A Sad Day at Holiday World

[MaryJ]

A death has occured at our nearby amusement park, Holiday World. My thoughts are with the family-owned business. This link takes you to the news article.

http://www.myinky.com/ecp/news/article/0,1626,ECP_734_2003782,00.html

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

How sad MaryJ.

 

[rae519]

So sad to hear about this horrible tragedy. I can't imagine the suffering the family is going through!

It's a very nice and well-maintained amusement park that we have enjoyed in the past.

There was another incident many years ago at the Old Indiana Fun Park that ended tragically for a grandmother and grandchild. We know that these things can and do happen but when it's in your own backyard, it seems to make it all the more horrible.

Rae

 

[powellrj]

wow, we love to go to Holiday World. Thats really scary. I live north of Indy and have heard nothing about it. I will have to keep checking the news. Thanks for the post.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

That is awful beyond words I wonder what happened?

 

[Claudia1]

We are going there in 2 weeks.

I hope they find out what happened.

 

[Towncrier]

We just saw a show about Holiday World on the Travel Channel this afternoon. How sad for this woman's family.

 

[mum4jenn]

I used to visit this place when I was a child. My mom was born in Princeton and she had sisters that lived in Evansville,Vincennes and Haubstadt. Every summer we made the long drive from GA to IN and went to this park several times.(Mainly when the was not much there) I think the last time I went there it was probably around 1986 or 1987.

 

[Serena]

 

[CathyCanada]

very sad

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

This is the story from one of the local tv stations. It was in a headline email this morning.

Woman Dies In Fall From Roller Coaster

POSTED: 6:43 a.m. EDT June 2, 2003

SANTA CLAUS, Ind. -- Authorities say the death of a woman on an Indiana roller coaster was an accident.

Tamar Fellner of New York died Saturday night after falling from the wooden coaster at the Holiday World amusement park in Santa Claus -- about 40 miles east of Evansville, Ind.

A doctor visiting the park and the park's emergency staff tried to revive the woman but she was later pronounced dead at a hospital.



The park was closed Sunday but is to reopen Monday. The coaster -- called The Raven -- and another wooden coaster called The Legend will remain shut down, according to a statement on the park's Web site.
Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press.

 

[Towncrier]

The woman who died was in the last car of the Raven with her fiancee. Apparently this was the last ride of the day. There is some question as to whether or not this was an accident.

 

[mum4jenn]

Are you saying she was pushed????Or jumped???

 

[rae519]

The way it was worded, I wonder if it was foul play myself. Very sad to have happened. This is such a family friendly part owned by a local family and they have never had an accident there.
It's just awful for both the victim and the owners.

Rae

 

[MaryJ]

Here is the article from today's Evansville newspaper:

http://www.myinky.com/ecp/news/article/0,1626,ECP_734_2005151,00.html

 

[laceemouse]

It was on the Chicago news this a.m. They said that it was confirmed that she was strapped in and the safety bar was down when the ride started. Sounded kinda fishy to me too.

 

[rae519]

Maybe she was child sized and that wasn't enough to hold her in her seat.

Rae

 

[nativetxn]

Very sad

 

[BarryHom]

If she was safely strapped in and the ride ops checked it correctly, then this accident was most likely caused by rider misconduct, IMHO. Thousands of people have rode the Raven without problems. I've never heard of something like this happening.

 

[rae519]

The Indy Star reported that the RC inspectors said that the safety mechanisms were working on the Raven. A RC enthusiast commented that most accidents are rider misconduct. How sad and unfortunate, regardless of the cause.

My original hunch that she was childsized is true - the young woman weighed 100 lbs but did meet the minimum height restriction of 48" - that's just 4 feet!

Rae