Tragic Death at Cedar Point

Good morning peoples!!!!

I hope that everyone is doing well this morning and Happy Friday!!

Today's article is regarding the tragic accident that happened yesterday at Cedar Point.  If you haven't heard already, a guest was struck by the Raptor coaster when he entered the restricted area of the ride.  Sadly, due to his injuries the guest passed away.  Thankfully no one on the ride was injured when this occurred.

As you can see in the above photo the fence (if memory serves stands taller than my 5'2" frame) runs around the entire coaster grass creating a safety area for a reason.  The Raptor trains run about 60mph and there is generally two trains running (one loading and one on the track) but it can go up to three.

Once the accident happened CP immediately closed the ride and called authorities. They also posted to their social media pages what had happened.  I give them credit for openly saying what had happened rather then wait for someone else to do it.

From a couple of news sites, the guest (who I will not name out of respect) lost his cell phone on the ride and once he exited he jumped over the fence to retrieve it and was struck.  Now, while I have my opinions, this is the perfect lesson to all amusement/theme park lovers out there.  Your cell phone is NOT worth your life-this is a luxury item that can be replaced, you can not.  What the guest should of done upon realizing that he lost his phone was to alert any park employee who would than alert ride ops who would either hold up the ride for the item to be retrieved or would find the best time to retrieve the item.  Those protective fences are there for a reason!  Any guest can not accurately "time" a ride for safety, depending on weather conditions a coaster train can speed up or slow down along the track.

Please let this be a lesson to all you faithful readers.  Nothing you own is worth your life!  These amusement/theme parks have signs/fences up for your safety-which means they are there for a reason and usually that reason is that you could get injured/die.

As always: If you're nice to us than we'll be nice to you. You can find us in the usual places, just go to the "Where to Follow" tab on the home page and follow!!! 

Roller Coaster Vs. Deer at Lightwater Valley Park

Image from The Mirror

 Have you ever wondered what would happen if a Roller Coaster and a wayward Bambi decided to become friends? Nothing pretty as passengers on "The Ultimate" from Lightwater Valley Amusement Park in North Yorkshire, England have stated.

Apparently a few days ago, a deer managed to get beyond the coasters perimeter fences and onto the roller coasters tracks while the ride was in motion. The roller coaster did strike an decapitate the deer, bathing passengers in all forms of lovely deer-bits. Thankfully no human injuries where reported from the deer-strike but the ride and fence was checked by Lightwater Park, it re-opened the same day.

Six Flags Magic Mountain Reopens Ninja

Officials from Six Flags Magic Mountain have announced that the suspended swinging coaster, Ninja, has reopened following an accident that took place about two weeks ago.

According to Six Flags spokeswoman, Sue Carpenter, on Friday; "After a thorough inspection by Cal/OSHA, Ninja has been cleared to reopen for operation."

The official investigation of the accident by California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health, has also revealed the actual events that took place as well.

“A tree had fallen against the ride track and a train had struck the tree, severing its right front wheel and causing the front axle to derail. The train continued approximately 30 feet further, stopped, and then rolled backward 20 feet before coming to a final rest with the front coach hanging on an angle,” said Peter Melton, a spokesman for California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

As a result, a total of 6 riders were injured in the accident. Four of them were treated at the park for minor injuries while two others were taken to hospital for further evaluation. None of the injuries were considered severe or life threatening.

Ninja received it's final inspection on Saturday, July 19th and opened later that day for guests, sans the train that was damaged. This is likely to mean the coaster will remain on one train operation for quite some time until it can be repaired.

Of course, considering the rarity of these types of coasters, it may never be and continue with one train for the rest of its life within the park.

*Updated* Six Flags Magic Mountain- More Info about "Ninja" Coaster Accident

Image from Reddit User Ohkaythxbi

*Updated* Six Flags Magic Mountain- More Information about "Ninja" Coaster Accident.

 Well, I've managed to dig up some more information about yesterdays 'Ninja" roller coaster derailment which happened at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

 I try to tell people the power of the internet but often they discount it. Well, the Reddit community was on top of this accident due to an unfortunate problem- one users sister was on the ride.  Thankfully she wasn't injured but doesn't wish to speak about the accident at this time. OhkayThxBi also gave me permission to use the photos which where posted up to the forum which give us a much better idea of what really happened.

 From this photo, taken by his sister while on the ride. You can clearly see the front car is nearly completely off the tracks. It appears to be hanging from the back wheel set, which is keeping it attached to the track. You can also see the rest of the cars are left at an odd angle.

 This image also showed up but I haven't been able to re-trace it back but it shows that a massive tree fell onto track. While Six Flags and the News Stations are attempting to play this off as "a tree branch or tree limb" we can clearly see, that is NOT the case.

 It's a tree, a complete tree which fell onto the empty track. Which when the ride was dispatched, struck the tree and caused the derailment. This goes a long way to show just how much negligence is really found at Magic Mountain, which we saw with our own eyes back in March. The park was not well kept, especially on the mountian which houses both the Ninja Roller Coaster and Superman: Great Escape.

 The mountain was highly overgrown, with tree limb nearly touching the track of Nina to begin with.. and this was back in March. It was fairly clear that Horticulture isn't high on their priority list, this accident which likely could have been avoided, shouldn't have happened. Add into this completely disinterred ride operations employees and your looking at a disaster.  Honestly, we saw ride operators ignoring their jobs and the park rules. People with camera's and cell phones on the rides (not GoPro Units, Hand-held cameras and call phones) being allowed to ride. Ride Operators ignoring questions, chatting with each other and ignoring riders, eating and talking on their own cell phones.

