Amusement Park ride tragedy 9

[Brian Malone]

https://youtu.be/ozhnXp9OWEk

A 14 year old was killed when he slipped out of the restraint harness on this free drop ride. He was a very large teen - more than 6 ft tall and about 340 lbs. From what I have seen in other stories, he exceeded the ride manufacturer's stated weight limit.

This looks like it may be a case of additive errors leading to a bad outcome:
1. It appears the over- shoulder restraint bar/harness did not have an interlock for ensuring proper latching before allowing the ride to function. Or if an interlock system exists, the interock did not work.
2. Ride operators did not check all rider's harnesses status prior to starting the ride.
3. The ride operator appears to have discounted the kid questioning why there was not any 'click'
4. The ride operator(s) either ignored the allowable weight limit for riders or were not trained to enforce the limit. Chances are there may not be a scale in the entry queue and the operators have to use a visual estimation of rider's weight.
5. Apparently the ride does not have seatbelts as a redundant safety measure. There appeared to be some questioning about a seatbelt.
6. The young man may have become anxious as the ride rose and he moved toward the front edge of the seat or pushed up on the restraint/harness in an attempt to ease his anxiety and thus changed his body angle and CG relationship, thus moving out of the cup of the seat. Anxious or not, by the very motion of the ride his body would react against the over- shoulder restraint bar/harness during the drop and if it has a rotation axis to ease entry and it was not locked it would be free to rotate and reorient the young man's body angle in relationship to the seat. Upon deceleration, the kid just slid out under the restraint.

The details are still unckear but this ride is a new construction so it will be interesting to see the failure report.

 

[Cool_Controls]

There is no max passenger weight on us airlines although they can make you purchase a second seat. Have seen what American football players look like?

 

[Alistair_Heaton]

There isn't on any airline.

But if you look at the certification of the seats its shall we say amusing what gets stuck on them.

The belts are also amusing think its 2000lbs and 16g they are designed for. But when questions came up I answered I suspect that more than that the person would be garrotted in two anyway with only a lap belt.

There has been talk about changing the certification specs for average pax weight and floor loadings. But there is extreme lobbying not to change anything and leave it as it is.

The main issue is that seats are becoming detached from the floor in runway overruns and other none fatal incidents and its causing injury's to the rows in front occupants.

Although we are getting into 737 grandfathering issues yet again on that one as well.

 

[IRstuff]

I don't think so. If there is a settlement, the terms of settlement are mutually agreed upon. If both sides don't come to an agreement on those terms, it goes to trial.

Fair enough, but I've not seen many civil suits where part of the settlement included an admission of guilt, because that's usually absurdly difficult to get to, and only governments can usually afford the litigation to get to that stage.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

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[Brian Malone]

According to this story Tyre was 380 lbs. And the ride entry queue does not have a weighing device for riders.

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/l...rom-orlando-thrill-ride-hold-news-conference/

 

[CWB1]

I think you might be surprised at how few engineers there are in those companies.
Any that can sign off not having a seatbelt attachment which would prevent accidental submarining for what would be incredibly minor additional action should be worried.

I know several major companies that design theme park rides including a former employer. My experience matches Brian's with them, the teams working on these rides tend to be very impressive bc the customers tend to be high-profile and requirements very demanding.

JMO but I wouldn't be particularly concerned by the lack of a seatbelt, many rides with similar over the shoulder harnesses don't have them including some hanging coasters with similar tilt-seat arrangements to mimic flying. I can imagine quite a few ways of redundantly locking the harness at the pivot and would view that as preferable to relying on a human locking a seatbelt. I'm also not particularly surprised to hear kids were questioning the safety mechanisms while waiting for the ride to launch, its what folks do to freak out nervous friends/relatives...and yes, BTDT.

 

[Sym P. le]

According to this story Tyre was 380 lbs. And the ride entry queue does not have a weighing device for riders.
[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/04/05...[/url]

You missed the lede ...

Some seats were adjusted for larger body types and the victim was directed to sit in one of those seats.

