Daytona Beach roller coaster derails

[B&MIntaminGCI]

 

https://wsvn.com/news/local/roller-coaster-at-daytona-beach-boardwalk-stuck-2-hurt-after-falling/

 

Rescue crews said 10 people were helped off the ride and six were transported to the hospital, two of which needed a stretcher.

[Rai Fox]

Oh crap, this doesn't look great. I didn't even know there was a coaster there...looks like it's this one? https://rcdb.com/8931.htm

 

I hope everyone's okay, haven't heard any word on that yet, but falling 30 feet doesn't sound promising...

[thrillseeker4552]

Oh my goodness. Hopefully everyone is alright. It really saddens me when things like this happen since it's completely out of the riders' control and should never occur in the first place.

[AndrewRnR]

Good time to remind everyone of the coaster's past. It was closed last year by the state due to safety violations. How or why the ride reopened last year is a big question mark.

 

“In February, a state inspector slapped Sandblaster roller coaster w/a stop operation order after he found more than a dozen problems w/everything from damaged braces to cracked supports.”

Source: http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20170521/uncertain-future-facing-daytona-beachs-boardwalk-rides

[sofulsomety]

Is it common for Pinfaris to be seatbelt only?

[Superbatboy]

what the heck? That's terrible

[boldikus]

Ouch. Amazing there weren't deaths. Two for two on the Pinfari derailments now, NAGL.

 

Maybe this will convince Moreys to finally get rid of theirs.

[Mr.Peabody]

Wow. I rode this when it was at DelGrosso's. Here's hoping the injuries aren't serious (or worse).

[Canobie Coaster]

That picture is horrifying. It's a dark photo so it's hard to tell, but I can't even see any track near the train.

[coasterbill]

In a way I actually feel like the lack of comments here (compared to most accident threads) is pretty telling... it's almost as if nobody is surprised.

 

I rode this thing at Blue Diamond Park back when that was a thing, I always sort of liked this thing since it was (at one point) Delaware's only coaster before they found themselves left with zero again. The owner of the park was a really nice guy, it was always a dream of his to open an amusement park in Delaware and we had a fun conversation with him while we were there. It's a shame the park failed after like 3-4 years (though not a surprise) but a few years ago we were down in Florida and made the trek out to Daytona to ride the "Blue Diamond Streak" again and check out the beach while killing time before a flight home from Orlando.

 

The park in Daytona really did look and feel like a shady carnival. In addition to what AndrewRnR brought up, I've heard from a few of my friends who work in the industry that the state safety inspector board mentioned this park quite frequently when discussing the most egregious offenses in the state at safety seminars.

[Skittles]

While a very sad incident indeed, I can see this ride getting scrapped because of this. Assuming Boardwalk Amusements is a family park, no parent would want to take their kids on a coaster that derailed. If it re-opens, it would massively lose popularity. And maybe, because this coaster is 40-50 years old and quite the traveler, assuming the maintenance was kept up well, it might've just been the coaster reached the end of it's service life. I have no affiliation with the park, but I predict it won't be around much longer.

[thedazza]

That picture is horrifying. It's a dark photo so it's hard to tell, but I can't even see any track near the train.

 

[Midgetman82]

^That is some people's literal nightmare involving roller coasters right there... This won't help the industry very much.

 

^^The incident could open up a new can of worms involving the actual condition of the coaster leading up to this derailment. So sad and frightening to hear of this, and hope everyone involved recovers well.

[coasterbill]

While a very sad incident indeed, I can see this ride getting scrapped because of this. Assuming Boardwalk Amusements is a family park, no parent would want to take their kids on a coaster that derailed. If it re-opens, it would massively lose popularity. And maybe, because this coaster is 40-50 years old and quite the traveler, assuming the maintenance was kept up well, it might've just been the coaster reached the end of it's service life. I have no affiliation with the park, but I predict it won't be around much longer.

 

Calling this a "park" is being generous. I feel like most people show up to Daytona beach and think "oh cool, there's a fireman's carnival in town this week".

