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Ride/park accidents in 2012

The cars fold up like that for transport, so it could be that the pin / bolt locking it in place failed?
 
I'm amazed the mega bounce accident hasn't made the national press, unless I've missed it? They usually love a 'fairgrounds aren't safe' story.
 
The one at Blackpool I am sure had a major break too.

Unacceptable.

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Not surprised at all that this stupid design failed!

io9 said:
Breaking: 12 riders stuck at the top of Six Flags’ Superman roller coster [Updated]

The Bay Area's ABC 7 just reported that several riders are stuck at the top of the new Superman ride at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, California. The riders are suspended 150-ft in the air, but thankfully, California Beat is tweeting that fire fighters are currently rescuing the riders one by one. We're hoping for a speedy and safe rescue, as well as a full report from Six Flags about what went awry.

Irma Widjojo tweeted this photo of three people being lifted up to the stalled cars via crane. [via California Beat]

Update: ABC News 7 just retweeted this photo from their reporter Sergio Quintana with the message that rescue crews have released the stuck cars. Everyone is safe and sound. Hooray!

Update: The San Jose Mercury news adds that the riders were stuck for nearly an hour before the Vallejo fire department was called, fortunately in the upright position.

KTVU also posted a video of the stalled cars.
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What the hell is that design? Watching a POV just then, the cars seem to be going incredibly slowly after the launch just prior to the heartline roll - surely Premier must have noted stalling as a possible issue given this fact?
 
Hasn't this coaster just recently opened? I could be getting confused (and probably am) but I'm sure it's a new product...

Dear o dear
 
Yeah it just opened, a few weeks ago. It's the budget Superman: Ultimate Flight, and a new design from Premier combining a shuttle and full-circuit coaster.

The Psychoaster said:
What the hell is that design? Watching a POV just then, the cars seem to be going incredibly slowly after the launch just prior to the heartline roll - surely Premier must have noted stalling as a possible issue given this fact?
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You would have thought so! Given that it seems a slight failed launch at exactly the right speed can balance it on that straight bit. Since it's only taken this long for it to happen once, I bet this'll happen several times each season unless they do something about it...
 
I knew this coaster was going to cause nothing but faff from day one, with the what looks to be agonising throughput and the obvious ability to stall, why Six Flags chose to install this blows my mind.
 
I predict this being one of 'those' rides/coasters that closes down within it's first year and never reopens.

I kind of feel a tad sorry for Premier though, trying to break in to the major market only for their 'teething problems' to be thrown around the internet for all to see. It's a pity, most coasters suffer technical hitches in their early weeks of operation, this one just happened to occur a few hundred feet up.
 
Benedique said:
I predict this being one of 'those' rides/coasters that closes down within it's first year and never reopens.

I kind of feel a tad sorry for Premier though, trying to break in to the major market only for their 'teething problems' to be thrown around the internet for all to see. It's a pity, most coasters suffer technical hitches in their early weeks of operation, this one just happened to occur a few hundred feet up.
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I have no sympathy for them though due to the fact that the technical hitch was completely down to their own design rather than actual problems with the running of the coaster. It's things like this that are the reason they aren't true competitors to the more reliable manufacturers.
 
The thing is, big companies can also make huge mistakes.

Air for example has always been a major thorn in both the parks and B&Ms side. The lifting herch bar snapped after just a few weeks due to poor design, this was followed by a year of problems. B&M struggled to fix the issues and resorted to taking out the radio comm system and replacing it with infrared. A few years later the ride got stuck half out of the station and had to change the timings on the computers. It also went into flight and tried to dispatch despite the turntable not being ready so B&M had to install a series of brakes to prevent it from doing it again. Soon after they realised the position the guests were in made any lift evacuation or problems with the lift very difficult. A major thunderstorm left guests stuck on the lift for almost 2hrs!

So its not just smaller companies who get it wrong.

