Girl's Feet Cut Off At Six Flags

[Ackar]

Girl's Feet Cut Off At Six Flags (http://www.wlky.com/news/13547817/detail.html)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Police confirmed that a girl's feet have been cut off at Six Flags' Kentucky Kingdom.

Officials said they got the call around 5 p.m. Thursday and both her feet were detached at the ankle.

According to MetroSafe dispatch supervisors, the girl was riding the Superman Tower of Power, which is 177 feet tall and drops riders at 54 miles per hour. According to Kentucky Kingdom, the girl was injured when the ride malfunctioned.

NewsChannel 32 and WLKY.com will have more details as they're available.

That's kind of a big malfunction. :eek:

[XOMiss_Samantha]

This is why I don't exactly love 6 flags. With all the injuries at that place, I'd rather hang out in the kiddy section than risk my bodyparts being ripped off.

[purplehairedwonder]

That must have been some kind of malfunction... But that also begs the question of whether anyone else was harmed or if it was only the one girl and what exactly happened. If this ride is anything like the Superman ride I've been on at Six Flags, your feet are hooked onto the ride by the ankles so I guess I could see where something could happen... But even so, as I said in the other roller coaster thread, people know the risks going into these parks. It's definitely a sad story, though.

[Dr.Pepper]

This is why I don't exactly love 6 flags. With all the injuries at that place, I'd rather hang out in the kiddy section than risk my bodyparts being ripped off.
Quoted for the truth.

[Captain Zechs]

Wow...a couple people I know are going to 6 Flag's this weekend...I think it be best I warn them. I feel so bad for the girl.

[Michael24]

There's obviously more to this story, because as it is it sounds kinda... fishy(?) right now. Unless something happened while she getting on or off the ride.

[king zrz]

Oh my God the poor girl.

[Wussycat]

How do you get your feet cut off by a theme park ride?

[Michael24]

Short of accidently falling onto the track as the next train is coming into the station, or being stupid and trying to sneak onto a ride, I have no idea.

[FightingDreamer]

Whatever the reason, that's awful. Getting your feet cut off by a theme park ride is not my idea of a fun day.

[Ackar]

Short of accidently falling onto the track as the next train is coming into the station, or being stupid and trying to sneak onto a ride, I have no idea.

Watch the video.

The ride is one of those vertical towers that takes you up ~100 feet, then pulls you down really fast.

The video report states that a cable snapped and sliced off the girls feet above the ankle.

[XOMiss_Samantha]

Watch the video.

The ride is one of those vertical towers that takes you up ~100 feet, then pulls you down really fast.

The video report states that a cable snapped and sliced off the girls feet above the ankle.


That must have been a pretty powerful cabel to snap and cut through the girls bones then. I don't even know how that could even happen. If it cut her feet off, how could it have not cut anyone elses.

[Ackar]

Here's what the ride looks like.

http://www.gettheloop.com/loopapril3/superman.gif

[Frank Castle]

Oh man that's horrible. My prayers definitely go out to the girl and her family.

[Weatherman]

Here's what the ride looks like.

http://www.gettheloop.com/loopapril3/superman.gif

Wrong kind of ride. That's an S&S air powered tower ride. The one at SFKK is an Intamin drop tower. Hauls you up with a cable and then drops you down.

I can't get the video to work.

[Rolling Cloud]

I...really don't wanna see the video. :sweat:

Anyways, it kinda sux that this happened. Not the news I wanted to hear.

[Michael24]

Watch the video.

The ride is one of those vertical towers that takes you up ~100 feet, then pulls you down really fast.

The video report states that a cable snapped and sliced off the girls feet above the ankle.

I'm familiar with the design of the ride. I'm just curious how it happened, because aren't the cars passengers ride in mostly enclosed?

[Deadman]

thats so sad. i feel bad for her and her family.

[Ackar]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/06/21/six.flags.accident/index.html

The CNN article has more information on how the 16 year old lost her lower legs.

A cord wrapped around the 16-year-old's feet and severed them at her ankles while she was on the "Superman Tower of Power," a police dispatcher said. The girl was taken to a local hospital.

An unidentified witness told CNN affiliate WLKY she saw a cable on the ride snap.

"The people on the ride just came and hit the ground," she said. "When I got up there, the lady she was just sitting there, and she didn't have no legs. ... And she was just there, calm, probably in shock from everything.

[Boomhauer]

Damn man. I know she ain't gonna like Superman anymore, I tell ya.

[True Noir]

And this is why I don't go to theme parks...hopefully, the story was exaggerated and the girl really didn't get her feet cut off because if she did...then poor girl.

[Michael24]

I still don't understand how it happened in the first place, and I'm guessing we won't until the next few days. I mean, from what I've seen of the ride, you sit in a car, so it's not like your feet just dangle freely out through the bottom of the car. :confused:

And this is why I don't go to theme parks...


