JayTricky Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Genuinely good interview and I hope that a lot of people with recent anxiety and safety thoughts on roller coasters were watching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy T. Koepp Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 This is truly a tragic accident. It is always a sad day when anyone get hurt or dies regardless of the circumstances. My heart goes out to the family during their time of pain. With that said, that was a Great Interview Robb. Cool, calm, well spoken, and informative. Hopefully many affiliate networks will rebroadcast the interview. Guy "Now you need to go on FOX and friends and bring the unbridled terror!" Koepp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deguy123 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Just finally catching up on this news! It is very sad for her and her family but like others are saying, I feel safer on coaster then in a car. I also feel bad for the witnesses of the accident, that would be something you couldn't forget. I just wish the media would report news and not go overboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singemfrc Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 I think the most important point Robb made (and it was evident as you could see several of the other panelists and anchors were a bit taken aback) was when he said he would put his wife and daughter on NTAG tomorrow if it was open. It really drove the point home that he's not just saying it, he truly believes in that the rides to be as safe as they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndCamSS Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Did anyone else ever notice that anytime something like this happens they use the worst ever handheld POV ever of the ride? I'm guessing they do this to make the ride look more dangerous instead of opting for the mounted POV. All that media does with everything is sensationalize it to scare the public. How many times do you see a report with the line "what you don't know may kill you"? Yeah, 1 in 250 million. I MAY win the lottery too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrygator Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Did anyone else ever notice that anytime something like this happens they use the worst ever handheld POV ever of the ride? They use whichever one they find quickest. The person editing the news doesn't have time to look for the best version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterfansince1999 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 I find it a tiny bit odd of why they have to put temporarily closed for NTAG in bold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singemfrc Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 ^ Why is that odd? They want guests to know one of the main attractions is closed before they make plans, and that it's not permanent. Seems completely reasonable to me. Did anyone else ever notice that anytime something like this happens they use the worst ever handheld POV ever of the ride? They use whichever one they find quickest. The person editing the news doesn't have time to look for the best version. Though HLN did at least use Robb's video when they were interviewing him on After Dark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 ^^They just want to make sure no one misses the words "Temporarily Closed," so they wanted them to stand out a bit. Nothing weird about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterfansince1999 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 My bad, it just confused me for a second. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share Posted July 23, 2013 New details... http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/22889634/six-flags-woman-died-while-riding-texas-giant ARLINGTON, Texas - Rosa Ayala-Goana fell 75 feet after being ejected from her seat while riding the Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington on Friday. The ME's office released more details in a statement on Tuesday about the incident at the amusement park that killed the 52-year-old woman. Ayala-Goana was seated in the third row of the carts on the roller coaster and was thrown from her seat during the "steep descent from the first large hill of the track," according to the statement. Ayala-Goana fell 75 feet, higher than a seven story building, and struck a support metal beam. Her body then came to rest on the metal roof of a tunnel. An autopsy showed "extensive trauma of the torso" and the cause of death was "multiple traumatic injuries" due to her fall from the ride. The manner of death is listed as "pending" further investigation and lab studies. The autopsy lists the woman's name as Rosa Ayala-Goana, different than the name the family had given the media. Family members said the woman's name was Rosy Esparza. An amusement park accident analyst who's looked into similar accidents says how she fit into the seat may be a factor. "We're concerned as engineers that we design things that fit people," said Bob Swint, CEO of Houston-based ATA Associates. He said investigators will have to look at whether the woman's size may have prevented her restraints from protecting her. "With that size you have to be concerned on whether she was properly fitted to that seat," said Swint. "We don't know if there was an issue with the ride or an issue with the way a person is sitting or operating this ride the safeguards also include the individuals who are letting people on those rides." There is no federal agency that regulates amusement parks. The only state oversight in Texas is the Texas Department of Insurance. The state requires two things: the first includes proof that a certified engineer approves the ride under manufacturer specifications or national standards, whichever is stricter. The second, that the park has at least a $1 million insurance policy per ride against accidents. Six Flags spokeswoman Sharon Parker said, "We are committed to determining the cause of this tragic accident and will utilize every resource throughout this process. It would be a disservice to the family to speculate regarding what transpired. When we have new information to provide, we will do so. Our thoughts, prayers and full support remain with the family." An investigation into the accident will be conducted by Six Flags, not any local police or fire agency. The Texas Giant will remain closed until an investigation is concluded. Records show the Texas Giant did not have any ongoing issues at its last inspection and it's next inspection was scheduled for February 2014. The CEO of Six Flags hosted an investor conference call on Monday morning and briefly addressed the incident. "Utilizing both internal and external experts we are investigating the cause of the accident and until that process is complete with have no additional information to share with you about the incident. The ride has been closed. And you can rest assured that it will remain closed until we are certain that it is safe to ride," said CEO Jim Reid-Anderson. News of the woman's death flooded Twitter on Friday evening when the accident happened at around 6:45 p.m. Arlington Fire Department used a ladder truck to get to where