cattlekate
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2012
- Messages
- 907
- Reaction score
- 3,287
Please just stop. We get it. It's everyone else's fault except for the owners and designers.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thank you.
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Please just stop. We get it. It's everyone else's fault except for the owners and designers.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I think it's interesting that they initially had a 14 y/o minimum age requirement then changed it. Just think, if it had been left alone little Caleb would be alive today.![]()
Your mention of the log flumes and coming out of the seat reminded me of riding the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney World. When the elevator dropped I came up out of the seat every time, but the bar kept me in. Then a few years later they started using seat belts instead of the bar, because of some lawsuit by a teenager claiming the ride caused her to have a heart attack or something. Chances are she had a pre-existing condition and shouldn't have gone on the ride anyway. And darn it, it's not nearly as much fun since they added the seat belts. :/
OT
I have wanted to go to Disney and ride that Elevator Twilight Zone ride ever since I heard about it opening. Its on my bucket list. By the time I get to ride it I will probably be so old I will have a heart attack on it.![]()
I would be surprised if the entire raft went airborne. But I would NOT be surprised to find out the front of the raft went airborne a bit based on the weight distribution and whatnot.
OT
I have wanted to go to Disney and ride that Elevator Twilight Zone ride ever since I heard about it opening. Its on my bucket list. By the time I get to ride it I will probably be so old I will have a heart attack on it.![]()
I totally agree.
By just looking at the way the support bars went over the top of the chute to hold the netting then the only possible way he would have had contact with the netting is either the front end of raft went upwards OR he was propelled out of his seat OR both.
I would not be surprised if a little of both happened.
I think the front of the raft came up. I haven't heard anything about how much the women weighed, but if they were "average" then the raft would have been at least 50 and possibly 100 or more pounds underweight. You have the lightest person in the front, and water jets pushing the raft from the back. If those jets weren't pushing exactly "square" with the vertical center of the back, and instead were aimed a bit high or low, then that's going to cause a problem, too. If they're aimed low, then the water is going to go under the boat and tend to lift it - if they're aimed high, that could push the back end of the raft down and cause the nose to tip up.
Personally, I think the loose straps are a red herring (unless of course he tried to stand or something). From the photos, it appears the raft had not yet reached the crest of that second hill. It's at the crest that you would become weightless/lift from your seat - that shouldn't be an issue while still going up the incline.
If I was investigating, I'd check the weights and take a close look at those water jets....
But police said weights taken at a hospital after the accident show one person weighed 275 pounds, another weighed 197 pounds and a third weighed 73 pounds, putting the combined weight at 545 pounds.
From what I've read, it seems the problem (besides a faulty design) was the uneven weight distribution of the raft.
From what I've read, it seems the problem (besides a faulty design) was the uneven weight distribution of the raft.
Seventy-three-pound Caleb sat up at the front of the raft, while the two women behind him (both of whom were severely injured as well) weighed 197 and 275 pounds respectively. Though all passengers' combined weights were within the ride's limits, Mariusz Ziejewski, director of the Impact Biomechanics Laboratory at North Dakota State University, believes improper weight distribution on a ride like Verrückt could lead to problems.
"You kind of have this catapult upwards," he told the Star. "Maybe this was a contributing factor. That's not good." This could cause the raft to lift and go airborne, which would subsequently possibly cause passengers to hit the netting and metal supports covering the slide. There have been recent reports of these Verrückt rafts lifting scarily.
Three weeks after Caleb Schwab, the 10-year-old son of a Kansas lawmaker, was decapitated while riding Verrückt, the world's tallest waterslide, experts are still trying to figure out how exactly the ride killed him. While many believe an uneven weight distribution on the ride may have caused Schwab's end of the boat to catapult upward, the official findings may not be released when concluded, the Kansas City Star reports. Taking cases like these to trial can often be so expensive, families end up settling privately.
New article about Federal regulation of ride safety as a result of this terrible tragedy
"When 10-year-old Caleb Schwab was killed earlier this month while riding the Verrückt waterslide in Kansas City, Kansas, it turned out that neither the state of Kansas nor the federal government had ever inspected it for safety. The accident has sparked a national debate on amusement park regulation."
http://kcur.org/post/death-verr-ckt...te-about-regulations-amusement-parks#stream/0
New article about Federal regulation of ride safety as a result of this terrible tragedy
"When 10-year-old Caleb Schwab was killed earlier this month while riding the Verrückt waterslide in Kansas City, Kansas, it turned out that neither the state of Kansas nor the federal government had ever inspected it for safety. The accident has sparked a national debate on amusement park regulation."
http://kcur.org/post/death-verr-ckt...te-about-regulations-amusement-parks#stream/0
[/B]
There are inherent and other risks associated with the use of or participation in or on any amusement attraction, ride or device or other recreational facilities located at the park. Each guest accepts the inherent and other risks associated with the use of or participation in or on any amusement attraction, ride or device or other recreational facilities located at the park, as well all other risks, all risks of which an ordinary prudent person is or should be aware and all risks of which the guest is warned pursuant to these Terms and Conditions, other park rules and regulations, other posted warnings, directions and instructions and attraction operator warnings, directions and instructions. In furtherance and not in limitation of the foregoing, each guest acknowledges and agrees to have read, understood and accepted, and to be bound by, the following statements:
- I acknowledge, understand and agree there are inherent and other risks associated with the use of or participation in or on any amusement attraction, ride or device or other recreational facilities located at the park, as well other risks, risks of which an ordinary prudent person is or should be aware and risks of which I have been warned pursuant to these Terms and Conditions, other park rules and regulations, other posted warnings, directions and instructions and attraction operator warnings, directions and instructions.