Texas Giant Accident

[Hockeyman55]

So this was not human error?

I don't think anyone really knows yet.

 

[LHZY]

Here is a picture of the type of trains from their website

Found it here: http://www.gerstlauer-rides.de/products/wooden-coaster-cars/hybrid-coaster-trains-en-US/
Safety:
Runs on wooden or steel track
spring-mounted Ackermann-steering
Redundant individual lap bars for each passenger with optional monitoring
Individual seats

 

[Obi Ubamba]

I do not understand why people do not understand that these things are more likely to happen at parks which do not hold proper safety guidelines and have fewer guests. just have a look at how many incidents have happened at six flags parks. while human error was accounted for some of the accidents (which also could have been prevented with greater care from members of staff0, so many of them are due to mechanical failures which led to fires and other issues. six flags need to invest far more time and money into safety procedures for their rides, especially for the most dangerous ones such as roller coasters.

its not fanboyism at all to say universal has far fewer accidents.it is a fact that cannot be disputed.

 

[Brian G.]

I do not understand why people do not understand that these things are more likely to happen at parks which do not hold proper safety guidelines and have fewer guests. just have a look at how many incidents have happened at six flags parks. while human error was accounted for some of the accidents (which also could have been prevented with greater care from members of staff0, so many of them are due to mechanical failures which led to fires and other issues. six flags need to invest far more time and money into safety procedures for their rides, especially for the most dangerous ones such as roller coasters.

its not fanboyism at all to say universal has far fewer accidents.it is a fact that cannot be disputed.

If Universal fed you a sandwich of manure and onion, you'd eat it because it came from Universal. It's fanboyism.

 

[LHZY]

Six flags also has more parks and coasters so that raises their chances of something like this happening.

 

[DrAwsome]

I do not understand why people do not understand that these things are more likely to happen at parks which do not hold proper safety guidelines and have fewer guests. just have a look at how many incidents have happened at six flags parks. while human error was accounted for some of the accidents (which also could have been prevented with greater care from members of staff0, so many of them are due to mechanical failures which led to fires and other issues. six flags need to invest far more time and money into safety procedures for their rides, especially for the most dangerous ones such as roller coasters.

its not fanboyism at all to say universal has far fewer accidents.it is a fact that cannot be disputed.

How about we look at it this way, how many rides does universal have that can throw you from the ride? 6 total in the US i think ( mummy usf, mummy hollywood, dueling dragonsX2, Hulk, Rockit) now lets compare with how many rides six flags has that can eject you from the ride. Of course the park with fewer rides that can eject your from them are going to have less incidents. Consider all the facts before making a judgement not just one
^exactly what he said

 

[Hockeyman55]

I do not understand why people do not understand that these things are more likely to happen at parks which do not hold proper safety guidelines and have fewer guests. just have a look at how many incidents have happened at six flags parks. while human error was accounted for some of the accidents (which also could have been prevented with greater care from members of staff0, so many of them are due to mechanical failures which led to fires and other issues. six flags need to invest far more time and money into safety procedures for their rides, especially for the most dangerous ones such as roller coasters.

its not fanboyism at all to say universal has far fewer accidents.it is a fact that cannot be disputed.

So then how do you explain the coaster accidents at Disney with Big Thunder?

 

[DrAwsome]

^ simple they aren't universal the most perfect place on earth

 

[Teebin]

I wonder how many may have been shooting videos of the ride when this happened. I am fascinated by what could of happened.

I do prefer the cranking sound of restraints coming down (especially getting one last tight "crank" out of it). This hydraulic restraint system seems/feels iffy to me regardless of any arguments that can be made on its behalf.

 

[Capacity]

While we're talking about restraints... Gatekeeper restraints are the most uncomfortable restraints ever. I couldn't breath at the end of the ride. God help anyone who gets stuck on it.

But anyway it sounds like this could have been prevented with seatbelts.

 

[Jakemeister]

Until the investigation is over we won't know who was at fault. I know that with the Kentucky Kingdom incident the ride manufacturer and I believe Six Flags were found at fault. Things happen at theme parks, but the same thing stands true for driving on I-4.

 

[maxairmike]

From some things I've seen and read over the last few hours, it is looking like body size/shape may be an issue yet again.

Also, to add a comment about the SFKK incident: While the park was found at fault, I think blame should have also been put on the inspector specifically and the state in general. I don't have the final report handy, but I do remember being shocked at how dismissive the inspection was and that no questions were asked about things that should have obviously raised some flags.

Anyway, back to the NTG accident. I'm very anxious for some more information on this.

 

[TheMackMachine]

This is really sad to hear. I don't know who to blame here, but I can say this. Even though Six Flags doesn't have the money like Disney and Universal to be close to perfect parks, that doesn't mean their safety policies are less strict. The fact that someone would say this would happen in this kind of a park is disgraceful. In a sense Six Flags and Cedar Fair parks are considered world class even though they are local parks, and they maintain the same safety procedure as the top parks. The park wasn't safe, nobody would go to it. Simple!

 

[Obi Ubamba]

If Universal fed you a sandwich of manure and onion, you'd eat it because it came from Universal. It's fanboyism.