More often than not, theme parks are perfectly fine to go to. Accidents can happen anywhere, though. Nothing could deter me from having fun at a theme park.

[purplehairedwonder]

More often than not, theme parks are perfectly fine to go to. Accidents can happen anywhere, though. Nothing could deter me from having fun at a theme park.QFT. It's like saying you won't fly after an airplane crash. Accidents happen but flying is still the safest way to travel. Stories like these don't account for the countless times these rides have run without incident.

[Harvey Two Face]

That is just so, lack for a better work, mucked up, I mean really, how often does a theme park ride cut people's feet off?

[JShaggy]

That is just so, lack for a better work, mucked up, I mean really, how often does a theme park ride cut people's feet off?This is the first time I've heard of this case. I don't know how that could've happened either, unless that was a very thin cable.

[tucsoncoyote]

QFT. It's like saying you won't fly after an airplane crash. Accidents happen but flying is still the safest way to travel.

True but then have you ever had a Flight like this one (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=192661)? Makes you wonder about air travel now doesn't it?


That is just so, lack for a better work, mucked up, I mean really, how often does a theme park ride cut people's feet off?

Actually very little here, TT:Raven/Slade, but then you have to go look at this event (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=191890)that just happened less then a week or two back, and it starts to make you wonder, why on earth this did happen? I mean a lot of rides are indeed safe, but when you have incidents like these it does make you wonder if maintenance at the parks are being done correctly or if this was just a freak accident.

Either way, I bet there will be an investigation, and as for the girl? I wouldn't be surprised if a lawsuit against Six Flags would be in order.

This is the first time I've heard of this case. I don't know how that could've happened either, unless that was a very thin cable.

True, but then it makes you wonder if Proper maintenance was done on the ride. Maybe this cable was frayed or worn and after a few hundred thousand trips up and down that 155 foot tower, it eventually just broke. I mean back in the 1970's a lot of theme parks did a lot of maintenance and the only deaths I ever heard of were because riders decided to ignore the usual obligatory warnings (like not to stand up while the rides are in motion, keeping your hands in the car at all times, Etc.

But as of late, it seems that the theme parks have been cutting corners a little and it makes me wonder if anything at a park is really safe or not. I think the Kentucky Kingdom park needs to investigate this incident, they need to check their records on when the cable was last inspected and if any notes about the cable were even made in the maintenance logs.

After all a theme park is liable for it's customer's safety and something like this is totally unheard of. Usually you have incidents where no one gets killed or injured but remember theme parks need to do proper maintenance to keep the riders safe from accidents like this. Other then that, if a rider gets stupid and falls out of the ride because they ignored the warnings well then that is where the Park's responsiblity ends and th customer's begins. Other then that there's nothing to do but feel sorry that this happened. It happened, someone got injured, and in this case a lawsuit might be in order..all because a frayed cable possibly broke.

Just My thoughts and observations on this.

:coyote:

[The Guitar Slayer]

True but then have you ever had a Flight like this one (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=192661)? Makes you wonder about air travel now doesn't it?


No. Just makes me think you're too fussy to go out anywhere.

But as of late, it seems that the theme parks have been cutting corners a little and it makes me wonder if anything at a park is really safe or not.

Technology has come a long way from the wooden coasters back in the day. Humans like adrenaline. We go to extreme lengths to get it pumping through our veins. In order to keep up with the demand, the parks have to do things that seemingly put us in danger (but really don't). The bigger and better a ride is, the more complex it usually is. The more complex it usually is, the more that can go wrong with the mechanics due to all the parts that can be involved. Usually, these failures are not crippling or deadly -- they're inconvenient, like being stranded on top of a ride. This is in the minority. It's an unfortunate incident, but I'm still going to ride the rails.

[Ackar]

CNN has a new updated article.

Teen who lost feet on amusement park ride has surgery (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/06/22/six.flags.accident/index.html)

This time the girl is 13, and her feet were found and sent to the hospital with her.

[simpsonsfan]

I heard that they didn't tell anyone at the park what happened that day.:zoidberg:

[Weatherman]

I still can't figure out how this happened. There's no cable that runs under the car. The only cable is above you to lift the car. Bellow your feet there is litteraly nothing at all. You sit in the car with you legs hanging over the endge of the seat from the knee down, more or less depending on height.

[XOMiss_Samantha]

I still can't figure out how this happened. There's no cable that runs under the car. The only cable is above you to lift the car. Bellow your feet there is litteraly nothing at all. You sit in the car with you legs hanging over the endge of the seat from the knee down, more or less depending on height.

That's why it's a perfect example of a freak accident.

[True Noir]

More often than not, theme parks are perfectly fine to go to. Accidents can happen anywhere, though. Nothing could deter me from having fun at a theme park.

I suppose...but honestly, I would rather go parachuting than ride a roller coaster as strange as that may sound.

