Rita launch cable snap!?!

[Jonathan]

Am I the only one who will be waiting for Rita to complete a launch before passing under the track in future?

And some chav will probably stab you in the back for not moving up in the queue quickly.

Nah - they'll just jump in front.

 

[nemmychic]

This should have been checked and maintained months ago on my last visit back in March Rita was having problems back then with the launch cable ....... it could have been avoided !! Poor Rita !!....Alton are letting standards slip in my opinion !

 

[Stevie]

Pictures of the scene from today....

 

[BigDave]

I never like standing under any cable launched coaster during the launch. This has just made me even less likely to do so. Still not impressed the cable was allowed to get to the point it would snap. Surely it would be better for Intamin to get cable from another supplier which is less likely to snap under load.

 

[Benzin]

When something is subjected to various stress factors and other external random element, it is not improbable that it would fail at an unexpected time. They probably have an idea of the average time for which the cable would be replaced, but in exceptional circumstances, it may happen outside of this window. I don't think it shows poor maintenance at all, but highlights that more control is perhaps needed

Just quoted for truth because really, this is the most sensible thing posted regarding whether or not the incident should have happened... Sometimes doing the maintenance that is considered standard by both manufacturer and company cannot prevent something out of the ordinary happening...

Don't blame the maintenance team unless there is definitive proof that this has happened as a result of poor maintenance, not a random one off occurance...

 

[BigDave]

Cable getting damaged early is acceptable. Cable snapping is not. It should never be allowed to get to the point that it snaps. The maintenance team can check for damage and should have replaced it as soon as damage was detected. If damage was not detected, then Intamin need to install better ways of testing for damaged cable.

Sent from my X10i using Tapatalk 2

 

[BigT]

I'm going to try and give things from a engineering perspective here, mechanical failures happen and although pre-emptive maintenance can help to pick up failures before they happen it is not 100% effective.

Its difficult to apportion blame without knowing all the facts, the cable supplier would have supplied a cable to a certain breaking strain and a sample of this batch would have been tested.
Intermin may have not specified a strong enough cable, but again if this was a problem I think it would be breaking more often.
The last time it was changed routinely (by Intermin I would imagine) it might not have been fitted correctly, ie not quite in alignment.
Alton Towers may not have carried out the pre-emptive maintenance routine correctly but again I don't thing this will be the case as safety is the number one priority of any theme park and it will also have a paper tail so will be easy to check.

My guess would be a combination of factors combined to make a "perfect storm" and a failure occurred.
Possibly weather, alignment, cable age and maybe even a failure of another component that coursed more drag on the cable, but like I say without the facts it's only a guess.

The other thing I would like to point out is there is a cable guard under the track if I remember right so it's perfectly safe to walk under it.
The cable hanging down has possibly slipped out of this after snapping or may have even being pulled out by maintenance when diagnosing the problem.

 

[BigDave]

Apparently they have had catch car issues for a while so there might be another factor in this breakage, but I stand by what I said earlier. A cable snapping should never ever happen. Would we be going oh its ok, the skyride cable has just snapped and 20 people have just plummeted to their death in the valley below? Im sure we wouldn't. So why is a cable on Rita any different? A cable under that much tension should not be allowed to suddenly snap and release its energy in an uncontrolled manor that could have caused serious injury or death.

Edit: Oh and I'd like to point out Im not solely blaming the park here. Intamin have a huge role in making sure their rides are safe and are kept safe!

 

[siralgenon]

Has there been any update as to when Rita could possibly be reopening?

 

[EuroSatch]

The skyride cable is not comparable. They under go different amounts and types of stress and experience forces in different ways. The skyride has a fail safe system in the event of it happening.

Lift chains and similar have snapped unexpectedly. Are you saying that shouldn't happen either? Nothing in the world is 100% infallible

 

[Alastair]

The skyride cable is not comparable. They under go different amounts and types of stress and experience forces in different ways. The skyride has a fail safe system in the event of it happening.

Lift chains and similar have snapped unexpectedly. Are you saying that shouldn't happen either? Nothing in the world is 100% infallible

I'm interested, what is the failsafe?

 

[Towseriv]

The skyride cable is not comparable. They under go different amounts and types of stress and experience forces in different ways. The skyride has a fail safe system in the event of it happening.

Lift chains and similar have snapped unexpectedly. Are you saying that shouldn't happen either? Nothing in the world is 100% infallible

I'm interested, what is the failsafe?

You never seen those little parachute packs on top of the cars?

 

[Islander]

The skyride cable is not comparable. They under go different amounts and types of stress and experience forces in different ways. The skyride has a fail safe system in the event of it happening.

Lift chains and similar have snapped unexpectedly. Are you saying that shouldn't happen either? Nothing in the world is 100% infallible

I'm interested, what is the failsafe?

I could be wrong, but I believe there're clutch-type-systems on some (all?) of the pylons, so that if the cable snaps and thus starts running too fast, they brake.

 

[Alexsutton]

The skyride cable is not comparable. They under go different amounts and types of stress and experience forces in different ways. The skyride has a fail safe system in the event of it happening.

Lift chains and similar have snapped unexpectedly. Are you saying that shouldn't happen either? Nothing in the world is 100% infallible

I'm interested, what is the failsafe?

I could be wrong, but I believe there're clutch-type-systems on some (all?) of the pylons, so that if the cable snaps and thus starts running too fast, they brake.

That's the only system I could imagine that would be remotely effective. It still probably wouldn't be great for any gondolas on the section that breaks, but it would provide the most coverage.

 

[Towseriv]

Also and a scary as this thought is, i'm sure the cars would be impact designed so that even if they did drop they would take the brunt of the force, I'm not saying that you would come away un-scathed but it wouldn't just break up. The old Kodak cars I remember looked like they could survive a nuclear strike.

 

[Alexsutton]

There's nothing on the gondolas to absorb any impact, it would take a lot of metalwork to make that an effective option, and that is assuming that the gondola fell without rotating at all. I'd much rather them put the effort into making sure the gondolas don't fall, rather than a shock absorber system for if they did!

 

[pluk]

I'm close to certain there is no fail safe on the Skyride. It just isn't really possible.

It has a bloody big cable though. And designed to cope with the freeze thaw conditions of a ski resort, the cable cars natural habitat, so mild Staffordshire should be no problem.

If it were to go you'd be very dead I should think, but it probably won't.

 

[Tom]

I find this fascinating as it's something I hadn't considered. Would love to know the actual system (if any).

 

[BigDave]

Yes but how many times do you hear a lift chain or cable car cable snap? Now compare that to launch cables. Also I agree that a launch cable has to undergo a large amount of stress, but a cable car has a massive amount of weight and often have to run in extreme temperatures. Either way, breakages like this should not happen. If you are saying the cable is not adequate and they can snap, then surely that is a cable design fault.

It would be like saying that a bridge or building collapses and then saying, oh well the load it was under was very high, it was to be expected really. If something is failing quite often and is a key component of a ride, then it should be made stronger and better until accidents like this are almost guaranteed never to happen again!

 

[BigT]

Just out of interest, does anyone know how often the cable has snapped on Rita as I've not herd of it before?