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sfne stinks
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 10720
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JUST NOW! ON WBZ they had an interview with a women who was sitting in back of the man who fell off
one of the ones who were holding onto him (They showed the onride photo on fox25 showing people holding him into his seat because they knew from the start he was falling out) she was saying that on the last hill . hill 9 he came right up and she grabbed onto him but couldnt hold on for the full turn and he got pulled out of her hand she said "I had his life in my hand and i lost it" Ok now they have a different person who was also holding him on the ride she said they new that even on the lifthill! he wasnt in the right way. and they had a man who said he and his 10 yearold kid were on the same ride and that the ops didnt look at the bars to see if they were locked.. he said they justed tugged the belts... I was on the ride before it happened and they did tug my belt and bar....
wow this really sucks
! "Waltmire said his daughter was seated on the left side of the roller coaster, just as Mordarsky was. Before the ride began, one park employee inspected seat belts and lap restraints on the right side, but not the left, he said.".... he wasnt in car 9 but he was in car 8 or 7.... if he was in car 8 and on the left side like that says he was.. i was in the SAME SEAT just an hour before :-.. this is makeing me feel sick
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| 5/6/2004 5:13 PM |
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coasterphil
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 9215
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Wow, Six Flags is going to be in a whole mess of trouble now. I can't believe the ops wouldn't check the restraints.
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| 5/6/2004 5:16 PM |
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iluvcoasters
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 323
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That sucks for the ride ops. Do you think he purposly had his bar up for air time? and what about his seat belt.
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| 5/6/2004 5:24 PM |
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Chip
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 7226
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Seat belts can fail, and apparently his did. But it may not have come undone. It could have just been a little loose because of the negative forces. What makes me wonder about this, is if anyone was sitting next to him, why didn't they attempt to pull his lap bar down?
If it is the fault of the ride hosts, I see a whole bunch of crap happening with Six Flags. They'll most likely get new training, people will get fired, and they'll get inspectors within the company coming in making sure they're doing things right.
This is terrible.
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| 5/6/2004 5:30 PM |
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edh101985
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 4294
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"Do you think he purposly had his bar up for air time? and what about his seat belt."
ilovecoasters, the man was disabled with cerebral palsy. What do you think.
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| 5/6/2004 5:48 PM |
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dbski
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 1
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I feel awful for the lady behind him. I think it was a great thing for her to help. I mean most people are paying attention to the ride, not realizing the guy in front of them is about to be flung out.
I appreciate her stepping forward with this info. Spokesperson for SFNE: BS101
Cedar Point has never had an accident not because their rides have been built differently but because their ride ops are trained better
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| 5/6/2004 5:55 PM |
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FlyInBack
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 663
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I too wondered, why didnt someone pull the restraint down? On those restraints, can't you pull them tighter at anytime?? Maybe she was in a bad position to do so, or just didnt think of it....
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| 5/6/2004 6:27 PM |
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DerMorgan
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 144
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Ja, aren't they the kind of restraints that click down with the heavy g-forces anyways? something seems strange about this. how terrible it must be to be that woman who was holding on to him until the last moment. yuck!
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| 5/6/2004 7:03 PM |
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MilhouseTheKing
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 782
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I was wondering the same thing as most of you...how come no one, even the man himself, pulled down his restraint? If no one was sittign next to him then I can see how they couldnt pull it down but even if the guy was disabled I would imagine he would think to pull down his restraint.
Still though, I cant belive the ride ops...damn six flags.
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| 5/6/2004 7:22 PM |
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kermat13
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 425
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I also think the restraints would click down with G's. All the times I have ever ridden a coster--no matter where--the restraints were checked. I would speak up if they weren't.
I also feel if you can't make the attempt to secure yourself (buckle your seatbelt--ect) than you probably shuldn't be allowed to ride the rides.
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| 5/6/2004 7:39 PM |
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Steven
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 7532
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I agree with dbski's point... CP ops are trained, and we don't let a train leave without making sure they are all checked.
