Six Flags Over Texas (SFOT) Discussion Thread

[TyRush]

I love these reports and reporters saying "These rides can be fun, but dangerous" or "Just how safe are these rides?" Honestly, everyday a couple hundred people get hurt or die in car accidents, 1, ONE death this year on a coaster and everyone goes nuts.

[necoastergp]

I love these reports and reporters saying "These rides can be fun, but dangerous" or "Just how safe are these rides?" Honestly, everyday a couple hundred people get hurt or die in car accidents, 1, ONE death this year on a coaster and everyone goes nuts.

 

This. Some of these reports are hard to even read because of this stupidity.

[Linders]

Everybody else is like, ‘clickity clack clucky ducky QUACK, clickity clack clucky ducky QUACK, clickity clack clucky ducky QUACK.’ Hers only clicked once. Hers was the only one that went down once, and she didn’t feel safe, but they let her still get on the ride. …

 

Uh, don't get me wrong guys but...if you don't feel safe and only clicked once, wouldn't common sense tell you to push it down more so you are secure? Does NTAG's restraints allow for further pushing down once locked? Every ride I've been on allows for further tightening..which typically happens a lot during mid ride via forces. I've also 'stapled' myself when going up the lift when I felt it was necessary... NTAG is not a coaster I'd mess around with a single clickity clack clucky ducky QUACK on.

 

I was always able to push my restraints down more even after they were "locked". Heck, even going up the lift hill I would push it down just a bit more since gravity helps at that point (and I like being squished into my seat).

 

The clicking part didn't make sense since the restraints are so smooth and quiet... but usually the employees there help me push the restraint down if I request it. Story doesn't really add up.

 

I saw that report. That same lady was saying that she was next in line and watched her go up the lift hill, throw her hands up and fall off. A) If you are next in line for NTAG, the lift hill is BEHIND the station and not visible. B) Her body wasn't at the bottom of the hill, but at the overbank turn. C) How many of you waiting in line pick out one stranger on a ride and watch them put their hands up? Even in the places in line that you can see the hill, you can't pick out one person. I smelled b.s. with that woman. I questioned if she was even there. But news media will interview anybody that says they were a witness. The other people they mentioned (but didn't put on tv) told a more believable story than this chick did.

[necoastergp]

^ Did you see the interview with this Carmen lady, she's just making up whatever to get her 15 seconds of fame she looks like she could be the sister to Antoine Dodson (Rape song). Edit: She also is the one who said the restraints didn't click 3x when they don't click at all.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-yAtJHXZ58 She's at 1:05 in this video. Sorry if this has been posted too many times before.

Edited July 22, 2013 by necoastergp

[Linders]

^ Did you see the interview with this Carmen lady, she's just making up whatever to get her 15 seconds of fame she looks like she could be the sister to Antoine Dodson (Rape song). Edit: She also is the one who said the restraints didn't clickity clack clucky ducky QUACK 3x when they don't clickity clack clucky ducky QUACK at all.

 

I saw it on our local news (we live in DFW area) that night and looked at my husband and we both were shaking our heads. I told him, she didn't see anything. Either that or she was so hysterical and freaked out that she thought she saw stuff she didn't see. I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt, but her story was so full of holes. I wonder if she even spoke with actual investigators or just the folks with video cameras who didn't know you can't see the lift hill from the line que, and the bars don't click, etc etc.

[necoastergp]

^ Who knows, this is why I don't watch the news.

[mikeykaise]

^ Did you see the interview with this Carmen lady, she's just making up whatever to get her 15 seconds of fame she looks like she could be the sister to Antoine Dodson (Rape song). Edit: She also is the one who said the restraints didn't clickity clack clucky ducky QUACK 3x when they don't clickity clack clucky ducky QUACK at all.

 

Really kind of sad that people would use this kind of thing just and make stuff up like this just so they can get on tv and brag to their friends that they got interviewed.

 

^ I love these reports and reporters saying "These rides can be fun, but dangerous" or "Just how safe are these rides?" Honestly, everyday a couple hundred people get hurt or die in car accidents, 1, ONE death this year on a coaster and everyone goes nuts.

 

I completely agree, I saw on IAAPA's website that the statistic of dying at an amusement park is 1 in 450 million people and the GP they see something like this they all get scared of going to one.

[805Andrew]

That USA Today video didn't seem as negative as I thought it was going to be. 1 in 750 million chance of dying on a roller coaster - you have a better chance of winning the lottery. I'll take those chances.

