Woman dies on Six Flags Roller Coaster

[goofyintoronto]

I almost cried reading this article. OMG that is the saddest story i've ever heard. So unfortunate. That poor kid, i cannot imagine what he's going thru right now. To witness such a thing? OMG. Sending a ton of prayers to that family.

 

[momz]

www.rideaccidents.com

This site will make you think twice about attending your local carnival!

 

[kimmyann]

www.rideaccidents.com

This site will make you think twice about attending your local carnival!

We don't ride carnival rides either. I just can't trust a ride that is moved every week.

 

[branv]

After reading the DMN article, I had to come back to comment on this part:

"Carmen Brown of Arlington was waiting in line as the victim was being secured in for the ride. She said she believed that the womans son was on the ride with her.

Brown said the woman had expressed concern to a park employee that she was not secured correctly in her seat.

He was basically nonchalant, Brown said. He was, like, As long as you heard it click, youre fine. Hers was the only one that went down once, and she didnt feel safe. But they let her still get on the ride.

She said the victim fell out of the ride as it made a sudden maneuver.

The lady basically tumbled over, she said. We heard her screaming. We were, like, Did she just fall?"

And the same woman is quoted on Daily Mail as saying: "'She goes up like this. Then when it drops to come down, that's when it (the safety bar) released and she just tumbled,' said Carmen Brown of Arlington. Brown said she was waiting in line to get on the ride when the accident happened"

One, again, haven't been on the Giant in years, but are we supposed to believe that the eyewitness, who was not even on the same train as the woman, was able to both hear what the woman said, AND later see her fall from the eyewitness' viewpoint at the station (which is covered and obscured), AND could hear her specifically screaming? The former yes, but combined with the rest, highly unlikely. She described how the woman fell, but then says, "We were like, did she just fall?" Huh? Not to mention, when you're waiting for and on roller coasters, all you hear is screaming. Logistically, it doesn't make sense. Another account of a person also waiting in the station to ride, didn't mention seeing or hearing anything until the woman's train arrived back in the station and her son (?) was yelling. Like I said before, maybe this lady actually heard/saw something, but it also sounds suspiciously like an awful lot of "filling in the blank" and embellishment, which puts her whole account into question.

 

[luvsJack]

Oh my goodness, chills went down my spine reading this!! dd just rode this roller coaster a few weeks ago with her church youth group!!

I have never been there myself, does the line go close to the loading area so its possible that the witness was close enough to hear the conversation with the woman and the attendant?

 

[DawnM]

I watched the Arlington, TX news about the current incident. They also mentioned that a raft overturned in 1999 and one woman was killed and several injured.

Oh man, that has always been my worst fear......being strapped in to one of those rafts have having it overturn and not being able to get myself out or worse yet, my kids not being able to get out.

Dawn

www.rideaccidents.com

This site will make you think twice about attending your local carnival!

 

[2Kds2K9]

Prayers to the woman and her family. How horrible! Unfortunately, this is a reminder that we ALWAYS have to keep safety first and foremost. You don't expect anything like this to happen when you are having a fun filled day with family and friends.

We always chuckle at my DH 'cause every time he gets on a ride, he makes the restraint click just one more time. In fact, last time the kids and I were at Busch Gardens, we made it a joke and said, "One more click for Dad". Guess it won't be a joke anymore and will become our mantra.

 

[luvsJack]

We don't ride carnival rides either. I just can't trust a ride that is moved every week.

We don't do the little carnivals that set up in the parking lots in town but we do go to the county fair every year.

When dd was about 6, we stopped at one of those little carnivals. A man and his dd, about 6 also, got on the swings. She was really too small for the restraints and started slipping out of the swing. Her dad was able to grab the chains and get her over to him so that he could hold her. The attendant didn't seem to notice until we started screaming at him to stop the ride! As soon as we knew the girl was safely on the ground, we high tailed it out of there and haven't stopped at one since!!

 

[rigs32]

If this incident is so scary as to make you stop riding all rides, how can the stories of auto accident fatalities you hear every day not stop you from driving?

 

[Shutterbug]

If this incident is so scary as to make you stop riding all rides, how can the stories of auto accident fatalities you hear every day not stop you from driving?

With those type of rides you are at the mercy of the ride operator to make sure you are in safely. If something goes wrong there is little you can do.

I also agree about carnival and fair rides. I have been cut due to sharp edges on things, head banged due to insufficient padding, watched ride attendants check out the girls walking by and hitting on them as opposed to watching the ride, to want want to ride those anymore.

 

[Jennasis]

With those type of rides you are at the mercy of the ride operator to make sure you are in safely. If something goes wrong there is little you can do.

I also agree about carnival and fair rides. I have been cut due to sharp edges on things, head banged due to insufficient padding, watched ride attendants check out the girls walking by and hitting on them as opposed to watching the ride, to want want to ride those anymore.

THIS. It's simply a matter of not being in control. I have no problem driving but I am TERRIFIED to fly.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

What a horrific accident. I feel just terrible for the entire family, and everyone else on the ride yesterday.

There were a bunch of deaths at Six Flags in the 80s in New Jersey, including a fire in a Haunted Castle that killed eight children. Really awful.

