Girl's feet cut off at SFKK - Superman: Tower of Power

[G-forcejunky2005]

For those who don't believe that wire cables can sever body parts, you're pretty much wrong. Here's why: If a NYLON mooring line (rope) on any basic NAVY ship were to snap, it causes a "snap back" (rubber-band effect). That DOES have the potential force to sever parts. Don't believe me? Look up videos of that, but they are somewhat difficult to find. But anyway, a wire cable CAN sever parts. I mean, look what JUST happened. Besides, Mythbusters is like Screamscape......

[FParker185]

Parker,

Not to disagree completely with what you are saying, but a snapping wire rope usually won't sever body parts when it snaps, only severe lacerations with deep internal injuries.

What it sounds like happened here is one of the 3 lifting cables broke, then became wedged under the car.

When the operators brought the right back down it sounds like the cable was caught up behind the car and acted like a saw.

While I can't go into too much detail as to why Giant Drop was closed at the end of last year, 3 cables did show ( as Parker mentioned) showing of fatigue wear (Also known as "tumbleweeds"). These signs are very visible so I cannot see how this would've gone unnoticed.

Not to say it happened, but a lack of proper lubrication on the cables will lead to very sudden fatigue failure that appears as a overloading failure.

That is also a possibility I didnt think of. Either way it's creepy

Oh and also the shorter Giant Drops only have 2 lift cables.


And I just found an update, and a quote from Sandor Kernacs no less.

First a picture of the cable in question
http://www.wlky.com/2007/0622/13550855.jpg

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The president of Swiss ride-maker Intamin said a failed cord on Six Flags' Kentucky Kingdom's Superman Tower of Power is what caused a girl's legs to be severed while she rode it on Thursday.

Intamin president Sandor Kernacs said his company provided the ride to Kentucky Kingdom about 14 years ago, but did not supply the cord.
-end-

That is awesome and classic sandor, state the obvious and deny any responsibility. God bless that man!

Though nothing beats the rider ejection on Perilous Plunge at Knotts, with Sandor saying if the rider had been holding onto the provided grab bar, she would not have fallen out.

Sandor Sez: It's not our F'ing fault, go pound sand!

[CoastsToCoasters]

You know this freaks the hell out of me. I was told to check out CNN and watch & I was actually scared and choked up, thats so awful. Its scared me so bad that as much as I trust great america, I will not be riding giant drop for a long time or ever again. When its a riders fault by not following rules for example, i feel awful but its not a fault for the ride itself. Its the rider. This is a malfunction that I believe could have been prevented.

On Monday if anyone was there...it rained quite a bit. I made a "joke" in line for giant drop & raging bull when the rain was comin down and the wind was blowin, the cables on GD were swingin around and I was like "oh that doesnt look safe..." but i was just kiddin...now i really know its not funny to kid around...im shakin up, i just feel so bad for her. My condolences to her go out as well.

[rct2wizard360]

Now what cable actually snapped?

The news keeps making it seem like it was the cable that lifts up the ride, but thats really attatched to the catchcar.

I'm being left confused.

[RagingBullFan]

There are 3 cables attached to the catch car, there are 3 for failure protection.

[CoasterTycoon77]

My mom said it WAS Giant Drop at SFGAm that this happened on, so I'm like "I gotta find out about this!" First words outta my mouth... "Giant Drop is going to come down...", like the old Cajun Cliffhanger and the Edge...

Not that I blame them, but it's been said it was actually a freak thing, right? And I was also thinking...was the girl sitting with her feet folded under the seat? I think that's even on the signs not to do that....

[tillenterprises]

Maybe Great America should've kept the Edge- the accident on the Edge was nowhere near as bad as this. The ironic thing is that the popular assumption is that these newer drop towers are safer than the first generation free falls like the Edge, which, BTW, haven't had an accident in 25 years now.

As for this horrible accident- I just rode the Superman tower at KK a few months ago. My little 6 year old boy, who is scared of most big rides out of the blue decided he wanted to ride it with me, and went on it. He was so scared and I reassured him that the ride was safe and not too scary...

I'm in shock about this freak accident and my heart and prayers go out the family of this girl. It will be interesting to see if this accident causes a drop in popularity on similar drop towers like GD.

[FParker185]

Injury wise I think Edge was worse, no one died and no one lost body parts, but there were some really traumatic injuries, including ruptured kidneys broken bones and all around bad stuff, and 3 people got badly hurt vs. one person.

Really in theory the modern giant drops are many times safer than the old 1'st generation drop rides with failsafe braking systems, no switch tracks, modern engineering, etc., at least with proper maintenance, though I guess the numbers do speak for themselves and dont really support that, unless you want to get deep into math and numbers, with up to 24 seats per ride(more on the gyro drops) vs 4 seats on the 1'st gen, modern giant drops provide far more rides than the old ones and when you come up with percentages and odds, it's not completely fair to compare to the old ones.

Also figure the 1'st gen came out in the late 70s or early 80's and by 84 there had been one near fatal accident and after that they all were improved and it never happened again, and the modern Giant Drops have evolved once with the seatbelts and I think we are going to see the process repeat itself, if only from a technical/maintenance/ride inspection standpoint.

