Woman dies on Six Flags Roller Coaster

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Yes, there is some kind of panel which indicates when all the safety devices are securely fastened. The operator cannot release the coaster until this happens. So as far as the bored teenage ride attendants were concerned, the woman WAS secure in her seat. I'm speculating that either the panel malfunctioned or her individual restraint failed during the ride for some reason. I'm curious to learn of the cause.

The rebuilt Texas Giant is an awesome ride and I'm sorry to hear about this horrible incident.

Like as prior poster stated, I don't recall any clicking noises when the restraints are lowered, so I'm not sure what to make out of that witness's remarks.

Jim

Can you feel the restraint catch, even if you don't hear it click? I've been on a couple rides where I could feel it latch tighter and tighter but couldn't hear it click. Maybe she didn't feel it catch?

 

[Jex]

Not stirring the pot but why didn't she get off? I was on a coaster at cedar point a few years ago, and the restraint just did not feel right. I couldn't get it to move, but something about it didn't feel normal. I promptly told them to let me off before it started and explained why. No-one fell out that day, but it just didn't feel right so I got off.
Also someone asked if she was tiny, from the pics of her it doesn't look like it, not sure if her weight played a factor, but they may wantto do a better job of seeing what body types can possibly cause the restraints to fail.

 

[Jex]

Not stirring the pot but why didn't she get off? I was on a coaster at cedar point a few years ago, and the restraint just did not feel right. I couldn't get it to move, but something about it didn't feel normal. I promptly told them to let me off before it started and explained why. No-one fell out that day, but it just didn't feel right so I got off.
Also someone asked if she was tiny, from the pics of her it doesn't look like it, not sure if her weight played a factor, but they may wantto do a better job of seeing what body types can possibly cause the restraints to fail.

 

[Mama Mouse]

I have to say that seems odd as PW has one of tallest height restrictions of any ride at WDW. I can't imagine how awful that must have been for the both of you.

I do agree that it is one rough ride! They need to put some cushioning into those ride vehicles, I always come off with at least one bruise.

My son was well tall enough-unfortunately, it was my husband's belly that kept the bar from going down far enough, stopping it just at face level for my son. And he made the STUPID decision that if they let it be that way it would be fine. Yes, I was furious. FURIOUS. With both him and the CM's that saw and didn't say anything.

 

[skuttle]

My son was well tall enough-unfortunately, it was my husband's belly that kept the bar from going down far enough, stopping it just at face level for my son. And he made the STUPID decision that if they let it be that way it would be fine. Yes, I was furious. FURIOUS. With both him and the CM's that saw and didn't say anything.

We just rode it a couple if weeks ago. DS sat with DH, and the bar didnt go down too far for DS because of my dh's belly as well. The cm made my DS switch to sit with me instead so the bar would be farther down on him.

 

[PirateSnowmen]

Can you feel the restraint catch, even if you don't hear it click? I've been on a couple rides where I could feel it latch tighter and tighter but couldn't hear it click. Maybe she didn't feel it catch?

As you pull the restraint down, the restraint moves fluidly without clicking. If you pull it down, it will not go back up. If it does go back up, there's definitely a problem. This way you can pull it right up to your lap and not having to worry about making sure it clicks. I much prefer it to restraints that click, because sometimes with those you can't get the restraint snug against you because it won't quite click one more time. With the Texas Giant restraints, you can pull it quite snug against you, which is why I'm betting that something must have happened to cause the restraint to completely open while she was on the ride.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

I just took the kids to sea world in Orlando over spring break.
DD just makes the height requirement for the manta.

We were in the front row. One of the Manta workers kept looking at DD . He checked her restraint at least 4 times yanking and pulling at it. After the initial check hers is the only one he went back to.

Not sure if it was because she looked little, but truthfully it kind of freaked her and I out.

 

[maxiesmom]

As you pull the restraint down, the restraint moves fluidly without clicking. If you pull it down, it will not go back up. If it does go back up, there's definitely a problem. This way you can pull it right up to your lap and not having to worry about making sure it clicks. I much prefer it to restraints that click, because sometimes with those you can't get the restraint snug against you because it won't quite click one more time. With the Texas Giant restraints, you can pull it quite snug against you, which is why I'm betting that something must have happened to cause the restraint to completely open while she was on the ride.