[Michael24]

Haha!! Well, I'd rather lose a hand or a foot in a roller coaster accident that pancake on the ground because of a parachute malfunction. :D

Even though "Thunder Mountain Railroad" at Disneyland has derailed a couple times in the last several years, that doesn't stop me from riding it as many times as possible whenever I'm there. Of course, I probably wouldn't ride it immediately after it reopened from such an incident, out of perhaps a little bit of paranoia, but I'd never give it up entirely.

[tucsoncoyote]

Haha!! Well, I'd rather lose a hand or a foot in a roller coaster accident that pancake on the ground because of a parachute malfunction. :D

Even though "Thunder Mountain Railroad" at Disneyland has derailed a couple times in the last several years, that doesn't stop me from riding it as many times as possible whenever I'm there. Of course, I probably wouldn't ride it immediately after it reopened from such an incident, out of perhaps a little bit of paranoia, but I'd never give it up entirely.

Very valid points but you know a lot of times the reason why people die in these things are either based on one of three things, either (1) Operator Error, (2) Faulty locking or safety Mechanisms failing or (3), Rider Error.

in fact here's a site that shows all the accidents (http://www.themeparkinsider.com/accidents/list.cfm?start=907)that have been documented as of late. and usually these are either 1, 2, or 3..

But yeah this is indeed odd.

[DarthGonzo]

Very valid points but you know a lot of times the reason why people die in these things are either based on one of three things, either (1) Operator Error, (2) Faulty locking or safety Mechanisms failing or (3), Rider Error.

in fact here's a site that shows all the accidents (http://www.themeparkinsider.com/accidents/list.cfm?start=907)that have been documented as of late. and usually these are either 1, 2, or 3..


Of course it's usually 1, 2 or 3. You pretty much named the three biggest reasons. What's else is really left that could potentially kill a person? Total ride collapse? A rider struck by lightening? An impossibly large tidal wave? Volcano?

[tucsoncoyote]

Of course it's usually 1, 2 or 3. You pretty much named the three biggest reasons. What's else is really left that could potentially kill a person? Total ride collapse? A rider struck by lightening? An impossibly large tidal wave? Volcano?

Well some events are like this one, it's a freak accident. For Example if you refer back to the site I just posted (http://www.themeparkinsider.com/accidents/list.cfm?start=424), some deaths and injuries can't be prevented.

For example In this incident back in 2005, where a 4 year old boy died aboard the Mission: Space ride at Epcot, No one really knew the kid had a heart condition that when combined with Stress from the ride actually put the kid in the grave. (Even his parents didn't know about this till the autopsy was done.)

But a number of accidents could be prevented if everyone used common sense here. For example if you have a heart condition, do you think you should get on a ride that exerts stress on your body? More then likely not, yet there are people who do stupid things to, (For example if you continue to look down that list, you can see some riders acting very stupid (Let's put my leg out and get it taken off type of attitude.

Frankly if people want to be this way, then accept the risk, if you think you can handle the ride, then go for it, but the moment you ignore the rules expect to get hurt. simple and to the point.

:coyote:

[True Noir]

Of course it's usually 1, 2 or 3. You pretty much named the three biggest reasons. What's else is really left that could potentially kill a person? Total ride collapse? A rider struck by lightening? An impossibly large tidal wave? Volcano?

I think reason three is the reason why I don't like riding roller coasters. I'm typically a clumsy, forgetful person. I forgot to wear my seatbelt once riding a roller coaster at Six Flags...um, big mistake. I'm glad I held on to the bar for my dear life.

[Weatherman]

I think reason three is the reason why I don't like riding roller coasters. I'm typically a clumsy, forgetful person. I forgot to wear my seatbelt once riding a roller coaster at Six Flags...um, big mistake. I'm glad I held on to the bar for my dear life.


Baring the lap bar being so far from your legs that it could have never touched them at all, you were not in any particular danger. No one has been ejected from a coaster unless there was gross rider error or gross operator error.

The BTM derailing was a result of the budget cuts ordered by the idiot running Disneyland at the time. They didn't have the money to do proper maintenence and, well, bad things happen when you do that.

[The Wolverine]

Baring the lap bar being so far from your legs that it could have never touched them at all, you were not in any particular danger. No one has been ejected from a coaster unless there was gross rider error or gross operator error.


Truth.

The coasters I ride don't have seat belts. That's what's so great about 'em to begin with - the more air time the rider gets (as in, not touching the seat), the more fun.

[True Noir]

You'd think though...that if seatbelts were designed for a particular roller coaster ride and not for some other rides, that the seatbelt would be of some importance...

[D Dubbs]

As disturbing as this is, it's not going to prevent me from going to Six Flags. That video said that during a 5 year period there were 16 fatalities reported out of 1.4 billion park visits. The chances of dying in a car or plane accident are way higher than dying on a ride, so it's nothing to worry about.

But still, I do give my best wishes to the girl and hope that the surgery is successful.