[djcoastermark]

Interesting little update. The coaster had been inspected earlier in the day by the Fla Dept of Agriculture. There is a video from the news that shows some pretty good views of the undercarriage of the dangling coaster car. Here's a link to the story. http://www.wfla.com/news/florida/daytona-beach-roller-coaster-was-inspected-hours-before-derailment-state-official-says/1241825572

[djcoastermark]

Just to add, if the Fla Dept of Ag sounds familiar and has been in the news lately, it has. The same Dept of Ag that couldn't log on for a year doing background checks for concealed weapons permits.

[coasterbill]

The park is now on social media claiming that Sandblaster isn’t theirs. It’s privately owned by some dude named Ed Kennedy. They promote this ride constantly on social media but their stance is now basically... “Sandblaster? What Sandblaster?”

 

The weird part is that this appears to be technically true, though Ed and his partner operated the entire place until about a year ago. Different parts of this place seem to be operated by totally different groups of people and it seems like they’re starting to play the blame game.

[coasterbill]

So state inspectors and independent engineers released some preliminary reports from their investigation and... wow.

 

Basically, they found evidence of multiple crashes / derailments that were covered up and never reported including one "very recent" accident where it damaged the brake structure when it derailed and the park painted over the evidence. The extended history of derailments apparently damaged the safety (upstop) wheel system and the structure itself. They're implying that they “either knew or should have known that the ride was operating in a manner that presented a serious risk of injury to patrons.” It seems obvious that they knew since they were painting over evidence of derailments but I'd imagine that the people filing this report can't come right out and say that.

 

Here's probably the most damning excerpt from the story:

 

“After dismantling part of the support structure to gain access to the site of the accident, the engineer found evidence of a previous derailment that occurred after the ride was refurbished and initially permitted in 2013,” state officials said in their report. “There was also evidence of other derailments that likely occurred prior to that year. A review of department records determined that no derailments were reported to the department.”

 

The engineers said they found evidence of a “very recent” accident that was “very similar” to the June 14 derailment and impact on the brake structure, but the evidence of that earlier crash was painted over.

 

State officials said it appears the ride owners and engineer who signed an affidavit attesting to the ride’s compliance with all regulations “either knew or should have known that the ride was operating in a manner that presented a serious risk of injury to patrons.”

 

Here's the full story, which goes into more detail and lays out some additional issues and findings.

[coasterbill]

Update: The abandoned deathtrap of a coaster is still sitting there because this Ed Kennedy dude won't remove it so now the park is evicting the rollercoaster.

 

This story is so f*cking weird.

[Zand]

Update: The abandoned deathtrap of a coaster is still sitting there because this Ed Kennedy dude won't remove it so now the park is evicting the rollercoaster.

 

This story is so f*cking weird.

 

I guess in addition to googling "Florida man" and getting crazy stories, we can now Google "Florida Roller Coaster" and it will be just as weird.

[Midgetman82]

It sounds more like the property owner (Boardwalk at Daytona Development) is suing the "park" (Boardwalk Amusements) that sits there, very confusing since they both have Boardwalk in their names. Still pretty ridiculous, otherwise, that they had 6 whole months between the first and second notice to take action.

[coasterbill]

It sounds more like the property owner (Boardwalk at Daytona Development) is suing the "park" (Boardwalk Amusements) that sits there, very confusing since they both have Boardwalk in their names. Still pretty ridiculous, otherwise, that they had 6 whole months between the first and second notice to take action.

 

Ash, you're right. Sorry, it's also confusing because the park is trying to act as if they don't own the ride and have been quick to point out on social media that Ed Kennedy is the guy that owns it but Ed Kennedy is a managing member of the park so...whatever. I guess at this point we can expect the finger pointing to continue and for Boardwalk Amusement Rides LLC to ignore Boardwalk at Daytona Development's request because they're convinced that it's not their problem (or at least that's the story that they're running with).

[yawetag]

Tonight on Dateline: "When REITs go wrong."

[RAWKIN_coaster38]

Catching up on this story and just.... what??