Accidental death at Schlitterbahn in Kansas City.

[Superbatboy]

Terrible news :'(

[eastcoast]

Condolences to the family, so terrible. Is a slide like this even necessary?

 

What is the airtime like on this? Highly variable based on weight? 400-550 is a good range. Can you hold on alone or do your hands get ripped from the handles and the restraint end up doing a good bit of work?

 

Lastly, what is that netting made of? I guess at those speeds brushing any material could cause injury, but a decapitation I don't even want to imagine happening.

[ilrider]

^I'll let others handle some of your questions, but this ride was controversial from the beginning, as its engineering was somewhat suspect, with the second hill having to be reprofiled and rebuilt since it was literally launching rafts weighted with sandbags off the ride.

 

The designers, which includes a Schlitterbahn owner, admit they engineered it based on coaster specs, and that did not translate well to a waterslide. We don't know exactly what happened yet, so I am not necessarily blaming the design, but let's just say this ride has an interesting history.

[Satans Hockey]

This video shows those tests where the boats and sand bags went flying

 

Opening of world's tallest water slide Verruckt d…: http://youtu.be/56gYUxlRBHs

[CoasterGoddess]

With all the experts and no one saw this coming? The netting is in my opinion too close and does not give room should a raft becomes airborne and parts of a riders body gets tangled in that netting which sounds like what may had happened. The 2nd hill looks like it drops too quickly and too deeply for a water ride after building up such speed. Water rides are not roller coasters, and you can't expect to have the same elements on a water ride with a raft not attached to a track like a roller coaster is attached and you get airtime. Prayers to the family and those who witnessed this tragedy. RIP young man, this should had never happened.

This ride is now toast!

[thrillseeker4552]

If this was a decapitation, oh my goodness. I can't even fathom how terrible this must have been for the family and the witnesses of the incident.

 

I wouldn't be too surprised if this slide is removed in the future. At the very least, the airtime hill should be flattened out as that seems to be causing the ride the most issues.

[Vonni]

Wow. How upsetting. That poor Family.

[gerstlaueringvar]

Did he ride at the very back seat? I guess his body is very light and the raft probably tilted forward during the drop of the airtime hill.

 

My thoughts and prayers go to the family and friends of the victim. And I hope this ride will be shut down/modified if it is an engineering error.

[Vonni]

I understand their reasoning for the netting. But it seems that a situation like this would have been taken into consideration. This is just so crazy.

[natatomic]

I understand their reasoning for the netting. But it seems that a situation like this would have been taken into consideration. This is just so crazy.

 

Seriously. "Rafts keep flying off the slide, but these huge metal bars should keep everyone safe."

[Satans Hockey]

I understand their reasoning for the netting. But it seems that a situation like this would have been taken into consideration. This is just so crazy.

 

Watching the pov videos of this ride, those nets seem awfully low. Has anyone here actually been on this ride? Maybe if they were up higher this would have been avoided?

[Satans Hockey]

This news video from today shows that a piece of the netting looks bent

 

Caleb Schwab killed on Schlitterbahn ride:

[DorneyKid14]

Is the bottom of the slide always red? This is a scary picture.

 

If you zoom in on the photo, look right above the white van in the back, looks like there is more blood on the slide.

[PhantomPoster32]

I understand their reasoning for the netting. But it seems that a situation like this would have been taken into consideration. This is just so crazy.

 

Watching the pov videos of this ride, those nets seem awfully low. Has anyone here actually been on this ride? Maybe if they were up higher this would have been avoided?

 

All of their blaster slides have these nets. Having ridden Verruckt myself I'm trying to figure out how exactly he flew out. Yes there is some ejector air on that 2nd hill but unless he was grossly underweight for the ride he should have never flown that far up even if the seatbelt malfunctioned.

[DoinItForTheFame]

Such sad news. My thoughts are with the family, and the witness. Something no one should ever have to deal with. Especially not when they are simply trying to have a fun, relaxing day at a park.