[Ishtar]

Well, after feeling reading through this thread, I gotta say this was horrible and unpredictable. The fact that a drop tour managed to cut a girl's feet off is scary. However, just because I have now heard about this accident does not mean that I won't be going to Six Flags or any other amusement park ever again. I even have a season pass for the Six Flags parks. This is not the 1st freak accident that has occured at amusement parks over the years. Heck, the Disney parks over the years have had certain rides that have caused a few injuires and even deaths. Accidents like these either occur due to poor mainetenance, because of something related to the person's health, or both.

[Romanesque]

As disturbing as this is, it's not going to prevent me from going to Six Flags. That video said that during a 5 year period there were 16 fatalities reported out of 1.4 billion park visits. The chances of dying in a car or plane accident are way higher than dying on a ride, so it's nothing to worry about.Regarding the park, those chances are skewed. By only including fatalities, you don't get an accurate picture of the rate of "incidents". I'd be just as concerned about losing my feet.

Accidents per visitor doesn't tell me what I'd want to know about the risks, either. What would I care, for example, about the probability of being attacked by a shark, when the probability is given as the number of deaths out of six billion people alive on the planet? Even the number of deaths / attacks out of the total number of beach goers doesn't tell me what I'd really want to know. What's the attack rate out of the number of people who went in the water? That's what I want to know.

Most park rides operate continuously, unless it's a really slow day. The number of park visits is perhaps a red herring. What's the "accident" rate per ride operation, or something to that effect? It's probably not horrible, but it won't sound nearly as cheery as the stat you quoted from the video.

Not that any of this would deter me from visiting the park. A little risk adds to the thrill, right? I'll still feel safer at any of the major amusement parks than I would on one of those sketchy traveling carnival rides.

--Romey

[D Dubbs]

Regarding the park, those chances are skewed. By only including fatalities, you don't get an accurate picture of the rate of "incidents". I'd be just as concerned about losing my feet.

Accidents per visitor doesn't tell me what I'd want to know about the risks, either. What would I care, for example, about the probability of being attacked by a shark, when the probability is given as the number of deaths out of six billion people alive on the planet? Even the number of deaths / attacks out of the total number of beach goers doesn't tell me what I'd really want to know. What's the attack rate out of the number of people who went in the water? That's what I want to know.

Most park rides operate continuously, unless it's a really slow day. The number of park visits is perhaps a red herring. What's the "accident" rate per ride operation, or something to that effect? It's probably not horrible, but it won't sound nearly as cheery as the stat you quoted from the video.

Not that any of this would deter me from visiting the park. A little risk adds to the thrill, right? I'll still feel safer at any of the major amusement parks than I would on one of those sketchy traveling carnival rides.

--Romey

Okay, if you want to get technical, the video said that during the 5 year period there were around 26,000 injuries from theme park rides (which is still like .0001% out of all park visitors). But then again, injuries could be referring to anything, from feet being cut off to a tiny cut someone reported. I guess the information is a little vague, but still, it's not going to prevent me from going to Six Flags.

[DarthGonzo]

I think I'm done with Six Flags...but that has more to do with the insane admission prices, unbelievably hot, unshaded lines and the food and drink prices which IMHO are absolute robbery.

[purplehairedwonder]

I think I'm done with Six Flags...but that has more to do with the insane admission prices, unbelievably hot, unshaded lines and the food and drink prices which IMHO are absolute robbery.Well of course. But that's part of the amusement park experience. You know what you're getting when you go into it. Different strokes, I suppose, but I personally love it.

[Draft]

so wait, was it one or two incidents?

Anyway, sad to hear..

Six Flags needs some matenince help. It seems every ride malfunction i hear about on the news is from Six Flags, sometimes maybe Disney, Universal, or soem other smalelr place..

[Michael24]

Don't think I've ever heard about a ride malfunction at Universal Studios, and even Disneyland ones (at least major ones) seem kind of rare.

[tucsoncoyote]

Don't think I've ever heard about a ride malfunction at Universal Studios, and even Disneyland ones (at least major ones) seem kind of rare.


Well again, I state that if people want to see how many accidents there are at amusement parks they really need to look at the Verified Injury Accident List at themeparkinsider.com. (http://www.themeparkinsider.com/accidents/list.cfm) These are all the verified accident reports that have occurred over the years and in fact the last few years there have been a lot.

Now as for your comment here Michael24, there have been accidents at Universal Studios and in fact here are the ones I found using that list.


Terminator 2: 3-D Battle Across Time at Universal Studios Florida
November 15, 2006
The actress who portrays Sarah Connor was injured when her foot became caught in a lift mechanism. The show was stopped and the actress was transported to a local hospital, where she was treated and released. -- Reported on November 16, 2006.

Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster at Universal Studios Florida
June 19, 2006
A 4-year-old girl suffered cuts on her foot when getting off the coaster. Her foot became wedged between the coaster and the load platform. She was taken to the hospital for treatment and released. The was inspected and reopened the next day. -- Reported on June 20, 2006.

