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NEWS: 12 year old girl severely injured in Wisconsin Dells


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Been following this thread from the start but didn't have any input as I've never ridden/seen these in person. Is this basically being seen as a freak accident or negligence in ride operations? I guess only time will tell.

 

Pardon my ignorance on this kind of ride but is the ride elevator and netting stopped automatically via sensors or does an attendant have to manually stop it once they reach a given height? With today's technology (and tech within the past 10 years or so) I'd assume that computers automatically stop once it reaches the given height, and if it's the case that the netting wasn't up high enough, that a bad sensor that triggered too early would be the culprit and not the operator. Future precautions, does this mean that they may put a giant air pillow below to soften the blow should the net stretch too far/not be up high enough?

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I was actually at Extreme World the night before the accident happened because someone in my family wanted to do it so I actually saw how it works. Basically as the elevator starts going up, the net does not move. The net doesn't start to go up until the people are about halfway up. Then the net is eventually raised higher and the elevator is at its peak. When the person hits the net the net is taken down somewhat because of the persons weight (i'm guessing thats the reason there are weight restrictions because they dont want the net going down TOO far). I don't think the elevator stopped short, but I would imagine it's hard to tell when you're so far up in the air. From what the articles now say is that there was no communication between the operator in the elevator and the operator on the ground. However i'm honestly not sure because I wasn't at Extreme World when it happened, I just heard the ambulances and heard about it all over the news.

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As hard as it is to tell from that high, would color coded markers on the tower help operators above and below know whether if the netting's in line with the markers? Perhaps having a small 'crows nest' at that portion of the tower with an extra attendant watching that the netting's at it's needed spot? I'm still really confused about the whole 40 feet thing as technically the person was still moving downward after being caught in the net. I guess though that saying she fell 40 feet sounds better than 120 feet (or however tall the tower is).

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Police blame Operator Error:

Lake Delton police said operator error is to blame for the incident that seriously injured a 12-year-old Florida girl in Wisconsin Dells.

 

Investigators said the net for the "Terminal Velocity" bungee-cord ride at Extreme World was set up improperly too close to the ground. They also said the ride workers did not follow safety protocols at the park, which is up for foreclosure sale.

 

While police said the incident was unintentional, they plan on forwarding the findings to the Sauk County District Attorney's office.

http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/wisconsin/lake-delton-police-say-operator-error-to-blame-for-ride-accident-that-seriously-injured-florida-girl

 

Officials said Monday riders on Extreme World's Terminal Velocity are supposed to be dropped from 140 feet into a net 100 feet below the bottom of the platform. The net is 40 feet off the ground.

 

However, when Teagan was released, she was only 100 feet up, and the net was fully on the ground, according to a news release from the Lake Delton Police Department. Only the tubing around the net was inflated.

 

The ride attendant at the top of the release platform is supposed to look down at the ground, inspect the drop area for any problems and then look at the ground attendant for an exchange of arm signals to indicate the release platform and landing net are at the proper height, the release said. Police did not release the operators' names Monday.

 

Police determined the proper procedure wasn't followed before Teagan was dropped, but said there was no intent to harm her.

http://www.twincities.com/ci_15664070?source=most_viewed

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This is very sad. I have been wanting to ride that since I saw a show on the Travel Channel about the most extreme theme park rides.

 

I can imagine how scared she must have been to ride and then to have that happen. I hope she is not branded for life and still enjoy theme park rides when she gets better.

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Been watching this thread since Sunday night. I have a little bit of insight into the SCAD towers as I worked at Zero Gravity in Dallas when it was first opened. From looking at the video posted on page 9 it looks like Terminal Velocity is the same system as Nothing but Net in Dallas.

 

How the one in Dallas works: The net system is connected to the same cable as the cage the riders ride up in. If you pause the video at 1:29 you can see the 4 metal bars with the wires/bungee cords attached. The cage will go up about about 50-75 ft before the net/tubes will rise. The tubes should be raised all the way to cross bars of the tower structure. As the Ride goes higher it will stretch the bungee cords out some. It is both the person in the cage and on the grounds job to make sure the net is raised all the way, and it is very easy for the person on the ground to check because they just need to look at the tubes and make sure they are all they way up. The ground operator would then let the person in the cage know that the net is position with a hand signal. The Drop master would also being verifying that the cage is at the appropriate height using visual cues on the tower. If everything is in position the actual distance is 99 ft from the bottom of the cage to the net. (we actually got a tape measure out and measured the drop). I've never been to Wisconsin Dells/Terminal Velocity so any of this could be different and I haven't worked at Zero Gravity since '05, so anything could have changed in the ride design since that time.

 

The video posted on page 3 or 4?, that is a scary video as that net does not appear to be all the way up.

 

In the second video where it looks like the operator is looking at her cell phone, it looks to me like she told the other operator to stop as the riders had not been secured to the cage to prevent them from falling out (At least I hope that is what is happening). At zero gravity the drop master would secure the rider to the cage and then it was the ground operators job to make sure that this was actually done to prevent any accidents.

