Fatal Roller Coaster Accident at Japan's Expoland

[krouvi]

In Farnce Foire du Trone it wasnt a coaster nor an accident - it was a murder of a policeman who was pushed by a a gang under a giant swing ride after the poor man tried to stop fights.

[DenDen]

it said the wheel assembly failed. On the video, it shows a thrown wheel assembly. Also, park officials have a chalkboard drawing of the assembly. Just my $.02. Very sad indeed.

 

OK, TOGO Stand-ups now officially have a history of losing their wheels. This happened in PKI years ago, but didn't this also happen at PKD?

[stormrider]

Here's a little more in depth article:

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070506TDY01004.htm

 

It's just sad, this problem might have been found (actually, it better have had been found) if the inspection came sooner.

[cfc]

it said the wheel assembly failed. On the video, it shows a thrown wheel assembly. Also, park officials have a chalkboard drawing of the assembly. Just my $.02. Very sad indeed.

 

OK, TOGO Stand-ups now officially have a history of losing their wheels. This happened in PKI years ago, but didn't this also happen at PKD?

 

I don't know about losing a wheel, but there has been one death on KD's Shockwave. A mentally impaired fellow managed to get free of his shoulder restraints and fell to his death a few years back.

 

My condolences to the family of the poor woman in Japan.

[CGM]

This is the perfect example of over excessive safety features that can do more harm than good. If it weren't for those catwalks, they may have faired better. I think that it may be a good idea to temporarily remove Togo standups from service until the problem is properly identified and changes are made if need be. It may seem rash, but a train derailing to this degree is pretty serious and I'd rather miss out on a few credits than this happen again

[Loco]

Man, this is so sad to hear.

 

^Yea I never understand why almost all Japanese (Chinese too) have guardrails all over their coasters. This is a perfect example of a negative effect those things can have.

[nasai]

The girl, Yoshino Kogawara, was 19. Her friend, a 20 year old, sitting directly behind her, is in critical condition with a head injury as well.

 

Here's a pic of the wheel assembly from where it detached. That happened on the way down the hill towards the helix, right where the coaster gets most of its speed.

 

 

It was almost to the end of the ride, at that valley just after the upwards helix.

 

 

This graph shows how, and where the injuries happened. Pretty obvious.

 

 

Fortunately, she was killed instantly. There was no lying there in pain. Very sad.

[XLRBR]

ZOMG that is horrible! Very sad, and kind of creepy if you ask me. FD3, anyone? (hope that wasn't already used, lol)

 

Again, all joking aside, that really sucks and it is very fortunate that she died instantly. Shows how exciting things come with a price...

[SharkTums]

^^Great find, I've added it to the first post.

[WadeJ]

What is really frustrating to me is that clearances should have been allotted for on that guardrail to prevent a tilted train from hitting it. The catwalk is simply to narrow. It makes you wonder how many other coasters are like this since it is very likely this woman would have sustained injuries like the other riders had she not hit the railing.

 

This is beyond sad. While I'm feeling really bad for this poor girl’s family, can you imagine being another rider that witnessed this happening? They are going to screwed up for the rest of their lives . Tragic...

 

I’m still wondering how this never happened to Viper at Great Adventure though

[nasai]

Thanks, Elissa.... It helps to have a Japanese wife.

[RollerC]

Not sure if this was answered before but are the wheel assemblies just attached to the bottom of the car? If so that is a really bad design...reminds me of the wheel design from the screamin serpent knex coaster.

[Vekoma Fan Boy]

Anyone else think this is going to go SBNO for a few years like SD2K?

 

 

And as anyone who plays NL would say, "Tunnel Test Failure"! Seriously, even an American designer would have checked that, maybe it isn't TOO bad to live in a sue-happy country...

[californiascreamer1]

This is Pretty Depressing.

 

I hope nothing like this Ever happens Again.

[Alexander Nagel]

I think that it may be a good idea to temporarily remove Togo stand ups from service until the problem is properly identified and changes are made if need be.