I'm still amazed at the ways intamin rides come up with to maim/kill people. And as an aside this is the second amputation on an Intamin ride, at SFNE when the guy was falling out somehow he got his arm/hand under the train in a last ditch effort to hold on and his right hand was severed just before he came completely out.

And yes, I know it's gruesome but it's also a reality and worth discussing, not discussing it doesn't mean it didn't happen, in case anyone is wondering why I'm so fascinated with ride accidents, not to mention the fact that mechanical failures are inherently interesting for technically oriented people such as myself and probably a few others on this board, and when stuff works right it's not really supposed to be interesting

[cycamps]

That is pretty horrible. It's pretty weird that Power Tower at Cedar Point is still open, but, correct me if I'm wrong, I believe Power Tower has different technology, and is made by a different company from Utah. Also, I went to the SFKK website and the ride wasn't there...

[Sedir]

This is awful. And all day today I was wondering why the heck GD was closed but then I learned that this freak accident occured. When I first heard that this happened I didn't even believe it but then we saw the news reports and I was stunned. My condolences go out to the girl and her family.

[FParker185]

cables have broken on a S&S space shot in Asia, I dont remember how many people died if anyone, but it was pretty serious from what I heard/could translate. (and not that video of that Huss clone knocking those people off a crane). I do remember though the cause was deemed to be lack of maintenance

[joker]

I can't imagine the law suits coming in..

[!)EJAVU-FAN!]

^ I've been thinking the same thing.

[CoasterCrazy1657]

GD closed when i went yesturday as mark said

[revolutiongurl]

I have one word for this.....OWWWW.

[BP317]

Intamin president Sandor Kernacs said his company provided the ride to Kentucky Kingdom about 14 years ago, but did not supply the cord.
-end-

That is awesome and classic sandor, state the obvious and deny any responsibility. God bless that man!

I believe the cables used on Intamin drop towers are OTIS elevator cables.

[RagingBullFan]

The cables aren't made by OTIS, but they are installed by them.

[Cove26flags]

I dont understand, did a catchcar come down with it? You cant let the press make this story a monster I mean at first they said it cut her legs off when really it was just her feet. This very horrible and I feel sorry for the young lady. Also another error to the story the lady in the video said the car hit the ground, There is no possible way for that ride to hit the ground because of the rare-earth magnets. Yeah these incidents are scary but they rarely happen. You cant let accidents like these stop you from going to theme parks. People get into car accidents all the time with major injuries and still drive. I went on the Orient Express after it derailed in 99 at Worlds of Fun.

[ragingbull346]

Where did her feet go?

[tillenterprises]

Injury wise I think Edge was worse, no one died and no one lost body parts, but there were some really traumatic injuries, including ruptured kidneys broken bones and all around bad stuff, and 3 people got badly hurt vs. one person.

Perhaps I missed those news reports, but I don't remember hearing about broken bones and ruptured organs on the Edge or other such freefall rides. I've heard some people say that they thought the ride was little rough, but so are many wooden coasters ("The Boss" at SFSL, anyone?). Yes the accident on the Edge was serious, and could've been much worse, but the kids that got hurt on the Edge were treated at the hospital and ended up being okay, contrary to public rumors. I just went to Texas 2 months ago and rode Wildcatter (the identical ride as the Edge) 3 times in a row and it was really smooth, except for the part where it backs up and locks onto the lift tower. It was as smooth as I remember the Edge was when I rode it as a kid. My whole point was, that I thought it is ironic that the common assumption is that the 2nd generation drop towers are much safer than the original freefall rides like the Edge, and yet what few of them remain have operated for 25 years now with no major problems or injuries that I'm aware of, while the newer drop tower at KK had an accident much worse than anything that ever happened on the first generation freefalls. Okay, call me Edge fanboy, but I will always love that ride

[tillenterprises]

You cant let accidents like these stop you from going to theme parks. People get into car accidents all the time with major injuries and still drive.

Amen to that!

[chevyman34]

I was at SfGam yesterday and SURPRISE Giant Drop was not operating. No worries it seemed but I stared at it and wondered how it could happen but then thats what the investigation is for. Im thinking GD will be closed for at least this week, if not the weekend. And its not its the "money shot" of the park, that is more like Raging Bull or V2.

My heart and prayers go to the family, along with Six Flags' Wallets. because that girl is gonna get a handsome settlement. Liability agreement or not, if its found that the park is at fault in any way, shes loaded for life.

[EagleFan344]

I was at SfGam yesterday and SURPRISE Giant Drop was not operating. No worries it seemed but I stared at it and wondered how it could happen but then thats what the investigation is for. Im thinking GD will be closed for at least this week, if not the weekend. And its not its the "money shot" of the park, that is more like Raging Bull or V2.

My heart and prayers go to the family, along with Six Flags' Wallets. because that girl is gonna get a handsome settlement. Liability agreement or not, if its found that the park is at fault in any way, shes loaded for life.

[FParker185]

her feet appear to have landed on the sun shade that completely surrounds the ride

[rct2wizard360]

Does anyone know anything about her condition?