• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Ride/Park Accidents

Also doesn't Ice Blast have a seatbelt too?

You've had an absolute mare here mate. Id probably just stop digging.
 
I've always personally thought that any ride where a harness failure could mean a guest falling from the ride should be fitted with a seatbelt for an extra level of safety where physically possible to do so. Is there a wider sensible counter-argument to doing so, unless for a water-ride for example where drowning could be a counter concern?
 
Benjsh said:
I don't think it released tbh. I don't think it was ever clicked into place. There's footage of the restraint looking far from locked into place as the ride is about to start. That seems to have been the issue.

Also I didn't say rely on at any point did I? Please learn to read.

If there was a seatbelt, similar to Nemesis, it would have been almost impossible to fall out. Still would have got injured no doubt but may have survived.
Click to expand...
I learnt to read many years ago. Not well granted, but that's completely irrelevant. Thank you for your concern. Please examine and digest comments before deciding to spam a thread (thoroughly explained in 2 other follow up posts now).

You may be right. It may not have locked in the first place. Therefore that would be the primary reason for it failing to restrain a guest. Fail-safes such as a seatbelt should never be in the situation where they have to be relied upon. They have a role as a last resort only. Sure, a seat belt is an extra layer of security and is a decent and reasonable tertiary very last resort backup and may well be a strong recommendation following an investigation. But it's not a get out of jail free card for poor operations, maintenance or design. That is my point and that alone.
 
Matt.GC said:
I learnt to read many years ago. Not well granted, but that's completely irrelevant. Thank you for your concern. Please examine and digest comments before deciding to spam a thread (thoroughly explained in 2 other follow up posts now).

You may be right. It may not have locked in the first place. Therefore that would be the primary reason for it failing to restrain a guest. Fail-safes such as a seatbelt should never be in the situation where they have to be relied upon. They have a role as a last resort only. Sure, a seat belt is an extra layer of security and is a decent and reasonable tertiary very last resort backup and may well be a strong recommendation following an investigation. But it's not a get out of jail free card for poor operations, maintenance or design. That is my point and that alone.
Click to expand...
It did lock at first though as the computer allowed the ride to dispatch. It won't allow dispatch unless the sensors can confirm that all restraints are locked properly. Plus, if the restraint failed on the ascent up then surely the computer would've auto e-stopped the ride?
 
Skyscraper said:
It did lock at first though as the computer allowed the ride to dispatch. It won't allow dispatch unless the sensors can confirm that all restraints are locked properly. Plus, if the restraint failed on the ascent up then surely the computer would've auto e-stopped the ride?
Click to expand...
Indeed. This is what we don't know at this stage. I'm intrigued as to how this could have happened. It's a totally unacceptable thing to have happened.
 
I'd be surprised if the harness locking mechanism failed. Far more likely is it was not in a safe position to start with at the beginning of the operating sequence.
 
Alsty said:
I'd be surprised if the harness locking mechanism failed. Far more likely is it was not in a safe position to start with at the beginning of the operating sequence.
Click to expand...
Can these things be overridden at ground level? As in can it be engineered locally to be despatched without all restraints locked?
 
Unsure on this specific ride but typically no, it cannot be overridden except in certain maintenance modes. Those modes are secured and cannot be used by operations staff.
 
Matt.GC said:
Can these things be overridden at ground level? As in can it be engineered locally to be despatched without all restraints locked?
Click to expand...
With the right knowledge and skill anything can be overridden.
During normal operation i don't think it could be done without the public seeing.

The question is would someone want to invalidate the safety of a ride, on purpose.



Sent from my SM-A217F using Tapatalk
 
After the incident occurred:

"You guys checked him?" one worker from Orlando Free Fall could be heard saying. "The light was on," the co-worker responded. (link)

That doesn't suggest anything was overridden or bypassed to me.
 
It's best to be cautious in jumping to conclusions with these things, but I think it's pretty clear what happened here, and the design of the ride with that seating and restraint is inherently unsafe.

Those gurst seats have very little bucketing to them, the restraint locks out wide for larger people at just about the same angle the seat tilts to. Unlike Falcons Fury the seat does not right itself before braking. The drop lifts the rider over the minimal seat ridge into the top of the restraint, all the braking force is then transferred down, with the rider sliding along the smooth inside restraint into the gap the tilt is angled to, rather than down into the seat if there was no tilt.
 
Matt.GC said:
I learnt to read many years ago. Not well granted, but that's completely irrelevant. Thank you for your concern. Please examine and digest comments before deciding to spam a thread (thoroughly explained in 2 other follow up posts now).

You may be right. It may not have locked in the first place. Therefore that would be the primary reason for it failing to restrain a guest. Fail-safes such as a seatbelt should never be in the situation where they have to be relied upon. They have a role as a last resort only. Sure, a seat belt is an extra layer of security and is a decent and reasonable tertiary very last resort backup and may well be a strong recommendation following an investigation. But it's not a get out of jail free card for poor operations, maintenance or design. That is my point and that alone.
Click to expand...

Nobody has even said it's a get out of jail card. You're making this up to suit your agenda mate.

The restraint should never fail I totally agree but the fact of the matter is these companies still add seatbelts onto these type of rides. So please don't confess to know more than industry experts. Seat belts aren't a get out jail card but they obviously do add a further level of protection.

This lad was obviously on the heavier side and it may well have been a design flaw with the titled seat and the angle of the restraint. This is terrifying if so and it's a badly designed ride or badly set of weight and size limits agreed. The point still stand though that a seatbelt may have spared his life. The restraint would have failed and the seatbelt could have held him in place to only suffer minor injuries.

This is all people have said. Just like on Ice Blast....it's makes total sense to have that extra level of safety.
 
Do we know if Hangover is still touring because of he incident?

Also, I’m no expert but random thought earlier. Could they use a sand test dummy similar to what was used on The Smiler testing and lock the restraint into the same place as the restraint was and do some test cycles with the dummy?
 
Excalibur said:
Do we know if Hangover is still touring because of he incident?

Also, I’m no expert but random thought earlier. Could they use a sand test dummy similar to what was used on The Smiler testing and lock the restraint into the same place as the restraint was and do some test cycles with the dummy?
Click to expand...
Hangover has slightly different restraints (not from Gerstlauer I think), and it doesn't tilt. I'd more expect Highlander at Hansa Park to close as it's exactly the same as Free Fall, just shorter.
 
Interesting article...

www.clickorlando.com

New records show Orlando FreeFall has weight limit as state continues to investigate teen’s death

The Orlando FreeFall is the subject of scrutiny as state agencies look into what caused a 14-year-old to fall to his death from the ICON Park ride last Thursday.
www.clickorlando.com www.clickorlando.com

So it seems the user manual has a weight limit (which the deceased significantly exceeded), but the company representative has said there was no weight limit and if you physically fit in the seat you could ride. “We have a size restriction,” Stein said. “You have to be 50 inches or taller, and you have to be able to fit in the seat, and so there is really no weight restriction unless you cannot fit in the seat. So this is how we operate, and then the harness blocks you in, and we operate the ride."

Basically an accidental admission they were not operating the ride safely using their own restrictions.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top