Ayala-Goana's body had fallen onto a platform below the roller coaster. A funeral home vehicle arrived to take away Ayala-Goana's body on Friday evening. "We were on the train in front of or behind where the person had fallen out. We saw all the EMT's and firefighters and stuff rushing out. They said possibly a restraint might have come up and somebody had fallen out around the turn. I know these guys check everything all the time so I just wouldn't figure something like that would have happened," said Casey Crow who was in line for the ride. Witnesses said as people were coming back to the station, riders were crying and knew something had gone horribly wrong. A family who was in line behind Ayala-Goana said she was riding with her daughter and son-in-law. The family said her seat restraint seemed to go down normally before the car left. They said when the train came back, the seat restraint was down. The family said the woman's daughter and son-in-law were calling for help. They were screaming, "We need to go get my mom!" This is not the first death to have occurred at Six Flags Over Texas. In March of 1999, a 28-year-old woman died after the raft she and 10 others were on flipped over on the Roaring Rapids ride. In March of 2006, 10 people were hurt on the Texas Tornado when their swings hit each other. According to the Six Flags Over Texas website, the Texas Giant has the world's steepest drop. The ride, which is 14 stories high, opened in 1990 with a wooden track. It was reintroduced on April 22, 2011 with a steel track. Read more: http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/22889634/six-flags-woman-died-while-riding-texas-giant#ixzz2ZtefEPSi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeykaise Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 the article does help clarify things but the thing I'm confused on is this one and other ones just updated are saying after the first hill drop but I didn't think the first hill had a tunnel at the bottom, I thought this happened at the diving turn after the hill or am I just thinking wrong since I haven't had a chance to ride this one yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ernierocker Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 ^I think that is what the article was referring to, it was just worded funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 ^I agree with you. Another badly written article that is most likely referring to the drop in the first hill, not the first 'drop' Her final resting spot was the tunnel on the backside of the ride, about center from left to right. edit: all of these sh!t articles from my local Dallas news stations has me thinking it's time to move again. Sadly it'd just be more of the same in the next city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdaun Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 So after reading most of the reports and hearing the misconceptions made by the media I saw this picture today and thought it was very relavant to the complaints against the media. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPDave Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 ^ I think we're all used to seeing inaccurate reports in the media, especially when the subject matter is something that we are relatively well versed in. I don't mind simple errors that don't really affect the perception or narrative of the story (I've seen references to "Six Flags over Arlington" for example) since they're harmless, it's concerning to see how many outlets have repeated the "restraint only clicked once" line through. Since we still don't' really know what happened, I would have thought that's a potentially libellous statement to make. I forget where I saw it but one of the Gerstlauer engineers stated pretty emphatically that he didn't believe this would turn out to be a case of lap bar restraint and I would agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 The big problems with journalism are 1) the drive to be "first" and 2) promotion of a particular angle or agenda, accuracy be damned. This isn't unique to the era we live in (reporters have always been pretty ruthless in seeking a "scoop," and partisan reporting is as old as the journalism profession itself), but basic fact checking has gone by the boards in recent years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barge84 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 The big problems with journalism are 1) the drive to be "first" and 2) promotion of a particular angle or agenda, accuracy be damned. This isn't unique to the era we live in (reporters have always been pretty ruthless in seeking a "scoop," and partisan reporting is as old as the journalism profession itself), but basic fact checking has gone by the boards in recent years. Agreed, Chuck. Since the explosion of the internet and social media took place, journalism has really gone downhill. Being first is way more important than being factual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 I wish accidents like this happened on bad roller coasters only. Why can't Volare's kill more people??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark549 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 "If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed." -- Mark Twain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Khan Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 I wish accidents like this happened on bad roller coasters only. Why can't Volare's kill more people??? Believe me, all Tewas Midwest trip participants with it had happened on meanstreak ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightning9SX Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Didn't take Markey long. http://houston.cbslocal.com/2013/07/22/dem-senator-roller-coasters-need-more-federal-regulations/ BOSTON (AP) — U.S. Sen. Edward Markey is calling for a set of national safety standards to cover rides at amusement parks following the death of a woman who fell from a roller coaster at a Six Flags amusement in Texas. Markey said families on summer vacations are assuming what he called a huge risk because of the lack of federal regulations. The industry has argued that accidents, particularly fatal accidents, are rare at amusements parks. Markey, however, said there are enough serious accidents to warrant federal intervention. The Massachusetts Democrat said those regulations should cover what he called the “totality of the safety system” for roller coasters and other rides. He said families who visit amusement parks in other states should be confident that all rides meet the same federal standards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Khan Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 The future of roller coasters is in Europe ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#1rollercoasterfan Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Great interview Robb well said! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sportsdude360 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Thanks for that great interview Robb. You can bet I'll be getting back on NTAG as well, as soon as it re-opens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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