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Silly Premier! Even Maurer haven't managed to stall their version yet have they? I wonder if we'll see the simple solution to stalling, which is stick a kicker wheel or two at the stall point :p

As Dave has said, quite a few companies have issues, Intamin probably being one of the most notorious large ones. B&M do get their share of issues which go unnoticed or unreported a lot of the time. Air has always been their big problem, with many a fault (Though in fairness, I suppose it is a prototype and a bloody complicated coaster all things considering). Some mistakes can be simple errors, others are just carelessness and shoddy work sometimes. I've heard stories that another common issue for a lot of B&M coasters with inverted track thanks to the design of the. Air used to get this quite badly I believe. Above the breakrun there are all the sensors and circuit breaks fixed atop the track spine. These used to suffer from water getting into them, and could throw up all manner of ride errors. That's why they now have their little metal covers, to try and prevent it. It's just another example of an oversight by the company.

However, unless induced by an outside factor I think stalling is something all companies should avoid. It's my opinion that they never design a ride which can have such an issue in the first place. If at any point there is the question of the ride naturally stalling there should be measures in place to prevent this. Obviously, things like the Mumbo Jumbo incident are unavoidable, and no amount of design can prevent that. But stalling down to layout is careless if you ask me.
 
Speaking of stalling, how many pages can one dedicate to videos/articles about Jubilee Odyssey stalling? ;)

As mentioned in the Fantasy Island thread, Vekoma got it seriously wrong with this one! Constantly stalling in even the slightest of breezes (its built by the sea..d'oh!) and was more often than not closed.

Track was lowered and reprofiled not long afterwards, and it still suffered(s) from wind problems (ooohhh, take a Rennie!) even now.

Sorry, bit off topic, but it links in ;).

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I heard from a friend that an adult female died at Drayton Manor today, has anyone heard anything about this.
Heart attack on one of the rides was what I was told.
 
Drayton Manor have placed this statement on many of the wall posts:

Today a woman, aged 42 sadly passed away from a cardiac arrest at the park. All emergency services reacted very quickly on-site, including an off-duty doctor. An ambulance and Air Ambulance arrived to assist the park’s own first aid team very promptly. The Bryan family at Drayton Manor Theme Park wish to send their condolences to the family at this very sad time.
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The ride in question was Maelstrom. Very saddened to hear this happened.
 
That is very upsetting to read and I imagine was quite distressing for those that witnessed it.
 
A woman has collapsed and died after going on a white-knuckle ride at a theme park.

Carla Knight, 42, from Barwell in Leicestershire, suffered a cardiac arrest after going on the Maelstrom ride at Drayton Manor Theme Park in Staffordshire on Friday.

Colin Bryan, managing director at the theme park, said in a statement: "On Friday, a woman aged 42 was at the park enjoying a day out when sadly, having left the Maelstrom ride, she passed away after having a cardiac arrest.



Carla Knight who suffered a cardiac arrest at Drayton Manor Theme Park on Friday
"The on-site first aid team and all emergency services acted quickly as well as an off-duty doctor who assisted immediately.

"Our wishes and thoughts are with her family and friends at this devastating time."

Ms Knight, thought to be a mother-of-two, was on a day out at the Tamworth theme park when she decided to go on the Maelstrom ride that propels riders, seated on a spinning gondola, 72ft (22m) into the air on a giant gyro-swing.

One witness told The Sun newspaper that the ride was stopped to get Ms Knight off so she could be given medical treatment.



The Maelstrom ride at Drayton Manor Theme Park

Lissy Goodyear, 17, told the newspaper: "I saw the paramedics trying to get her heart rate back by doing CPR. They stopped the ride to get her off and put her on the floor. I don't think there was much they could do."

Liz McGinn, communications manager at Staffordshire Police, said: "We were called to a report of a collapsed woman at Drayton Manor Park just after 11.35am on Friday August 3.

Officers attended and sadly, colleagues from the ambulance service confirmed the woman had died. We can confirm there are no suspicious circumstances and a report will be prepared for Her Majesty's Coroner."

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/08 ... d%3D121131
 
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