 

Also, I could have lived my life without seeing the photo of the blood covered slide. This slide has always seemed like a little "too much." From the prototype where the rafts went flying, to the full size slide where the rafts still went flying, to the re-profiling. It will be interesting to find out what investigators uncover as to the cause of this tragedy.

[WOFanatic]

2014 was a very weird year for Kansas City parks. First you had Steelhawk, a malfunctioning swing ride that gets stuck almost every day now (even got stuck today), and Verruckt, a prototype slide that has now killed a rider. Both of these attractions were heavily delayed (both opened in July), and now both are having terrible malfunctions (of course Verruckt being the worse of the two). I feel like it might be in the best interest to remove both of these attractions and start fresh with a new attraction for both parks that takes everyone's mind off the parks' past mistakes.

 

Having said that, I really don't know if Schlitterbahn can survive an accident like this. To be honest, the park flat out sucks. Verruckt was really the only attraction at the park that I couldn't take a nap on. And especially having this be a fairly new park, with a death taking place on their newest attraction...ugh...

 

As hard as it must be for the park, it must be equally hard for the families. Most Kansas City schools start tomorrow, so having this happen on what might have been their last family outing...devastating. Prayers go out to the family and anyone involved or at the park.

 

I've never been to Schitterbahn KCK just because of how lackluster the park is. But I don't think I'll ever spend my money at this park in light of recent events. Call me crazy, but that's just how I feel.

[Vonni]

Are the riders on this slide weighed prior to boarding like DW does for Mountain Slidewinder and SDC did for Wilderness Waterboggin when it was still in operation?

[DoinItForTheFame]

Are the riders on this slide weighed prior to boarding like DW does for Mountain Slidewinder and SDC did for Wilderness Waterboggin when it was still in operation?

 

From what I have read they are weighted when they make their reservation (if they still do that) and then weighted again at the top of the tower before boarding the slide.

 

Fromschlitterbahn.com

 

Please arrive with everyone in your group of 2-3 riders. The entire group together must meet the weight and height requirements (every rider must be at least 54 inches tall and your group must weigh between 400-550 pounds – no single rider over 300 pounds) in order to make reservations.

[djcoastermark]

Wofanatic person, I don't get something you said. You said the park "flat out sucks" and imply that the rides are a snoozefest & only has 1 ride that's worth anything, yet end your post by saying you have never been there ? Did I miss something ?

[WOFanatic]

Wofanatic person, I don't get something you said. You said the park "flat out sucks" and imply that the rides are a snoozefest & only has 1 ride that's worth anything, yet end your post by saying you have never been there ? Did I miss something ?

Look at the slides in the park and tell me something stands out. It's mostly off-the-shelf slides you would find at a rec center. I guess I shouldn't judge until I go, but I'd be blown away if I found anything there to be thrilling to me, especially after all the "bleh" reviews the park receives all the time. To be honest, every time I drive by there, the park looks abandoned.

[SixFlagsAstroworld]

Wow. This is really sad. I wonder how this will impact the future of Verrückt

[darklingscribe]

I'm saddened by this news, my heart goes out to the kid's friends and family. The news reports make it seem like the metal frame of the netting played a big role in the death. I wonder why the park decided to keep the netting even after reprofiling the hill when they were testing the ride? Why not make the hill after the first drop an enclosed tube?

[Henry M]

I'm saddened by this news, my heart goes out to the kid's friends and family. The news reports make it seem like the metal frame of the netting played a big role in the death. I wonder why the park decided to keep the netting even after reprofiling the hill when they were testing the ride? Why not make the hill after the first drop an enclosed tube?

 

They needed the netting to ensure the cars don't fly off the slide. Think back to RCT3 water slides with the nets.

[RyanTPM]

Thoughts go out to the boy's family and everyone who may have witnessed this. Terrible accident, although I'm not surprised that something like this has managed to happen, having that airtime hill there never did make any sense to me, especially after seeing those testing videos originally and the modifications they had to make to stop boats flying off. Could be wrong though and something totally different could have caused this to happen.

[Norwegian coasterfan]

It`s not going that fast over the hill so I don`t know if that was the problem?