There is no need to make this a personal attack against my "Fanboyism". ANY park worth its reputation- be it disney, bush gardens, or seaworld- do not experience the amount of incidents that occur at six flags parks. Just look at the facts: in 2006 there were 109 individual safety complaints at Six Flags Magic Mountain,in 2007 the OSHA cited Great America with 38 safety violations, and many of the more major accidents were due to careless safety regulations and inspection from members of staff. People should be able to go to a theme park- be it six flags, disney, cedar point, universal, seaworld,etc- and not have to worry about their personal safety. This horrible tragedy just demonstrates my point that Six Flags is not the safest park these days.

 

[lightjay]

Hm55 is correct about the use of a infinitely hydraulic lap bar system.


Gerstlauer Amusement Ride’s GMBH » References » North America » Texas Giant

Gerstlauer Amusement Ride’s GMBH » Hybrid Coaster Trains

"[...] Extreme performance requires extreme safety [...] The cars feature four self-supporting seats with T-shaped lapbars. The use of redundant hydraulic cylinders ensures that each lapbar can be infinitely adjusted and offers maximum security [...]" -> from Gerstlauers HybridCoaster Showreel

Each time i've ridden a coaster without a additional seatbelt system to fasten by myself, it was a very bad feeling... and now it seems that a "super modern maximum security system" has failed. OMG! My thoughts are with the kids and family...

Why don't add a second manual seatbelt system on every coaster train? It's not expensive and easy engineering.... especially on a multi-million USD investment for a rollercoaster...

 

[Cruiseshipfan]

"[...] Extreme performance requires extreme safety [...] The cars feature four self-supporting seats with T-shaped lapbars. The use of redundant hydraulic cylinders ensures that each lapbar can be infinitely adjusted and offers maximum security [...]" -> from Gerstlauers HybridCoaster Showreel

Each time i've ridden a coaster without a additional seatbelt system to fasten by myself, it was a very bad feeling... and now it seems that a "super modern maximum security system" has failed. OMG! My thoughts are with the kids and family...

Why don't add a second manual seatbelt system on every coaster train? It's not expensive and easy engineering.... especially on a multi-million USD investment for a rollercoaster...

The reason they don't add extra belts is due to loading times for a system that shouldn't need it. The most likely reason for this is that there was human error or something was wrong with the car, and a secondary restraint may not of helped either.

 

[Hockeyman55]

There is no need to make this a personal attack against my "Fanboyism". ANY park worth its reputation- be it disney, bush gardens, or seaworld- do not experience the amount of incidents that occur at six flags parks. Just look at the facts: in 2006 there were 109 individual safety complaints at Six Flags Magic Mountain,in 2007 the OSHA cited Great America with 38 safety violations, and many of the more major accidents were due to careless safety regulations and inspection from members of staff. People should be able to go to a theme park- be it six flags, disney, cedar point, universal, seaworld,etc- and not have to worry about their personal safety. This horrible tragedy just demonstrates my point that Six Flags is not the safest park these days.

Didn't OSHA just shut down half of Disneyland not too long ago?

 

[maxairmike]

There is no need to make this a personal attack against my "Fanboyism". ANY park worth its reputation- be it disney, bush gardens, or seaworld- do not experience the amount of incidents that occur at six flags parks. Just look at the facts: in 2006 there were 109 individual safety complaints at Six Flags Magic Mountain,in 2007 the OSHA cited Great America with 38 safety violations, and many of the more major accidents were due to careless safety regulations and inspection from members of staff. People should be able to go to a theme park- be it six flags, disney, cedar point, universal, seaworld,etc- and not have to worry about their personal safety. This horrible tragedy just demonstrates my point that Six Flags is not the safest park these days.

OSHA deals with workplace safety, and has nothing to do with consumer safety except incidentally when maintenance platforms become evac routes, so there goes that. As for individual safety complaints, I really don't think you want to open that door, because that includes everything from little kids hitting their head from a fall on the midway, bumping into a queue rail or (as happens at Rockit pretty much daily) someone (again usually a kid) hitting their head against a restraint causing a bloody nose, and lots more that actually happens every day at places like Universal and Disney. Its a non-factor in the major safety picture you're trying to paint.

The only way I would suggest that Six Flags in general is less safe is in their hiring practice. The issue there is that typically your best workers are at a SeaWorld level and not the Disney/Universal (or even Cedar Point) level, because you're drawing from a pool of HS and college kids for seasonal jobs from a local urban pool that will last at most a few years, needing to be rehired every summer. You can give those kinds of kids (the less than best ones) all the training you can imagine and they still will wind up screwing up because for most of them its just a fun summer job and they don't care or register the importance of the position. You can have a high turnover rate, but the nature of the position is such that you end up with mostly the same types of kids, again. Seasonal park jobs at a local park do not lend themselves to great applicants, its just the nature of the job. Given that, I think they do about the best they can in that regard.


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.

 

[Teebin]

^ the picture and article is thought provoking. Thanks for posting.

 

[Obi Ubamba]

OSHA deals with workplace safety, and has nothing to do with consumer safety except incidentally when maintenance platforms become evac routes, so there goes that.

the employees arent safe, so who cares? this is exactly what IS wrong with Six Flags, safety should come first for employees and consumers. And besides, you cannot deny that there have been far too many deaths/major accidents within the past 10 years at many of their parks.

This accident should provoke a debate within the theme park community as to how to properly put in place safety procedures (from lap restraints to evac routes) in parks like Six Flags. For someone to be literally thrown out of a coaster two years after it was renovated is inexcusable and the incident must lead to a thorough investigation.