That sounds sort of like the restraint on the Stitch ride. It pushes down on your shoulders, and actually kind of hurts. Does the restraint on the Texas Giant hurt at all? I'm really hoping the lady who died didn't do something similar to what so many people do on Stitch, and block the restraint from coming fully down, in order not to feel so squashed in.

 

[MomRN]

When I was 10 and my sister was 4 there we were on a carnival ride that malfunctioned, causing the car behind us to snap a cable and go over our car. It took whatever was sticking up over the back seat of the car with it. That included part of my sisters scalp. It took around 150 stitches, plastic surgery, and several days in the hospital... but she recovered.

I was in the seat right in front of her and remember turning around and seeing the injury right after it occurred. What I know now to be shock, I thought she was dead.

These type of stories always bring up somewhat of a PTSD for me... and I often have to face a love of roller coasters versus an intense fear of them. I've pretty much gotten over it, until something like this happens.

 

[Allison]

ABC News just said any investigation would be done by Six Flags not by any independent agency. I was surprised by that.

 

[Allison]

That sounds sort of like the restraint on the Stitch ride. It pushes down on your shoulders, and actually kind of hurts. Does the restraint on the Texas Giant hurt at all? I'm really hoping the lady who died didn't do something similar to what so many people do on Stitch, and block the restraint from coming fully down, in order not to feel so squashed in.

It's not like Stitch. It's a lap bar restraint not over the shoulders.

 

[maxiesmom]

It's not like Stitch. It's a lap bar restraint not over the shoulders.

No, but it looks like one that sort of locks itself into place, once it hits your body, like the bars do on Stitch. It would be easy enough for someone to cheat how far down the bar came, as they do on Stitch, which is why I made that comparison.

 

[EMom]

Not stirring the pot but why didn't she get off? I was on a coaster at cedar point a few years ago, and the restraint just did not feel right. I couldn't get it to move, but something about it didn't feel normal. I promptly told them to let me off before it started and explained why. No-one fell out that day, but it just didn't feel right so I got off.

That may be easier said than done. As I said earlier in the thread, DD's restraint was several inches away her (al least 6) and I thought I'd never get the Six Flags attendant to come over and let her out. I was terrified the ride would take off and DD would come out. She acted like it was an inconvenience to walk her teenaged butt over, let DD out and lower all the restraints again. If I had not gone Julia Sugarbaker on her, she would have blown me off.

My own horror story: When I was about 4, I was at the county fair on a ride that consisted of little boats going in a circle in water. Like a carousel with water and boats. My elderly grandfather was watching and was behind some sort of barrier. The ride must have been run with gas or diesel or something, because the fuel got into the water and caught fire. We were in those boats, surrounded by flames.

I will never know HOW my grandfather got to me so quickly, but he went over the barrier, got to me, grabbed me along with some other kids and took us to safety. I never rode anything like that again.

 

[PirateSnowmen]

That sounds sort of like the restraint on the Stitch ride. It pushes down on your shoulders, and actually kind of hurts. Does the restraint on the Texas Giant hurt at all? I'm really hoping the lady who died didn't do something similar to what so many people do on Stitch, and block the restraint from coming fully down, in order not to feel so squashed in.

No, the restraint doesn't hurt at all. It doesn't come down automatically - you have to pull it down yourself, so you can adjust how far it is pushed down. It is quite possible that she didn't push the restraint all the way down. I know many people like to do that so that they can get more airtime while riding - a looser restraint means you can come up out of your seat more. I know on some rides it wouldn't be horrible to have your restraint a little bit looser, but it's a very bad idea on the Texas Giant.

 

[IDoDis]

That may be easier said than done. As I said earlier in the thread, DD's restraint was several inches away her (al least 6) and I thought I'd never get the Six Flags attendant to come over and let her out. I was terrified the ride would take off and DD would come out. She acted like it was an inconvenience to walk her teenaged butt over, let DD out and lower all the restraints again. If I had not gone Julia Sugarbaker on her, she would have blown me off.

My own horror story: When I was about 4, I was at the county fair on a ride that consisted of little boats going in a circle in water. Like a carousel with water and boats. My elderly grandfather was watching and was behind some sort of barrier. The ride must have been run with gas or diesel or something, because the fuel got into the water and caught fire. We were in those boats, surrounded by flames.