 

[LittleInch]

You wonder what sort of adjustments they made?

The safety check before the ride starts is the weak point in this being a repetitive task undertaken by young ride operators.

There may be some checks on the harness lock, but if the secondary seat belt click is both an easy visual and practical check, but give you that crucial level of redundancy. I just can't really see why this is somehow seen as any sort of onerous additional action.

The length of these is fixed and hence requires the harness to be pulled down to some sort of minimum level leaving not enough space for someone to escape under the harness.

The fact in that photo that the seat has been removed may also be crucial as the lower between the legs bump is a critical part of the restraint.

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[BrianPetersen]

Were those modifications for larger riders officially approved by the manufacturer?

 

[Alistair_Heaton]

Was trying to think of a way to prevent overload without resulting in court cases about embarrassment.

Only thing I could come up with is an interlock that blocks the restraint coming down if its over the weight limit.

Which then removes the human from the decision making.

 

[cranky108]

And adding to the cost, as every seat would need a weight sensor.

 

[Alistair_Heaton]

Cheaper than killing someone or being sued for a young kid saying get off fatty.

 

[cranky108]

"You must be this tall to ride", how many times have I seen those words. How about a weight limit.

 

[Alistair_Heaton]

You could weigh everyone

Just as you test everyone for height.walking past the height gauge.

Interlock tests everyone.

 

[IRstuff]

In the photo above, they removed critical parts of the restraint system with no apparent replacements
> seat bottom with leg constraints
> side rails

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

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[LittleInch]

I have seen chest size limits posted on some rides in the the UK which at least is an easier thing to measure and not related to the weight or perceived obesity of the individual.

IR stuff - other pictures show the seat and side restraints were there on the night - I suspect they have removed these for testing, hence my question / point that the harness may have done it's job, but the seat is an integral part of the restraint with the side elements and the upstand between the legs.

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[dik]

There's a huge difference between 280lbs and 380lbs. If the mods were done without the approval of the supplier someone could be in serious trouble. As far as weight it's a simple matter of rigging a spring device that would send an alarm if the 280lbs were exceeded... I used a little strip of phosphor bronze to rig a blasting cap mouse trap, back in grade school... no rocket science. The seat 'enclosure' looks to be pretty robust and little room to excape from if it was properly secured. Someone should be charged with negligent homicide...

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Do you feel any better?

-Dik

 

[Pud]

Dik: note 'wog' is a very derogatory term in most of the UK.

Common in the 1960's but like the 'N -word' here now.


Politicians like to panic, they need activity. It is their substitute for achievement.

 

[Alistair_Heaton]

My fault sorry Pud, i would only ever use that word in that context and in relation to myself as a Scotsman. If its caused offense I apologise.

 

[dik]

thanks Pud... gone... will not repeat.

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Do you feel any better?

-Dik

 

[Alistair_Heaton]

It stands for worthy oriental gentleman, as pud says it was mostly used as a derogatory term. Have a google for the TV show "in sickness and in health" to see how offensive manner it was used. You really wouldn't hear it today thankfully in the street. it originates from the British army in Hong Kong .

That phrase in relation to Scotsmen was and still is used in the British army by all. Scottish soldiers do refer to themselves as such. Its more humour than anything else. We had one 3rd generation Indian descent lad from Glasgow who referred to himself as a cashew porridge wog. Which I must admit defeated most on the humour front. Scottish are also referred to as sweat which is short for sweaty sock cockney slang for jock. Welsh were called Taff and Irish Pad. I certainly never felt offended by it.


Sassenachs is used in relation to the English by the Scottish and is used in a more of an offensive manner, The other term which is commonly used in small communities is "white settler" which is always used in an an offensive manner. Its linked to city people coming in and buying property and trying to take over the local community. If I would say buy a property in some village on the west coast for retirement and then come in and then made some radical change, say put solar panels in on the roof and people didn't like it I would be referred to as that because I am not local and from Aberdeen.