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Drayton Manor Park - Splash Canyon Incident

I can always remember there used to be issues on that ride, in the wave machine lake section. With boats getting stuck and stacking up for a short while. Children always used to jump from boat to boat. Not saying this is what has happened here, but it is a safety risk that has been going on for a long as I can remember. The boats still stack up and get stuck for a short while at this point, to this day. Presenting opportunitys for school kids to jump from boat to boat.

Alton Towers rapids have wooden channels in their lake sections to specifically stop this sort of thing happening. As the channel ensures the boats do not get stuck in the backwash.
 
Congo River Rapids here at Towers closed this afternoon for the remainder of the day just after this news was released.
 
Jonathan said:
Which is hardly surprising, given both rides are manufactured by Intamin.
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Do you expect every Intamin rapids ride to be closed then?

It's absurd to close one Rapids ride because of an incident on another; CRR has been operating for over 20 years with no incident.
 
FarGone said:
Do you expect every Intamin rapids ride to be closed then?

It's absurd to close one Rapids ride because of an incident on another; CRR has been operating for over 20 years with no incident.
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There's nothing wrong with closing rides of the same type temporarily whilst the exact circumstances of an incident are being determined. It's a 'just in case' step, and also prevents a media storm when an outlet goes and gets hold of a ride of the same time still operating. I'd imagine they'll be back open in the next couple of days.
 
GaryH said:
Oh for crying out loud, H&S gone mad. Probably the kid was mucking about and standing up. Maybe everytime there is an accident on a road they should close EVERY road until the cause is established. Oh well, OTSR now for rapids rides!!!
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It's not H&S gone mad, just a precaution. And it's silly to assume ANY wrong behaviour of the victim before knowing the facts of what happened.

Poor kid might be dead right now but all we care about is how it might affect another park's ride?
 
So let’s take out the “H+S gone mad” angle and look at it from a purely publicity point of view for Merlin as a whole. Let’s image Sky News contact Merlin for comment:

Sky News - “Hi there Merlin, we’re looking for comment regarding the incident at Drayton Manor, we understand you have rides of the same type?”

Merlin - “We can assure you our rapids rides are completely safe, and have not had a major incident in the many years they have been operating”

Sky News - “But Drayton Manor’s ride had not had an incident, and as we don’t know the facts surrounding the incident, how can you be so sure that rides you operate of the same type are completely safe?”

Merlin - “Errrrm….”


Or alternatively, they do what they have done….

Sky News - “Hi there Merlin, we’re looking for comment regarding the incident at Drayton Manor, we understand you have rides of the same type?”

Merlin - “We can assure you our rapids rides are completely safe, and have not had a major incident in the many years they’ve been operating. That said, safety of our guests is completely paramount, and for this reason we have chosen to temporarily close our rapids rides across the group whilst the circumstances of the terrible incident at Drayton Manor can be established”

To me, the latter seems much more reassuring than the first, and prevents the press biting for a headline!
 
But also, forgetting H&S for a moment. Had said incident been due to a serious flaw with the ride that had not yet been found out. It is in everyones interest to shut the ride while facts are established.

This would be the first place to heavily critise Merlin had they kept their rapids open, if the incident was found to be the result of a design flaw with the ride.

It is not right to gamble with people's lives. Tiny gamble or not, it is not right. Alton have done the right thing 1000% over.
 
DistortAMG said:
But also, forgetting H&S for a moment. Had said incident been due to a serious issue with the ride that had not yet found out. It is in everyones interest to shut the ride while facts are establihed.
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Do you reckon PortAventura bothered / will bother to close Grand Canyon Rapids?

I guarantee they won't.
 
Thorpe Park are stating Rumba Rapids will not be open tomorrow - clearly for the same reasons as Alton, awaiting whether it's a ride/design/operations fault that caused the incident. I expect Legoland will do the same on Thursday if necessary.
(or whether it's a guest failing to follow safety instructions...)
 
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