 

By the way I love the new word filter. Click

[Linders]

^

 

 

Of course, this is speculation, and I don't claim to be an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but it wouldn't be hard at all to see how she fell out. If the bar went over her tummy, instead of the top of her thighs, the second she hit air time and an overbanked turn and her body lifted up, there would be nothing holding her in! I have read where several witnesses stated that the lap bar came back in closed. It is conceivable that the light could have still been green that it was closed, because the computer wouldn't know the difference between a tummy or a thigh. I wonder how much Six Flags will divulge in the end since they are not required by law to tell us.

[cmullin]

There are obviously some holes in what actually happened, and hopefully what really happened will come out. It's crazy how the GP treat test things though. I mean you have a higher chance of drowning in your bathtub than dying on a roller coaster, but people still take baths all the time, I just don't understand.

[Linders]

I think the victim wasn't large as much as round -- probably very short legs. I also have to wonder if she passed out (it's hot in Texas) although things happen quick.

 

 

That's the most restrictive rules I've ever seen. I don't think I've ridden a lap bar coaster recently where the bar touches my thighs. Sounds very painful unless the geometry is better.

 

On days when I have gone and my shorts didn't cover the tops of my thighs where the lap bar rested, air time was a little uncomfortable, and I am not a big person. For some reason, I have also noticed it to be that way if it was towards the end of a hot, muggy day after riding a bunch of stuff, too. If I rode NTAG first, then no problem. Some reason, the combo of being hot, sweaty, and shorter shorts, the air time isn't as comfortable to me. Most of the time. Awesome!

[CardCraze]

The media can talk about amusement parks being unsafe all they want, it's not stopping people from pouring through the turnstiles, and it certainly didn't stop me from having to wait 45 minutes for Verbolten Sunday.

 

The end result of all this is; It's an accident. Are ride ops probably going to be a bit more careful when getting restraints down on larger people? Yes. Are parks going to start adding seat belts, and sensors, and making people suck in their gut and do push-ups before boarding? No.

[ArizonaGuy]

Kens5 San Antonio actually did some better reporting about the restraints. Glad they didn their research.

 

ARLINGTON - There were more questions but few answers Sunday as the Texas Giant remains shut down at Six Flags Over Texas.

 

Rosy Esparza, 52, fell to her death from the roller coaster ride on Friday, according to her family.

 

The biggest unanswered question concerns the safety restraint system on the ride.

 

On Friday, some witnesses told News 8 that Esparza was concerned when the restraint didn't appear to tighten properly.

 

"She tells the guy, 'I only snapped once.' And he was nonchalant about it. 'You're fine,'" said Carmen Brown, who said she watched the woman fall from the ride.

 

But there are questions about whether a hydraulic-based restraint, like the one aboard the ride, would actually make any "click" at all.

 

The German manufacturer advertises in an online pamphlet that "the use of redundant hydraulic cylinders ensures that each lap-bar can be infinitely adjusted."

 

A leading safety expert, Bill Avery, told ABC News there are other factors to consider.

 

"I can tell you that persons of larger upper body torsos that typically the lap bar will not go down all the way to the top of the thighs - meeting at the waist line closer to the body, where it actual should be - and some cases they can actually rest on the abdomen, and in situations like that, it is not appropriate," he said on Sunday.

 

Family members of Esparza are asking for privacy.

 

The family is considering the possibility of retaining an attorney.

 

Since the death appears to have been accidental, neither Arlington police or fire officials are investigating any further.

 

Six Flags had no comment on Sunday, but said earlier in the weekend that its thoughts were with the family and that it was conducting a thorough investigation.

 

Other rides remain open at the park, but the Texas Giant is expected to be closed for the foreseeable future.

Edited July 22, 2013 by ArizonaGuy

[Fire2box]

I am sure the "person of size" thing is going to be rebutted by all of the fat Americans in this country. If her size is considered to be the main cause for the accident, and then people of her size won't be able to ride the ride in the future, it will be seen as a discrimination against larger people.

 

Would you rather die or not be able to ride a roller coaster?!?

 

There is no discrimination IMO.

 

Safety comes first. And unfortunately is just is not impossible to design a ride that can handle riders of all sizes.

 

Suicide by Rollercoaster, at least go out having fun. Huge dickhead move to anyone else still waiting in line though as well as following days or weeks.

[jfruge]

I'm going to SDC....I'm GOING to ride Outlaw Run...roller coasters are my passion, I think some on this site could use a reminder.