We have a system (hence the thumbs), and the farthest operator (usually on the controls side) gives what's called a "high clear" meaning he's verified that everyone else has cleared their area. We also have at least 3-5 ops checking lapbars, and there's a sequence as to who can put their thumb up.
Also, on Intamin restraints, when the electric current is turned off (closing the valve), the restraint is one way. He should've been able to pull it down and make it tighter as they went. Though, to my knowledge, it won't dispatch if the lapbar is fully up unless it's in a maintenance mode.
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| 5/6/2004 8:05 PM |
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PANTSFREE
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 1356
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On intamin rides the restraints dont "click down" with heavy g's. They don't click at all, I believe they use air or something. In any case, I know that on SROS at SFA one needs to physically pull down on the lap bar with some force to get it down. I also don't understand a couple things: first, why didn't ANYONE realize while sitting in the station or going up the lift to pull his restraint down??? If I was in the station I would have yelled something at the guy or an employee or something like "OMG PULL THE RESTRAINT DOWN!" but thats just me... Second, how could the employees not have checked the restraints again? I mean, all the time when at parks they have to recheck the trains, sometimes 3 times, so why didn't the left side get checked?
I find it hard to believe that they could have kept the man on the ride until the last turn. To not get thrown of on a 200+ ft drop or a high speed turn at 70+ mph or one of the rides numerous airtime hills is pretty crazy...
In any case this sucks cause now I'm going to get severely stapled everytime I ride sros at sfa.
EDIT: Let's try to spell correctly and use correct English. -Chip
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| 5/6/2004 8:37 PM |
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Steven
Joined: Jun 2001
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PANTSFREE: They are hydraulic-based restraints.
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| 5/6/2004 11:54 PM |
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Magnum Robert
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 3196
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What a shame that this accident could have probably been prevented. Hopefully this will raise awareness at other amusement parks so this won't happen again.
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| 5/7/2004 12:51 AM |
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PINK FLOYD FANA
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 149
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I wonder how safe S:ROS would be with 2.5 to 3 inches of space? I was just reading yesterday that on Titan @ SFOT they have a 3 inch block they will push the bar down just to the point where it would not barely fit so in other words SFOT would have no problem letting me have just under 3 inch of space like 2.5 inches which would be considered OK but a full 3 inches is a no-no. I think 2.5 inches IMHO is enough space to allow airtime and still be safe but I'm not sure how much space Stanley Mordarsky had. It would be interesting to know if he had MORE than 3 inches.
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| 5/7/2004 1:48 AM |
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Frank
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 669
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PANTSFREE is right. After operating the Goliath hyper coaster at Six Flags Holland (a smaller Intamin mega coaster) for a year, I can verify that once the bars are locked it takes a lot of strength to pull them further down. It is virtually impossible for someone besides the rider or the operator to lower a restraint. It simply takes to much strength to do so from the side, especially while riding.
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| 5/7/2004 5:35 AM |
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MeanStreakPgsly
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 1
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Extensive training? Im sorry but I disagree. I worked at an amusement park for 3 and a half years and even worked on a coaster like SROS for one night and it is not that extensive to check a train and send it. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the man. As for Six Flags and "extensive training" thats bull its not difficult be safe. Use common sense.
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| 5/10/2004 8:55 PM |
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willski2002
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 1501
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The whole spokeswoman thing was a bunch of BS. Ride ops are barely trained, and even when they are fully trained, they are often too lazy to check restraints. For example, at SFOG, the ride-ops will run down the length of the train, while tapping the restraints and barely touching the seatbelts. Sometimes the seats aren't checked at all. I always double check them myself just to be sure.......
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| 5/10/2004 9:31 PM |
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More about News
May. 6th, 2004 -- Witnesses onboard Superman Ride of Steel during its fatal accident Saturday claimed the restraints were not checked before the train departed the station.