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However, when Teagan was released, she was only 100 feet up, and the net was fully on the ground

Two things:

 

1. This is very, very sad and I feel very bad for the family. I look forward to hearnig about the girl's recovery, and personally, I hope some prosecution is brought to the ride op for negligence.

 

2. Robb and Elissa were right.

 

--Robb "Why do so many people doubt us?" Alvey

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However, when Teagan was released, she was only 100 feet up, and the net was fully on the ground

Two things:

 

1. This is very, very sad and I feel very bad for the family. I look forward to hearnig about the girl's recovery, and personally, I hope some prosecution is brought to the ride op for negligence.

 

2. Robb and Elissa were right.

 

--Robb "Why do so many people doubt us?" Alvey

 

Can't fathom how the operators did not notice this. Sad this accident was easily avoidable.

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I look forward to hearnig about the girl's recovery, and personally, I hope some prosecution is brought to the ride op for negligence.

 

I strongly doubt charges will be brought against the ride op for criminal negligence. As much as I agree something should be done, this doesn't sound to me like something that the DA is going to want to deal with. Had the girl died then it would be a different story, but provided that she survives, they likely won't touch it. In a legal sense I really feel for this family. Since there is news that the park is having some very serious financial trouble, I can't see how the family can recover against the park. The same goes for the ride op, you can sue anybody for millions of dollars, but if they don't have millions of dollars you're not going to recover. She might be able to bring a products liabilities suit against the manufacture, however those are expensive and much more complex to bring then a negligence suit against the park. So pretty much to sum it, from a legal stand point this family is going to be looking at an uphill fight on all ends, and I doubt the ride op is going to see any criminal charges brought against them.

 

MOD EDIT: Although AllenA007 may not know the particulars of this incident, he does have a legal background and is speaking in general terms. AllenA007 - Just want to get that out there before someone questions where you are coming from.

Edited by larrygator
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I'm thinking the right lawyer could get the D.A.'s attention with the use of the media, and if that's the case and it's in the public eye, there are alot of lawyers who want to be in front of the camera. Hope somebody helps this family out.

 

While that is possible, this just really isn't the kind of fight most lawyers are going to be want to take. We have to choose our battles, and while I fully agree that it is terrible what happened to this girl, this just isn't something that I see an attorney getting really passionate about. This family's best chance is going to be keeping things on the Civil, rather than Criminal, side of the court system.

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Can't fathom how the operators did not notice this. Sad this accident was easily avoidable.

 

Cell phone anyone?

 

This is totally, utterly, and completely unacceptable, the employees being total idiots and the design flaw of this ride that allows the possibility for this to even happen. There should have been some kind of failsafe designed into this so even if you have complete morons operating it, they could not cause an accident like this to happen. My heart goes out to the girl and her family.

 

I love drop rides and I considered this the ultimate free fall drop ride, no restraints just falling free. I thought how much fun it would be to experience this. Now, that will NEVER EVER happen.....NEVER!

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^ The only "design flaw" I am seeing is operator error.

 

In the second video where it looks like the operator is looking at her cell phone, it looks to me like she told the other operator to stop as the riders had not been secured to the cage to prevent them from falling out (At least I hope that is what is happening).

 

Yes, that is what appears to be happening. I know it may seem like a minor miscommunication, but how distracted was the ground operator to not have realized that the riders weren't yet secured? How many other mistakes like this do the operators make every day?

 

Who knows how many "close calls" the ride has had in its years operating, before the incident...

 

/speculation

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In that case, they should modify all S&S towers, because they can be launched with the restraints open. And, they should modify most old wooden roller coasters as well as many types of steel coasters, because they can be dispatched with the restraints open.

 

My point is that on most rides, the ultimate failsafe IS the ride operator. Should SCAD towers have a better built-in failsafe? Maybe. But again, on many rides, major accidents can be caused if the operator is not paying attention. And there's nothing that can be done to change that.

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Ok, really? The net wasn't raised at all. REALLY? How fucking distracted/retarded do the ride ops have to be to release her with the net not raised at all??? This could have been easily avoided had the ride ops been doing their jobs.

 

As for the Fail-safe discussion, as far as I know, at the top of the tower (where the rider is released) There is a metal platform with a hole in it that can open and close. Perhaps there could be a way to sync the hole with a sensor. Like this: The door can't open until the net passes a sensor that can tell that it's raised. It seems unnecessary but apparently some people are too stupid to realize when a net is raised or not... I mean seriously, WTF!?!

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http://www.wfrv.com/news/local/Family-to-pursue-legal-action-against-Extreme-World-99902264.html

 

In this video from the Green Bay area news, they say Extreme World says the employee is on leave for "mental health issues". This story just keeps getting stranger and stranger. The local NBC news here in Chicago said that the employee was a 33 year old with 15 years experience at the park.

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