[Linders]

When I was explaining it to her, I was using Apollo's Chariot as an example and said that for a rider to fall out, the femur would literally have to break in half. If the above were the case, would her weight, the majority of which was above the lap bar, and therefore unsupported, combined with the ridiculous airtime be able to put enough stress on her legs to break them? I mean if she had smaller legs or--complete speculation here--bone weakness or something, it might be possible? A bit of a stretch, but perhaps no more unlikely than the one in a million chance that accident would happen in the first place. It would explain the lack of mechanical failure and the lack of an immediate explanation because (forgive the morbidity) after the fall her bones were probably broken anyway, so it'd be hard to tell. It's such a weird and terrible accident.

 

Watch this video that was posted a couple pages back and it's very easy to see how she slipped out, no broken bones involved. I've sort of changed my mind about all this, it seems to be primarily operator error. This video combined with the entrance sign posted above pretty much tells you all you need to know. The bar was touching her belly or bosom, not her thighs, so it didn't come down far enough to properly secure her, and the sign clearly explains that that has to be avoided.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0KmTMf0VVQ

 

Really not much more to say, I guess.

 

My friend and I were discussing this last night. This a perfect representation of why the size requirements are in place. Not only did the guy's tummy protrude too far for the lap bar to go down, but his thighs were too big for the lap bar to go down over them safely.

[Linders]

I am sure the "person of size" thing is going to be rebutted by all of the fat Americans in this country. If her size is considered to be the main cause for the accident, and then people of her size won't be able to ride the ride in the future, it will be seen as a discrimination against larger people.

 

Would you rather die or not be able to ride a roller coaster?!?

 

There is no discrimination IMO.

 

Safety comes first. And unfortunately is just is not impossible to design a ride that can handle riders of all sizes.

 

Suicide by Rollercoaster, at least go out having fun. Huge dickhead move to anyone else still waiting in line though as well as following days or weeks.

 

There is a camel hump on the Titan that provides a nice sensation of floating airtime for me, as I fit between ratchets on the lap bar. It's my favorite part of the ride, aside from the 255 ft drop going down the first hill. I told my friend riding with me as I threw my hands up going over it, that if I die, I'll die with a smile on my face! She said, "Don't die!!" Lol!

[Hercules]

I am sure the "person of size" thing is going to be rebutted by all of the fat Americans in this country. If her size is considered to be the main cause for the accident, and then people of her size won't be able to ride the ride in the future, it will be seen as a discrimination against larger people.

 

Would you rather die or not be able to ride a roller coaster?!?

 

There is no discrimination IMO.

 

Safety comes first. And unfortunately is just is not impossible to design a ride that can handle riders of all sizes.

 

I completely agree with you. I was not saying it is discrimination. I am on your side. I think the size thing is ridiculous.

 

I feel sorry for the ride operator who checked her. It will be interesting to find out if he was trained that hearing 1 click is sufficient, and whether that came from the park or the manufacturer, or if 1 click is not sufficient and it falls on him.

[chadster]

Thought this shot might shed some light on things, not sure why, but what the hell

[ernierocker]

^Hmm, are you saying that is the exact point she was ejected from the ride? Or is that a live shot? A little confused by your post otherwise.

[chadster]

^Not a live shot, that is where witnesses claim she was gone. Keep in mind, one of them was the same witness who was in the station at the time she departed the train....

 

Considering the cherry picker was above the tunnel, about in the center of the back of the ride, if she departed here, it woulda been a helluva journey.

 

 

Statement just released by the park:

 

Friday’s accident remains under investigation by both company and external experts. Until complete, we cannot comment or speculate on what happened. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the family.

[ernierocker]

Yeah, from where the cherry picker was, she had to be ejected at some point after that overbanked turn.

[chadster]

^3:51 is about what I'm thinking.

 

[BigBomer]

^ You could see from Superman where they were treating her and that seems about where she would have come out, based on her location.

[Chroniq]

I feel like Six Flags kills so many people that there should be Vegas odds as to the next time it happens. Put me down for $100 in June 2014.

 

 

How can we figure out how to do this as a TPR pool? I'd throw some money down.

 

 

-chris "too soon?" con

 

Serious Edit: looked at the reverse POV posted earlier in this thread.. It looks like via Robb and Jake's movement that only major ejector air is at 3:46 and 4:04 ...Based on my incredibly limited knowledge of roller coasters, I'd expect that it happened at either of these places on the ride ( sorry to speculate! )