Revenge of the Mummy at Universal Studios Florida
September 21, 2004
Jose Valadez, 39, of Apopka, died Sept. 22, 2004, a day after falling from the loading platform at Universal Studios Florida's Revenge of the Mummy ride. Valadez was awaiting a liver transplant and doctors told his family that his liver disease complicated the surgery they performed after the accident. Valadez fell as he was trying to board the ride. After falling, Valadez hit his head on the tracks. He complained to paramedics of stomach pain and that he couldn't feel his leg. -- Reported on September 23, 2004.

So in the last 3 years Universal had 3 accidents and 2 of them involved park goers. 1 was an actress. 1 park goer died, 1 injured.

But when you cross compare this with Say Disneyland/Walt Disney World/Epcot, and Six Flags' records of incidents, this is far less then the other two have.

So yeah You are quite right Michael, Universal is pretty darn safe.

:coyote:

[Weatherman]

You'd think though...that if seatbelts were designed for a particular roller coaster ride and not for some other rides, that the seatbelt would be of some importance...


it's kind of dependant on the disgn of the car. A car that had belts added later reallt doesn't need them at all to be safe. Those are just the result on the ignorance of the insurers who deal with parks and management that wants to look for anyway way possible to not take the blame if there's an accident on the ride. If the belts came with the trains, then they tend to be more integral to the train's safety system, but as long as it's not completely unbuckled on so lose that it can never catch you at all, you're fine.

[Cartoon_Kid]

WoW crazy stuff..

[Bubblegum Girl]

Poor girl. :( This one of the reasons why I dislike the idea of riding roller coasters.

[tucsoncoyote]

related Link(s): http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19515422/

Already it's barely been 10 days since the accident at Six Flags Magic Mountain and already since then there have been two more accidents, both of these resulting in Death for both persons.

First up, in the link above, we have a 22 year female Employee, who worked at Rye Parkland who died after she fell out of a ride after it was inadvertantly started by another employee, while she was strapping in a parkgoer on a ride known as "The Mind Scrambler." Apparently some rather impatient Riders were hollering for the ride to start and another employee who was inattentive started the ride while the woman who died was kneeling on a ride seat strapping a customer in. Even though the Ride had been stopped in just 20 seconds, the woman had been thrown from the car, and died immediately from her injuries.

And believe me this wasn't the only time a death had occurred on this same ride.

some 3 years earlier, a 7 year old girl was flung from the same ride when she wriggled out of her safety restraint and did the same thing, while the ride was in motion. She too was flung to her death.

And then I got this one from ParkInsider.com (http://www.themeparkinsider.com/accidents/list.cfm), where just 5 days ago on June 25th, a 14 year old girl from Spain died at Walt Disney Studios Park, after losing conciousness on the Rock N' Rollercoster Ride (Starring Aerosmith), after losing conciousness on the ride. Once the ride ended, the employees, tried to revive the unconcious girl but she died before Paramedics or an ambulance arrived.

So now you are asking, Well what does this have to do with the young 13 year old who lost her feet in that amusement park ride?

Well... a lot.

Apparently it seems that the number of incident reports with Amusement park rids are in fact starting to increase, and maybe what we should have is a Thread called "Are Park rides Really safe?"

I mean it's a tragedy when some young park goer loses their feet in a freak mishap aboard a ride, or worse, Lose their life. Even Employees of these parks do lose their lives as well. (Just go to the Parkinsider.com injury report list and you can see a long list of accidents, and not all of them are at Major theme parks.

But the point is this: Maybe we should rename this thread "Are Amusement/Theme Park Rides safe?" and go from there.. After all these are unfortunate incidents that do happen. But still losing a limb, or a life is really the issue here.. Maybe finally we're starting to see that Humans are getting on rides that are not only not safe, but also on rides that push the human body way past it's breaking point (I mean seriously who here has ever gotten into a Jet fighter Aircraft and pulled 4-5 G's of force? Because that's how much force you pull on some of these rides.. and some folks who think their tough enough, really find out a little too late that they went too far in terms of their human limits.

Still I wish the 13 year old quite well and hope she is recovering from her trauma. As for the others who have died? I give my condolensces to their families.

After all An amusement park should be a fun and safe place to be, not one where you see people die every few days.

:coyote:

[The Guitar Slayer]

I wouldn't go so far to question whether they're safe. Everything is dangerous in life. Underarm deodorant gives me breast cancer, food gives me diverticulitis, second hand smoke gives me emphysema. But that's just the mundane stuff, and yes, people have managed to die on the Merry-Go-Round. Thrill-seeking behaviour is a thrill because of the simulated danger. However, there aren't daily deaths from rides and the people who run them; the little girl wriggled out of her safety harness (which puts her death by misadventure), and the girl that's most recently died may have had a previous medical condition, as nobody else was hurt and the ride didn't have any malfunctions.

