BrandonR

I find it hard to believe a ride op would never notice if a person wasn't sitting back all the way, especially a person with the same proportions Esparza had and whose lap bar position was going to be a borderline pass/fail situation anyway. Anyway, I noticed the SFoT press release mentioned re-designed restraint pads from Gerstlauer. Did the Iron Rattler get new restraint pads as well? I thought they only added seat belts...

So the lawsuit news article is spouting baloney? Seems kind of weird they would claim that in a lawsuit if six flags has inspection papers that state otherwise but maybe it's the news article that is stating the wrong facts? I think by no mechanical failure they're simply saying the lap bar didn't release during the ride. The defective sensor is simply an indicator of whether the lap bar is down far enough and on its own wouldn't cause any problems (unless dealing with a guest of this size).

It says at least $1 million. But yeah, that's chump change to a corporation. If I recall, the park paid around $4 million to the family of the lady that died on Roaring Rapids back in '99. The only thing that pisses me off about this lawsuit is this: (from http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2013/09/family-of-woman-who-fell-to-her-death-from-texas-giant-roller-coaster-now-suing-six-flags-over-texas.html/) This makes absolutely no freaking sense. The other arguments, about a defective limit switch, are interesting if true and would indeed place some of the blame on Gerstlauer. Although I have to think a defective limit switch would result in the light never turning on, therefore letting the operator know something was wrong.

Lots of American coasters already have "fat seats"...

Well given they say she landed on a tunnel, and all the overhead shots showed a firetruck's cherrypicker over the second tunnel (beneath the first overbanked turn), I think it's safe to say she did not fall out on the first drop. Especially since if she was in the third row there's not even a decent amount of airtime there to eject her.

I think we also need to start distinguishing between the types of seatbelts if we're going to discuss if they'd be beneficial or not. There are the backup kind of lap belts, totally independent of the lapbar, which may have helped or may not have. Then there are the restraint belts that buckle into the restraint (like B&M's or Mr. Freeze's that buckle into the side of the lapbar). I doubt these would have helped as they're primarily there to determine if the bar is down far enough, something the Giant's indicator lights already do.

Of course the largest amusement park chain is going to have the most accidents... But even then it's not that frequent. When was the last time?

It has been mentioned several times that the trains use indicator lights when the restraints are down far enough. I'm not sure the system prevents the train from being dispatched if the lights aren't on, though, or if it's just for the operators checking restraints' benefit. I suppose it could be possible the restraint was down far enough but the lady's body type prevented her from being secured somehow?

All I can say is Giant is one of the few coasters I've ridden that if there's a little room between my legs and restraint, the forces from the ride alone do not cause the lapbar to end up stapling me unlike other, traditional, ratcheting restraint systems.

Yeah I don't know if I completely believe that either. You don't exactly have a good view of anyone else's restraint on the ride, and to say you were a couple rows back and somehow noticed a lapbar popping up seems to be a stretch. Not to mention those lapbars are freakin' hard to push down, and I dunno if the force from the ride alone would be enough to push it back down had it indeed released.

Gerstlauer's brochure for the trains confirm what we already knew: redundant hydraulic cylinders for redundancy.

Not to add any fuel to the fire, but I do remember hearing the Giant was down near the end of June due to one of the trains having lap bar issues. No clue if has anything to do with this, but I'm sure it will be considered in the investigation...

Took a while, but I captured/uploaded the first local newscast regarding the accident: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2NTpWxrx9Q

NTG's lapbars DO have sensors to make sure they're down enough. I don't know that they prevent a train from dispatching. Again, can we please stop with this nonsensical speculating and armchair investigating? There's a reason they allow 16-year-old ride operators, and it's because these rides are built with redundant, virtually idiot-proof safety systems. I'm interested in waiting in the official investigation and seeing what obviously went horribly wrong.

Meh, if I recall seatbelts are usually added primarily as a means of detecting if the lapbar is down far enough. Them being a backup restraint is just an added benefit. The Gerslauer trains on NTG used electronic sensors and an indicator light to let operators know if the lapbar was safely down enough. Hydraulic lapbars have redundancy built-in through separate hydraulic lines. But again, it's still way too early to be pointing the blame to any component or system. Let's let the experts do their investigation.

So what other kinds are used for the restraints systems (not on Gerstlauer)? The typical ratcheting systems used on other trains (like B&Ms for example).

You also can bet all other rides with similar Gerstlauer trains (at least the ones with hydraulic restraints) will be shut down pending investigations.

Wow I'm speechless. This is one of those worst-fears-realized moments. I feel terrible not only for the family but for anyone who had to witness such a thing. How about instead of rushing to judgment or pointing the finger, let's take at least a day or two to grieve the loss of another human being in a most gruesome manner...

Yeah, don't go.

SFoT added signs in queue lines in an attempt to curb the line jumping issues. Wonder if SFFT plans on doing the same?

Just to echo everyone else's thoughts, the park spends quite a bit of money every off-season refurbishing sections of track. They wouldn't invest that in a ride they planned on removing, especially over something like this incident. There's even a banner in the station (or was) saying something to the effect of the park respecting historic/classic rides.

In case y'all haven't noticed, they give everyone on the show the title "coaster enthusiast." Probably because it sounds better than "normal, coaster-riding member of the public" and won't scare off as many viewers had they used actual ACErs or something.

Nah, in fact I'd be surprised if most people working at the park knew what Gs the rides hit in various places other than the obvious stats given by the manufacturer.

That's right, isn't it? I mean, I suppose titan's airtime hill is similar to goliath's and everyone agrees that it only provides some floater air and, as far as I'm concerned, that means between 0 and -0.5 G. I find quite strange how a tv series like this can make such an exaggerated claim, and it's not something that's subjective like how good it is, it is something mesurable. Still, enjoyed the episode, overall, and I was surprised to see blue fire last. If you noticed when the train was going over the airtime hill, the vest started to lift up over the guy's face and he suddenly pushed it back down. That could have caused the false -1.5 reading right there.

Ahh, Frontier Shitty, I mean City. Such a dump of a park, at least that's how I remember it the few times I visited. I do have fond nightmares of riding Nightmare Mine when I visited as a kid and legitimately questioning its safety. Something about the ample amounts of rust and ride ops struggling to push the cars through the station. Diamond Back was also fairly scary but mainly because it was a loud, clunky, launched Arrow. And what the hell is that picture they have next to Texas Giant in Wildcat's queue? I'm assuming it's some kind of weird, stylized drawing because the real Giant looked nothing like that.