebuilding deepened the ride's first drop to 79 degrees and banked several of its turns beyond 95 degrees, with one reaching 115 degrees, Grubb told Funworld, the magazine of the International Association for Amusement Parks and Attractions.

An independent inspection of the new ride would have been conducted by the Texas Insurance Department. But the department won't be part of the death investigation because the park's insurance isn't in question.

That's the case even though the Amusement Safety Organization, based in Montecito, Calif., had previously recorded four "significant injuries" on the ride this year, after having recorded seven last year. Nearly all were for whiplash-like neck injuries, it said.

Meanwhile, federal oversight and statistics on amusement park safety are almost nonexistent.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the National Safety Council both cite amusement park safety standards set by the American Society for Testing and Materials, but those standards are voluntary.

In Texas, the Insurance Department is responsible for setting regulations for amusement park rides. It requires an annual safety inspection certifying that ride meets ASTM standards. Texas law specifies that the inspection must be carried out by an inspector hired by the insurance company — not by any government authority.

To drive home the point that Texas isn't responsible for the safety of any roller coaster, the Insurance Department states: "Recognition by the Department that the amusement ride has satisfied these standards is not an endorsement by the Department or a statement regarding the safe operation of the amusement ride."

"There's absolutely no federal oversight, no state investigative oversight or any local investigative oversight," Ken Martin, an independent inspector and consultant on amusement park rides from Richmond, Va., told NBC News.

"It sounds like the fox guarding the henhouse to me," Martin said.

Charles Hadlock of NBC News contributed to this report

 

[Teebin]

^ Yikes bobwadd. Texas is sooooo unregulated... just like they (white folk) like it. If your wife, husband, child, cousin, friend dies there while "living" under someone elses control, then it is no ones fault. I think we should let is succeed from the country or sell it for a dollar to Mexico.

(and yes, I am horribly biased)

 

[TylerDurden]

"Sorry, you can NOT ride. There is a food trough over by the Funnel Cake Stand where you can wait for the rest of your party."

Wow...

 

[Stagefrenzy]

^ Yikes bobwadd. Texas is sooooo unregulated... just like they (white folk) like it. If your wife, husband, child, cousin, friend dies there while "living" under someone elses control, then it is no ones fault. I think we should let is succeed from the country or sell it for a dollar to Mexico.

(and yes, I am horribly biased)

Florida doesn't regulate any of the big boys. Only reason NTSB got involved at DW was it technically is a transport ride and OSHA was already going to be investigating.

 

[knokout1]

"Sorry, you can NOT ride. There is a food trough over by the Funnel Cake Stand where you can wait for the rest of your party."

I'm a bigger guy, and I've been told on a ride before that I can't ride due to my size. I didn't get upset at the park for being insensitive, I didn't get mad that they didn't make special seats for me (it was Manta), I accepted it and got off and waited at the exit. I didn't blame something for my own problems because I got myself into my situation. But to say stuff like this is no better than middle school bullying.

 

[orlandobuff901]

First off I know how strict Disney is first hand on rides. I was a CP and they go through the same routine every morning with every ride before they even turn them on. The track must be walked, all safety lights checked, ect, and when the park is closed there is a maintenance team on every ride trying to break it to improve the ride. So I can see how the larger ones are avoided with inspections due to the employee size. Sad as it is (expectantly the kids with there mom), accidents are going to happen. And I pop my restraints after leaving the stations at the universal roller coasters and have on EE as well.

 

[STL]

And I pop my restraints after leaving the stations at the universal roller coasters and have on EE as well.

Huh? How does one go about doing that? Not that there is any way in hell I want to....just curious.

 

[StarTrekGeek]

TPI is reporting that the lady fell off the coaster. Additionally, TPI reports that a boat on the Cedar Point Shoot the Rapids type ride crashed injuring 10 people. A sad day today at the nation's parks.

And Smiler at Alton Towers just lost a bolt yesterday, to the point where the track isn't connected. Also, Camden Park in West Virginia just had a fire yesterday too destroying the dodgem building.

I'd say this weekend is a theme park apocalypse! :yikes:

 

[Teebin]

Huh? How does one go about doing that? Not that there is any way in hell I want to....just curious.

I would say it is BS. Seatbelts cannot be unlocked on Dinosaur, bars cannot be raised on Spidey. They are designed to lock and hold, especially when the ride is in motion. Any emergency releases would only work if the ride is stopped.

 

[RonaldsModernLife]

I would say it is BS. Seatbelts cannot be unlocked on Dinosaur, bars cannot be raised on Spidey. They are designed to lock and hold, especially when the ride is in motion. Any emergency releases would only work if the ride is stopped.

Speaking of Dinosaur, I love watching people trying to unlock their seatbelt when the car is pulling into the station or if there's a backup but since the car didn't arrive directly in the station yet, the belts are locked. The panic on some of their faces thinking they are trapped on the ride

 

[Teebin]

Speaking of Dinosaur, I love watching people trying to unlock their seatbelt when the car is pulling into the station or if there's a backup but since the car didn't arrive directly in the station yet, the belts are locked. The panic on some of their faces thinking they are trapped on the ride

Exactly...

 

[maxairmike]

And Smiler at Alton Towers just lost a bolt yesterday, to the point where the track isn't connected. Also, Camden Park in West Virginia just had a fire yesterday too destroying the dodgem building.

I'd say this weekend is a theme park apocalypse! :yikes:

I don't know why, but it seems that the last few years the middle of the summer has 3 or 4 serious incidents for the industry. I've started to dread the news cycle come July for that reason.

 

[graspthesun]

Now, all that said...I really don't want this to come across as poor in taste, but since no one else has posted this...an article with a picture of the lady who was tossed from the ride. This pretty much confirms that a major part of the incident is going to be body shape/size. This issue goes back to what I was saying above about the quality of employee you can reasonably expect to draw for a seasonal position at a local park, because these kids don't usually understand the dynamics of the ride enough to understand why someone with "unusual" body dimensions can't be safely restrained, and also prefer to avoid conflict and being verbally abused by a customer. Given that size/shape is likely a major factor, it helps me narrow down where the "failure" in the restraint system was.

I think this is pretty much exactly the situation. In most incidences where there are accidents at parks in recent years, it is because of someone being on the ride on that should not have been on there for any number of reasons. After the double amputee being thrown from a coaster in NY, I saw safety signs posted everywhere at Six Flags Over Georgia in April and at Six Flags Great Adventure in June stating specific limb requirements for riding. I am worried when I see people who are either too short or too tall by posted ride restrictions getting on rides because I know those requirements are for safety and I think the woman wanted to be on the ride with her son despite her being too large to be safely restrained by the lap bar.

I will say that it is troubling to me that this happened on a hydraulic restraint coaster train as opposed to an old fashioned click-bar and seat belt train.

 

[graspthesun]

maxair, do you know if it is possible to push down on a restraint and get more clicks in the middle of the ride, or if hydraulic, one could push it down more in the same situation. I have never had the occasion to try this as I yank it to crush force before leaving the station.

Generally on a hydraulic coaster, the lap bar is locked in the position before it leaves the station and is immovable from that point. "Click bars" (I don't know if there's a better word) can still be brought down further during the ride. I often have mine come down one more click when I hit a high-G turn or a loop.

 

[tiredoldspook]

I have been asked to get off a ride wear the restraint wouldn't lock down on my legs at SFOG. I have watched ride ops at Busch Parks, Six Flags park, cedar fair parks explain to people they can't ride because of size. This was just a sad situation which came down to rider and operator error and it could have happened any where.