[Weatherman]

related Link(s): http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19515422/

Already it's barely been 10 days since the accident at Six Flags Magic Mountain and already since then there have been two more accidents, both of these resulting in Death for both persons.

First up, in the link above, we have a 22 year female Employee, who worked at Rye Parkland who died after she fell out of a ride after it was inadvertantly started by another employee, while she was strapping in a parkgoer on a ride known as "The Mind Scrambler." Apparently some rather impatient Riders were hollering for the ride to start and another employee who was inattentive started the ride while the woman who died was kneeling on a ride seat strapping a customer in. Even though the Ride had been stopped in just 20 seconds, the woman had been thrown from the car, and died immediately from her injuries.

And believe me this wasn't the only time a death had occurred on this same ride.

some 3 years earlier, a 7 year old girl was flung from the same ride when she wriggled out of her safety restraint and did the same thing, while the ride was in motion. She too was flung to her death.

And then I got this one from ParkInsider.com (http://www.themeparkinsider.com/accidents/list.cfm), where just 5 days ago on June 25th, a 14 year old girl from Spain died at Walt Disney Studios Park, after losing conciousness on the Rock N' Rollercoster Ride (Starring Aerosmith), after losing conciousness on the ride. Once the ride ended, the employees, tried to revive the unconcious girl but she died before Paramedics or an ambulance arrived.

So now you are asking, Well what does this have to do with the young 13 year old who lost her feet in that amusement park ride?

Well... a lot.

Apparently it seems that the number of incident reports with Amusement park rids are in fact starting to increase, and maybe what we should have is a Thread called "Are Park rides Really safe?"

I mean it's a tragedy when some young park goer loses their feet in a freak mishap aboard a ride, or worse, Lose their life. Even Employees of these parks do lose their lives as well. (Just go to the Parkinsider.com injury report list and you can see a long list of accidents, and not all of them are at Major theme parks.

But the point is this: Maybe we should rename this thread "Are Amusement/Theme Park Rides safe?" and go from there.. After all these are unfortunate incidents that do happen. But still losing a limb, or a life is really the issue here.. Maybe finally we're starting to see that Humans are getting on rides that are not only not safe, but also on rides that push the human body way past it's breaking point (I mean seriously who here has ever gotten into a Jet fighter Aircraft and pulled 4-5 G's of force? Because that's how much force you pull on some of these rides.. and some folks who think their tough enough, really find out a little too late that they went too far in terms of their human limits.

Still I wish the 13 year old quite well and hope she is recovering from her trauma. As for the others who have died? I give my condolensces to their families.

After all An amusement park should be a fun and safe place to be, not one where you see people die every few days.

:coyote:


Gets your facts straight first. The drop ride accident was at Six Flags Kentuckey Kingdom, not Magic Mountain. SFMM doesn't even have a ride liek that.

Seccondly, Rye had a 5 year old drown a few years ago when he jumped out of a moving water ride and got his foot stuck in a conveyor.

As for the girl who died at Disney, I gurantee it was because of some previously undiagnosed medical condition. Somethign like that is ALWAYS because of that.

It's alot safer to ride the rides than it is to use a garden hose. A few people a year are killed when they get tangled in hoses and suffocate. Safer than swimming too, by a long shot. Or skiing, or driving to the park.

It's extremely difficult to get injured at a park if everyone follows all of the rules. If someone breaks a rule, that's when bad stuff happens.

[Dead_Ninja_111]

So this is the story my friend was talking to me about... scary I just went to six flags last week... and just when I thought I overcame my fear of heights at that place I hear this story.... *shudders*.

My prayers are out to that girl and her family.

[tucsoncoyote]

It's alot safer to ride the rides than it is to use a garden hose. A few people a year are killed when they get tangled in hoses and suffocate. Safer than swimming too, by a long shot. Or skiing, or driving to the park.

Granted, but then try standing in the ride line for four hours in 100 degree + Heat (add to that sometimes 30-70% humidity and add to that the fact that if you can't get out of line to get something to drink (which usually dehydrates you if it is something like Soda) then you'll have a better chance of dying just getting onto the ride then actually being on it.

Makes sense? No? Okay then I do apologize for my errors, but still, when it's 105 outside, and you live in a brick house with very little Air conditioning, it's about as safe as a park ride no?

Or as I would say, how would you like your fried brains? Sunny Side up or over easy?

:coyote:

[SilverStCloud]

When I first read about that I thought it happened at the one is California. That's incredible. You don't really hear about these accidents very often. Has anyone heard an update on her status?

[Mr. Manager]

Superman sure swept her off her feet. If they can't get her feet back, will she be tall enough to ride again?

[Weatherman]

Granted, but then try standing in the ride line for four hours in 100 degree + Heat (add to that sometimes 30-70% humidity and add to that the fact that if you can't get out of line to get something to drink (which usually dehydrates you if it is something like Soda) then you'll have a better chance of dying just getting onto the ride then actually being on it.