 

[luvsJack]

I was just telling dd about this incident. She said that she felt like on most of the rides there, the attendants just weren't as observant as they should be. And that she and the kids she was riding with all kept checking for themselves.

Now her experience with rides is with WDW. Sea World and the fair. But she said even at the fair they tend to be more observant of the restraints being in place.

She did say the exception was on Batman, they were really careful on it.

 

[EMom]

We went to Six Flags Texas in April 2011, shortly after the Giant reopened. I don't remember any issues with it, but there was an all metal coaster very close to it that could have killed DD.

She and I got on, pulled the restraints in/down, and DD's stopped at LEAST 6 inches from her body. She wasn't remotely secure and I think that coaster either loops or nearly does. I had to go to extreme lengths to get a ride attendant to come over before we took off. All that twit had to say was, "That's as far as the restraint goes down. It won't go any closer." And then, she was about to walk off and start the ride.

I had to go all Julia Sugarbaker on her and tell her to stop the ride NOW, let my DD off (who was crying and scared to death at this point) and then set the ride up again even if it took a few freaking seconds extra. By the end of me having to tell her what to do, the men behind us were joining in, telling her my DD would fall out.

I stayed in, rode it and there is ZERO doubt DD would have slipped right through. So I gave them a few choice words as I exited as well. I was not impressed with the complete lack of brain power on that attendant, let alone her total absence of concern for a rider falling out.

 

[HonnyDipp]

OMGoodness. That poor woman.

 

[krcit]

We don't do the little carnivals that set up in the parking lots in town but we do go to the county fair every year.

When dd was about 6, we stopped at one of those little carnivals. A man and his dd, about 6 also, got on the swings. She was really too small for the restraints and started slipping out of the swing. Her dad was able to grab the chains and get her over to him so that he could hold her. The attendant didn't seem to notice until we started screaming at him to stop the ride! As soon as we knew the girl was safely on the ground, we high tailed it out of there and haven't stopped at one since!!

I had a similar incident with our local church fair. DD went on a ride and as soon as it started it was obvious she was too small and was slipping..she was holding on for dear life and screaming. Her father who is the calmest person I've ever met was screaming at the attendant to stop the ride. I was never so scared. That was the end of those rides. They make me nervous anyway..get put up and down so many times, probably losing a sceew here and there!

So sad for that poor woman and her family. What a tragedy.

 

[dawnhaze]

In my experiences with Six Flags parks, they usually have "good" ride attendants on the 1-3 biggest coasters in the park (depending on how big the park is), and everything else is staffed by bored kids who really don't care how tightly your restraints are fastened.

I went on the Batman "flying" coaster at Six Flags America in Maryland, and the ride operator didn't even check my restraint after I closed it myself. My right leg slipped completely out of the leg restraint during the ride, and I had slid so far down into the chest restraint that it was almost choking me by the time we got back into the station. I'll never go on that ride again, so not worth it. That whole park only has one coaster worth riding anyway.

One time on Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ, a girl in the front row was yelling for a ride attendant because the seatbelt on her restraints wouldn't pull tight. They were about to move the car forward for the launch and she yelled "MY SEAT BELT IS NOT TIGHT AND IF I DIE MY MOMMY AND DADDY WILL SUE YOU!!!!" They helped her with her seatbelt. And Kingda Ka is usually one of the ones with the "good" ride attendants.

 

[MissMichigan]

I saw this on Yahoo News last night. God, how awful! Just all around awful...a terrible way to die, traumatizing for her family, and everyone at the park that witnessed it.

I love coasters, but there is always that fear in the back of my head that something could go wrong. I know it doesn't happen very often with the big parks, but I don't think I've ever gone anywhere where I felt like the attendant/operator was fully capable of the job. I agree with PP's that it seems like they are always just bored teens.

I'm tiny, so I always feel like the restraints aren't really good enough for me, you know? I click them down until they hurt, if I can. Lap bars are better, a lot of the time with the ones that come down over your head/around your chest, they don't get close enough to my body for me to feel secure.

 

[PirateSnowmen]

Oh my goodness, chills went down my spine reading this!! dd just rode this roller coaster a few weeks ago with her church youth group!!

I have never been there myself, does the line go close to the loading area so its possible that the witness was close enough to hear the conversation with the woman and the attendant?

Yes, it is possible to overhear a conversation from the loading area as long as you are close. Right before you board the coaster the line is close to the loading area. It's an enclosed space and it gets pretty loud in there if it's crowded, so you would have to listen carefully. But, if she was one of the next people to be loaded onto the next train, she would be able to hear the conversation.

But, if you are close enough to overhear a conversation in the loading area, there is no possible way for you to see any of the coaster as it's in motion. So, if the lady fell out while on the coaster going around a turn or something, there is no possible way anyone could have seen that from the loading area. The only people that could have seen it were people FAR back in line and they aren't anywhere near the loading area.

As I've said before, the restraints on the Texas Giant don't click. So, I have no clue why they would have a conversation about the restraints not clicking enough times when the restraints don't click at all.

 

[momtojandj]

Very sad, I keep wondering if she was small or tiny, and could've have slipped out. A lot of those lap bars only go down so far and stop .