I will never know HOW my grandfather got to me so quickly, but he went over the barrier, got to me, grabbed me along with some other kids and took us to safety. I never rode anything like that again.

Wow, what a hero! Did he receive any recognition for that? That's awesome that he was able to react so quickly and save as many kids as he could.

 

[EMom]

Wow, what a hero! Did he receive any recognition for that? That's awesome that he was able to react so quickly and save as many kids as he could.

No recognition, except from grateful parents. Back then, that sort of thing wasn't done much. You just did what you had to do and kept going. Seriously, he died a year or two later and I am amazed he was able to move so quickly. He was a sweetie! Amazing grandfather.

 

[Schmoodle]

I was reading the details about this last night, so tragic for this woman's family. Once they posted her picture, people started making lots of comments about her size and implying that it was her fault for overstressing the restraint. Only in much unkinder language. People can be so cold... It just makes me so sad. And with the ride manufacturer and Six Flags conducting the only investigation, we may never know the real reasons for the failure. The program manager made this statement to the press before they even arrived in Arlington to investigate: "I'm sure there's no safety bar that is broken." I'm involved in mishap investigations of another kind and the investigators need to be independent and have no premature conclusions in mind for the investigation to have any value.

My phobias are in overdrive now, as we're headed to WDW in a couple of weeks, and on top of it, will be crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge later this week. I always have a panic attack on that bridge, and on Friday a woman's car was pushed over the edge by a tractor trailor. She was lucky to survive (they were just at the beginning of the bridge), but still terrifying to contemplate!

 

[FireDancer]

I'm curious to see what exactly happened. Most modern rollercoasters have sensors and indicators that let the operator know if all the restraints are locked properly. I believe even older coasters have been retrofitted with these sensors.

I wonder if the problem will end up being her size and the reason the mechanism only clicked once was because it couldn't lower any further. If that is the case the attendant should have removed her but I wonder if they were just trying not to embarrass her. Remember all the negative publicity Universal got over Harry Potter when it opened?

Minimum height requirements or maximum size requirements on rides aren't there to embarrass anyone, single anyone out, or ruin kids vacations. They are there to keep everyone safe. I am always amazed when someone posts about how their kid is an inch too short for a ride and hope the cast member makes an exception. I don't understand why anyone would risk their child's safety because they want to push the safety limits of a ride.

In the end permanent amusement park rides and rollercoasters are still very safe. I'll be at Cedar Point next month and am not any more afraid of something happening on a ride today as I was a few days ago. When these accidents happen a lot of people react with fear but the reality is that the drive to the amusement park is exponentially more dangerous then any coaster you ride once you are there.

 

[DizBelle]

I was reading the details about this last night, so tragic for this woman's family. Once they posted her picture, people started making lots of comments about her size and implying that it was her fault for overstressing the restraint. Only in much unkinder language. People can be so cold... It just makes me so sad. And with the ride manufacturer and Six Flags conducting the only investigation, we may never know the real reasons for the failure. The program manager made this statement to the press before they even arrived in Arlington to investigate: "I'm sure there's no safety bar that is broken." I'm involved in mishap investigations of another kind and the investigators need to be independent and have no premature conclusions in mind for the investigation to have any value.

My phobias are in overdrive now, as we're headed to WDW in a couple of weeks, and on top of it, will be crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge later this week. I always have a panic attack on that bridge, and on Friday a woman's car was pushed over the edge by a tractor trailor. She was lucky to survive (they were just at the beginning of the bridge), but still terrifying to contemplate!

I don't think anyone could say at this point that the woman's size wasn't a factor. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. The investigation would have to ferret that out.

I can envision that the lap bar could only be lowered such that the bar was just above her knees instead of farther up her lap towards her waist and then in the extreme ride conditions it just wasn't enough to keep her in her seat. The restraint may not have failed but may have just been insufficient.

I did read a report that a witness said that the restraint was in its lowered position when the train returned to the load area. But that is just a witness statement at this point.

It could be that the restraint coupled with this woman's size and proportions led to this tragic accident. Again, we'll have to wait for the investigation.

 

[fabulousfive]

They are discussing this story & safety of amusement parks on HLN at noon eastern time today. I'm tuning in right now.