Makes sense? No? Okay then I do apologize for my errors, but still, when it's 105 outside, and you live in a brick house with very little Air conditioning, it's about as safe as a park ride no?

Or as I would say, how would you like your fried brains? Sunny Side up or over easy?

:coyote:

The line for the Rock N' Roller Coaster is inside, where it's air conditioned. For that matter, I don't think Disney has any rides other than maybe Big Thunder and the log flume that have an outside line that could be longer than 45 minutes, baring some kind of massive attendance day aka 50,000+ plus people or horendous mechanical delays that you shose to wait out.

[ElBarto]

Superman sure swept her off her feet. If they can't get her feet back, will she be tall enough to ride again?
That's not funny.

[tb4000]

That's not funny.
It's only funny when you don't know them.

[Discloner]

Apparently it seems that the number of incident reports with Amusement park rids are in fact starting to increase, and maybe what we should have is a Thread called "Are Park rides Really safe?"

[snip]

After all An amusement park should be a fun and safe place to be, not one where you see people die every few days.
You can't really get a good understanding 'how safe park rides are' from scouring news reports every day looking for who died where. In this post alone you comment on two fatalities in two parks, but fail to note the millions of people who went to a park on those days in hundreds and hundreds of different theme parks that exist. How many people ride scramblers and die? How many people die on roller coasters? It's nearly an insignificant percentage in the grand scheme of things.

Fact of the matter is - theme parks, for the most part ARE safe. But they can't account for any and every situation; and most people are well aware of this. I have never gone to an amusement park and seen someone die. Not once in my entire 22 years of life - and I LOVE theme parks. I've seen rides break. I've seen people stuck on rides for a while, but not once have I seen someone die; and I'm betting the greater majority (if not all) of the people who post here haven't either. When you get on a large complex mechanical ride - you know that something COULD go wrong; With yourself OR with the ride itself. But this is not something that's exclusive to theme parks. I could be driving down the road tomorrow and my tires could fall off. Or I could have a heart attack at a red light. A meteor could land on me while I'm walking down the sidewalk or a wild and rabid raccoon could jump out of bush and eat off my face.

Life is full of dangers - to expect everything at a theme park to be bubble wrapped and ultra secure is just as silly as expecting the world outside your house to be entirely safe.

[purplehairedwonder]

I agree 100% with Discloner. I'm guessing the chances are higher that you'll be killed/injured in a car accident on the way to or from the park than for dying/getting injured on a roller coaster ride.

With as many times as I've been to Six Flags Over Georgia (which is a fair number), I still don't think I've seen anyone even get stuck on a ride from more than like two minutes.

It's only funny when you don't know them.No, it's actually not funny at all. Let's refrain from these tasteless comments or I'll start issuing pokes/warnings depending on the severity.

[tucsoncoyote]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19589017/

well It looks like now they are releasing details about the accident and it appears that the poor girl's right foot got reattached successfully.. but the left foot wasn't as fortunate.

:coyote:

[Ishtar]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19589017/

well It looks like now they are releasing details about the accident and it appears that the poor girl's right foot got reattached successfully.. but the left foot wasn't as fortunate.

:coyote:

I feel really bad for the girl. It has got to be very weird to only have one leg reattached.

[Weatherman]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19589017/

well It looks like now they are releasing details about the accident and it appears that the poor girl's right foot got reattached successfully.. but the left foot wasn't as fortunate.

:coyote:

Better one prosthetic than two. I still can not figure out how this could have happened. All of the cables are above the car. Well above the car actually. Even if it were to snap, all of the force is pulling it up the tower. It should snap that way.

[tucsoncoyote]

Better one prosthetic than two. I still can not figure out how this could have happened. All of the cables are above the car. Well above the car actually. Even if it were to snap, all of the force is pulling it up the tower. It should snap that way.

Well this also has me puzzled as well as it seems that if her legs were severed in the way described it would take a huge amount of force to cause a cable to slice through a limb (In fact refer to an Episode of Mythbusters where they were doing somehting similar based on Aircraft Carrier Landing Cables snapping and supposedly slicing a person in two. (This myth of course was busted.

I think a more plausible explanation is that the car fell all the way down to the tarmac or landing surface and the feet were severed by the car itself. Because if what you are suggesting here Weatherman is true, then there is theoretically no way for a cable to get under a car, unless the cable was part of the lifting system and that snapped but the cable would have had to wrapped itself around the girls legs.. So this seems to me that something isn't right about this equation. Nothing seems totally right or explainable with the ride itself. that's why I think it's more of the fact that the ride failed and the girl's legs were caught under the ride as it fell to the tarmac. other then that, there's no theoretical way to prove that this accident did happen.

:coyote:

[Weatherman]

Well this also has me puzzled as well as it seems that if her legs were severed in the way described it would take a huge amount of force to cause a cable to slice through a limb (In fact refer to an Episode of Mythbusters where they were doing somehting similar based on Aircraft Carrier Landing Cables snapping and supposedly slicing a person in two. (This myth of course was busted.