 

Well really the problem has already been identified...bad maintenance

 

During a tear down the of the trains the part that failed (i'm guessing the bolt or nut that connects the wheel assembly to the articulating cross member)would have most likely been found to have wear and replaced. I'm not blaming the daily maintenance of the park since there are things that can only be found during the annual tear down. So if tear down hadn't been delayed or the ride was closed until the required tear down was done the women might be alive. Then again it could have been bad daily maintenance...who knows

 

As for the handrails being blamed...well its just the way coasters are in japan. There isn't anything wrong with them and they make maintenance of the welds a lot easier. While they ultimately caused the death it's the wheel assembly that is at fault. If anything while the handrail did kill the women afterward it did was it there for, to provide access and if anything to get the other people off. I know if was on that train standing anywhere in cars 3 thru 5 that other than pain from whiplash, that having to stand there witness "things" in front of me that i'd want off as soon as possible and ever minute would count.

 

I mean really what it came down to is the nature of the ride (being a stand up) as a wheel assembly disconnected from a train was happened many different coaster across the world from time to time. It's basically the same thing that happened to the Demon at SFGAm like 10 years ago.

 

And how the heck is the guy behind the woman who died still alive. I mean look how the headrest is bent back about 90 degrees. I don't know how the guy can still even have this head attached.

 

And i'm no going to say it because for everyone who also didn't say it goes without saying that this is terrible for the women and her family. As others said this is a board about the discussion of coasters and that's what people are going to talk about first.

[robbalvey]

I've just added an edited version of the NHK video so it gets right to the coaster segment.

 

Thanks Teisco for your help!

 

--Robb

[tigerxeyez]

whoa

[the sound]

Anyone know how old the woman was or if shehad any children? I couldn't imagine how much it would effect a child's ability to get on a ride if their mom or any other relative was killed from it. Even if it doesn't mean much, my best hopes and prayers go to the family of the woman.

 

As surprising as this may sound, i bet if she had kids they wouldn't be going to a theme park anytime again.

[307]

I guess it's just built up resentment from the topic about the little chinese kid that got eaten at an amusement park, where everyone not only didnt hsow compassion but even said he deserved it.

He did deserve it.

 

This girl, however, didn't, and that sucks.

[carolinacaniac]

I am guessing she did not have kids since she was 19, but I hope that her friend will make it all right. I agree with you 307, I think that her family members will have a hard time with it.

 

As for the necessity of the railings and catwalks. I think that if they made the railings too far away, it could make evacuating a little harder, because when you get off, you probably grab the handrail, and if it is too far away, it would be difficult to keep your balance getting off if it was at a downhill/uphill point.

 

Someone mentioned that the catwalk served it's purpose, which I agree, after the fact, it did infact do what it was supposed to. I think it would be worse had the same senario occured, but say she hit her head on a really close object of some sort, and there was no catwalk. It could be that much longer that people would have to wait to be evacuated from the ride since they would have to get a ladder or cherry picker or something else.

[RCoasterny]

The situation could have come out better if it was the other wheel bogey that came off. The car could have tilted away from the handrail.

 

Either way, it's very unfortunate that it happened, and I'm suprised that from what the root cause of the failure was, that the Japanese typically maintains their rides well. Heck, I've heard from Robb and Elissa's TR's that TOGO's in Japan are more smoother than their US counterparts!

[baclueless]

^^^You are correct, the TOGO coasters in Japan were surprisingly fun and very smooth.....except this one. It was absolutely horrible....in fact, it was probably the WORST coaster I rode out there out of the 140+ we rode!

Looks like you all are going to miss out on a credit during your visit!

[KingOfNynex2003]

I'm glad that it was only one person and not all of the people on the ride. I hope that they can find out what happened with it.

[milo_smooths]

I think this incident could have been just as bad even if there was no guard rail. The trains could have collapsed off the track, or plenty of other gruesome possibilities.

It basically relates to the Mindbender incident back in 1986. Mindbender had no guardrails.

Mindebender may not be a TOGO, but the incident is very similar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindbender_(Galaxyland)

As to whether maintenance is to blame, well, I will let the research decide that one. From here, it seems pretty obvious that something on that wheel assembly was neglected, thus leading to an accident waiting to happen.

My condolences and prayers to the poor women, her friends and family, and the other passengers.

Its times like these that remind us that we DO take a risk when strap ourselfs into these rides.

[Mr Stratosphere]

One thing I was wondering.. Does anyone think there were any warning signs like sounds coming from the train??I know when I visit a park or a ride and i notice something strange I'll say something about it. Or is this just something that is a freak accident that could have not been forseen. Has anyone else been somewhere and noticed something wrong and said something about it? What was done when you did?