  Although due to this accident, I'm concerned for the fate of Ninja. Six Flags doesn't have a great track record and Suspended-Swinging coasters are 'out of fashion'. Their also hard to maintain and keep in running order, with one train likely totaled the fate of the ride could be grim.

 I also wouldn't be surprised if many other parks suddenly scramble today to trim back trees and brushes around roller coasters.

As always, more information when we find out about it..

Six Flags Magic Mountain- "Ninja" Coaster Derails after Hitting Tree

Image from KTLA

 Six Flags Magic Mountain- "Ninja" Roller Coaster Hit By Tree, Derails.

 Honestly, I hate writing this damn 'shock' headlines and I hate it more when their the truth. Double this level of hate when it's one of the few rides at Magic Mountain I enjoyed. Sadly, tonight that's exactly the type of news I'm having to report.

Six Flags Over Texas to Reopen 'New Texas Giant' this Weekend

 Six Flags Over Texas as released a statement which says that they will be re-opening the roller coaster 'New Texas Giant' this weekend.  The ride has been down since the accident which killed 52 year old Rosa Esparza on July 19th, 2013.

 The park states they've finished their investigation of the ride with assistance from the train manufacturer, as well as internal and external engineering experts and have deemed the ride free of any mechanical failure. It has also passed with the Texas Board of Insurance (who seems to handle these kinds of problems) and is clear to re-open to the public. They have re-designed the padded lap restraints and have added in a seat belt for safety measures, the park is also providing a new 'test seat' for the roller coaster so riders can have a better idea of restraint fit. The company also states that riders with "unique body shapes and sizes" may not fit into the restraint and will be unable to ride.

 The family of Rosa Esparza has filed suit against Six Flags Over Texas to the tune of at least $1,000,000 in damages. Six Flags has no further comment about the attraction or the suit against them. 

 Now, one a personal level I feel very sorry for Ms. Esparza's family and extend them my sympathies but I fully believe this is a two way street with blame going to both parties involved. Ms. Esparza should have gotten off that ride the moment she felt uncomfortable and Six Flags Over Texas should not have allowed her on the ride.

 Before you chew my head off you have to remember something important, amusement parks and theme parks aren't out to kill people. They want their rides to be as safe as possible not only as a legal matter but as a business matter. These parks are, in the end, a big and expensive business to run. People won't buy tickets to a park with a bad safety record in this modern day and no ticket sales means no park. The bottom line is that these parks have to be safe to survive.

 The odds of any random person being injured by a ride are slim to none, accidents are very rare and that's a good thing.  Most of you won't ever even experience a breakdown where your evacuated from a ride much less an accident. Your safer on these roller coasters then you are in your car traveling to the park. 

Ride Accidents- A Sad Day in the Amusement Park World

Ride Accidents: Sad News

 Yesterday was a very sad day in the amusement park industry. Not one but two bad accidents occurred at amusement parks on opposite sides of the US within hours of each other.

Cedar Point

 Yesterday during the early evening hours 'Shoot the Rapids' a boat style plunge ride at Cedar Point rolled back during the first lift hill and then capsized onto it's side. The ride was emergency stopped and park employees and guests rushed to aid the riders. Cedar Point isn't stating how the boat rolled over nor even how it rolled back past the safety measures. 

 All seven people on the ride were quickly transported to Cedar Point's First Aid station and treated, one person was taken to the hospital for treatment. The extent of any injuries is unknown but the Lansing State Journal states that all seven people have been released.

 Cedar Point has closed 'Shoot the Rapids' until it can be inspected by Ohio state officials and park investigators. The ride opened in 2010 and has no major reported malfunctions like this in it's past that I've been able to find. 

Six Flags over Texas

 Around 6:30pm a woman on 'New Texas Giant' was somehow ejected from the ride during the second drop when her ride harness malfunctioned.  She landed on a 'platform' which looks suspiciously like one of the rides three tunnels and was killed. It's unknown at this time if the harness was improperly secured at the station or if it malfunctioned during the ride.

 That section of the park as well as the ride at Six Flags over Texas was immediately shut down and people evacuated. Park officials and authorities don't know yet how the ride's restraint system malfunctioned and are working to find an answer.  

 However, I find it odd that only a single harness released and not the harness directly beside it. Nor did this ride emergency stop from sensors most modern coaster trains have included. This makes me believe this could either be a rider error or a ride malfunction. Reports are sketchy, one states that the woman's restraint didn't click 'multiple times' while another states 'it was loose', either way our deepest condolences go out to the family of this victim. 

 Texas Giant opened originally in 1990 as an all wooden coaster, it was closed in 2009 and was re-fitted as a wood/steal hybrid coaster which reopened in 2011. It's name was changed to "New Texas Giant" at that point. It was just featured on "Travel Channel's Insane Coaster Wars: World Domination" episode titled "0-100 in under 2 Seconds" of which it was the 'winning' coaster.

It truly is a sad day in the amusement world, two parks suffered accidents over a thousand miles apart from each other. We will update on these stories as more information is released during the investigations. I also ask you to remember that accidents like these are anomalies and don't happen every day. As sad as they really are, please don't let them sway your judgement on riding amusement attractions or let them reflect upon the parks involved.