I think a more plausible explanation is that the car fell all the way down to the tarmac or landing surface and the feet were severed by the car itself. Because if what you are suggesting here Weatherman is true, then there is theoretically no way for a cable to get under a car, unless the cable was part of the lifting system and that snapped but the cable would have had to wrapped itself around the girls legs.. So this seems to me that something isn't right about this equation. Nothing seems totally right or explainable with the ride itself. that's why I think it's more of the fact that the ride failed and the girl's legs were caught under the ride as it fell to the tarmac. other then that, there's no theoretical way to prove that this accident did happen.

:coyote:


That's damn bear impossible to. The ride has a set of hydraulic cylinders at the bottom that are there precisely to prevent the ride from slaming to the ground should the earth's magnetic field somehow inverse or disapear and the permanent magnetic brakes on the ride not work, so that is basically impossible.

This is bizare.

[Ackar]

Don't any of you watch thrill week on the Discovery channel? :p

This ride is an accelerated drop tower design. It uses a cable system to pull the cars down faster than freefall.

It sounds like one of the pull down cables snapped.

[Weatherman]

Don't any of you watch thrill week on the Discovery channel? :p

This ride is an accelerated drop tower design. It uses a cable system to pull the cars down faster than freefall.

It sounds like one of the pull down cables snapped.


No, that one does not. That is an Intamin gravity powered ride, NOT and S&S Power Sports air powered ride. The Intamin ride ONLY uses gravity power to go down the tower. There are no cables under the car, only on top to haul it up the twoer.

[r/s4ever]

THAT POOR GIRL! Lets all take three minutes of silence for her.

*three minutes later*

I bet her family is NEVER going back there again!

[M?sterious]

This is just a random freak accident, after all the wear on the machine's cables and such it finally snapped and the people who designed it forgot about this flaw in design.That could of happened to anyone who was on the ride. I'm sure the girl's family is suing the company who manufactured the ride and six flags for a hell of alot of money plus compensation for the family's mental strain and the girl's.

[Weatherman]

This is just a random freak accident, after all the wear on the machine's cables and such it finally snapped and the people who designed it forgot about this flaw in design.That could of happened to anyone who was on the ride. I'm sure the girl's family is suing the company who manufactured the ride and six flags for a hell of alot of money plus compensation for the family's mental strain and the girl's.


You'd have to prove negligence for that to really be possible. Granted, juries can be very strange beasts, but from what I have seen and know about how these rides work, this almost seems like an impossible injury. The cables just don't go that way. They are all above the car. Even seeing as one snapped at SFKK, I still can not fathom how it could have had enough force on it to whip down like that and then under the car hard enough to break bone.

[M?sterious]

It had enough force to cut clean through her leg tissues and parts of her bone because of the force of the ride gave it enough momentum to do so, imagine pulling a long cord down and out of a tube really fast, anything that's near the opening will be whipped, depending on how fast the cord was moving through. The same properties took place in the ride, the force of the ride moving was putting tension on a cable, it snapped and it has a rubber band effect, the cable whipped around freely with ALOT of force and severed the girl's legs off. Think about the hundreds of pounds of pressure that was possibly on the cable. In cases like these, the investigators must prove that the ride failed due to poor construction, non frequent inspections or poor care of the equipment. Either way I'm sure the family will receive atleast some compensation from the park for the trouble they're having, I mean the girl can't ever walk anymore, the family has to deal with all this, the park can atleast help a bit.

[Robin2099]

This was the definition of freak accident, and while accidents can happen, the odds of them are pretty slim. Reading some of the posts here remind me of when there's a shark attack and people go crazy about it. For as many rides that are done during the day, for each ride and each park, I bet the accidents account for about .0001% at least.

[Weatherman]

It had enough force to cut clean through her leg tissues and parts of her bone because of the force of the ride gave it enough momentum to do so, imagine pulling a long cord down and out of a tube really fast, anything that's near the opening will be whipped, depending on how fast the cord was moving through. The same properties took place in the ride, the force of the ride moving was putting tension on a cable, it snapped and it has a rubber band effect, the cable whipped around freely with ALOT of force and severed the girl's legs off. Think about the hundreds of pounds of pressure that was possibly on the cable. In cases like these, the investigators must prove that the ride failed due to poor construction, non frequent inspections or poor care of the equipment. Either way I'm sure the family will receive atleast some compensation from the park for the trouble they're having, I mean the girl can't ever walk anymore, the family has to deal with all this, the park can atleast help a bit.

It doesn't do that. I've said this now a half-dozen times. There is NO CABLE UNDER THE CAR.


I REPEAT, THERE IS NO CABLE UNDER THE CAR.

The only cables on an Intamin Giant Drop ride are ABOVE the car. They move the hook that attaches to the ride vehicle to haul you up. The hook releases and the car drops. There are no cables anywhere close to the car at all.