Another Giant Drop cable breaks

[FParker185]

http://www.rideaccidents.com/

In this case the E-stop was activated, and other than I assume some serious crotch discomfort as they were stopped for over an hour (it's a stand up giant drop), no body was hurt and the ride actually reopened later in the day, and no one was at a loss for any bodily appendages.

Now the fact that the ride opened later in the day shows the park probably knew something was up with that specific cable or set of cables but not the rest, and they probably shouldn't have operated that car in the first place, but that's just speculation, and that is unfortunately widespread practice. Cedar Point does or at least did the same thing back when Millennium Force opened, they operated MF with a bad lift cable for some time, they had one on order but kept running the ride til the point of failure which happened during morning testing.

Either way, good thing no body was hurt and it's business as normal, and not another grizzly ride accident.

Also of note, looking at the pics, Port Adventura really should try to plug the leaks on that ride, it's only like 2-3 years old and looks like hell with those grease splotches all over the tower. Our Giant Drop used to drop blobs of grease all over the place but the park seems to have gotten it under control. I forget what caused it though and I'm sure it still happens occasionally, but back in 97-98 it was really bad.

[CoasterEscape]

That's why we have inspectors. If you need to close a car/seat, close it. Ride capacity will suffer, but better that than a disembodied limb.

[rct2wizard360]

Well Screamscape just posted this isn't the first time this ride has had a cable break.
Apparantley one of the main lift cables broke back in November of '06.
No one was injured when this happened though. Maybe if this would have been a bit more well known, this could have prevented SFKK.

Picture Credits from PKTK

[sixflagsgurneeboy]

^I totally agree. At the rate this is going now, we are close to loosing another generation of freefall rides

[cowboy1192]

^^ Im afraid so... But in my opinion, I think that the 300 ft S&S towers are better... (Superman T:O:P, Power Tower)

[FParker185]

I don't see how these cable breaks will bring to an end another generation of freefall rides. Only major accident ever on the 1'st Gen freefalls was the Edge and that was back around 84 or so, and there are still a few around today, well one as of this year I think. They disappeared just cause they were/are outdated, take up way to much room, parts are hard to come by and there are several modern variants available.

Stuff breaks, and as long as parks stay on top of maintenance all the Giant Drops will be around til they are obsolete and surcome to a newer generation of freefall rides.

Lets not forget that S&S Towers use Wire Ropes also, and there has been at least one case of the ropes breaking, with far more dire results than what has happened so far with RideTrade towers.

[w00dland]

Ive got to agree with FParker. Atleast the Intamin towers will keep you alive if a wire snaps because of the failsafe magnets at the bottom of the tower, S&S models are powered the whole ride through these wires. Including brakes.

Not to mention, after being on Intamin Freefalls (Both 1st gen and 2nd) and S&S Towers of different heights and drops I can easily say that the true feeling of falling will trump the powered feeling of an S&S Tower any day of the week.

[tillenterprises]

Yet another reason for Cedar Point to keep Demon Drop. The first generation freefalls never had an accident as bad as the one last year at KK. Now, with another cable snap, I'm beginning to question the safety of these things. Don't get me wrong, I love Giant Drop (just rode it last night), but there's no ride experience like the Edge at Great America and all the other great freefalls that Six Flags stupidly tore down in the last couple years. I wish we could have both 1st and 2nd generation freefalls and an S & S tower, too!

[bigb7965]

^^ Im afraid so... But in my opinion, I think that the 300 ft S&S towers are better... (Superman T:O:P, Power Tower)

yeah but what if a cable breaks on one of those???

don't the cables completely control the ride? (breaks and speed)

[frightfestkid]

What about STT its run by 4 or so cables (I could be wrong) But wouldn't that be bad if it broke.

[DejaVu2001]

^ Wouldn't really be a huge issue on STT unless multiple cables broke at the same time. Unlike the drop towers, the loose cable wouldn't be likely to cause injuries since the riders are not exposed.

[frightfestkid]

If half broke the gandala would be tilted and unable to move, if they all broke it would fall, will all aged people and no seatbelts or such that would be bad.

[tp41190]

Did any other Freefall rides close after this?

[FParker185]

Pretty sure STT like most elevators has a safety brake. So if any or all of the cables broke or lost tension for what ever reason, the doughnut would lock up on the tower. Would be a crappy evac, but no one would get hurt by the ride.

If the cables break on an S&S tower the gondola crashes into the ground at pretty high speed. A park in Asia had that happen. I don't remember the exact details/body count. After that S&S made it mandatory that all cables are replaced annually regardless of condition.