Six Flags does it again!

[flgirl]

Six Flags strands more riders ...again

[Spam_POLICE]

Thanks for the info. But I really would like to know more about the story. Do you have a link, or just that they stranded riders?

[IEATPASTE001]

It was Six Flags america on Maryland(sp?), it was on the two face themed invertigo they have there. nothing really happened, everyone is ok.

[ragingbegal]

...and it was stuck on the lift hill, not upside down...

[Spam_POLICE]

The point was that she posted part of a sorry with out a link for more info about what happened. I mean if you are not going to tell the whole story at least point me to where I can get more info about what happened.

[flgirl]

Sorry about that, saw the news story on the run. Here is an article from the web:

Two Face: The Flip Side stalls for 2 hours

07-02-03

A roller coaster at a Six Flags amusement park stalled nearly 140 feet off the ground Tuesday, stranding 24 passengers for more than two hours before workers repaired the ride. No one was injured.

The malfunction occurred at about 4 p.m. on the "Two Face: The Flip Side" roller coaster, billed as a ride "for those who want to look terror in the eyes."

Firefighters brought in ladders to make a rescue, but maintenance workers finally got it running at about 6:10 p.m., said Prince George's County fire spokesman Mark Brady.

The Six Flags America outside the nation's capital remained open and other rides continued. A park spokeswoman did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

[Harpo]

As much as I think Six Flags deserves all the negative publicity it can get, I really hate seeing a ride breakdown of this nature making the news. To me, it would be the equivalent of every stalled bus making the news, or every airplane who's flight is delayed due to problems, or a daily tally of the number of cars that have stalled and resulted in a walk-home. Now, had someone been injured, it would have been newsworthy.

The only item that really makes this of more interest is something I heard via a person who witnessed it. (I don't recall where I saw the source -- it may have been on the Yahoo PKS stock message board, but I'm not sure of that.) That person indicated there was insufficient communication with the people on the ride, and there appeared to be insufficient staff to handle the issue. It's been a concern of mine for a while that Six Flags, in my opinion, has often had insufficient staff on their rides to handle emergency situations. If that sort of thing had been the focus of the news story, then I could have seen value in it. Otherwise, in my mind, it's just the equivalent of another stalled vehicle on the side of the road.

An item that was more fun: Look at http://members.aol.com/rides911/accidents.htm and read about the Williams Grove incident. (Begin Sarcasm) The quotes from the park's owner are an excellent example of fabulous PR! (End Sarcasm) I must admit that I did not find this incident or the response to be surprising. Of the 113 parks I've been to, Williams Grove had the distinction (or should that be deSTINKtion) of being the worst, even managing to be worse than Kentucky Kingdom (my choice for 2nd worst).

[RCT101]

it just got stuck on the incline and only for 2hrs

[flgirl]

This type of thing seems to happen consistenlty at least once a year at least one of the six flags parks. The one in Illinois seems to have something go wrong every year, one year a girl lost her toes.

[RCT101]

how did she lose her toes?

[flgirl]

I can't remeber the name of the ride, but it uses centrifical force to hold you to the sides of the round type room and then the bottom falls out. When the ride was coming to a stop the force slowed before the floor was completely up and she slid down and her toes got trapped in between the wall and floor. This ride has since been closed and demolished.

[Spam_POLICE]

can you provide a link to the story about that? I would like to read it.

[flgirl]

Originally posted by Spam_POLICE
can you provide a link to the story about that? I would like to read it.

I found this report, which doesn't state that one girl lost a toe, I will keep looking for a actaul news report:

Record ID: 898170
Date: 7/19/2000
State: IL
City: Gurnee
Company: Six Flags Great America
Fixed or Portable: Fixed
Ride: Rotor ride
Type of Ride: whirling/spinning
Manufacturer Info: n/a

Accident Description: 2 girls, ages 11 and 13, had their toes pinched between the wall and the floor as the floor was being raised at the end of the ride cycle.

Injury: Both girls were transported to hospital, where the 13-year-old was later released. The 11-year-old was taken to another hospital for further evaluation.

Body Part:
toes
Multiple Injuries:
yes, 2 children ages 11 and 13
Other Information: As a result of the incident and the investigation, modifications were made to the ride. The operation's manual was changed to reflect a change in the procedure and the operators were retrained

**** EDIT ****

I emailed my local news channel and asked for help in finding the story, since they are the one that reported it. I'll let you know if I ever here back from them.

*** end edit ***

[Harpo]

I cannot be certain of the particular incident to which you are referring, but Six Flags has been sued for incidents involving the Rotor at several of their parks.

In one lawsuit, the judge required Six Flags to provide a list of all similar incidents involving foot injuries on all Rotor model rides at all of the Six Flags parks. Six Flags indicated that they did not have that information. I believe the judge gave them some period of time to acquire the information, but I don't recall how long. This whole thing was in the news a couple of years ago -- I'm working from memory. However, I was able to find the following article at http://members.aol.com/rides911/2002.htm#mar28

Six Flags to shut down or modify all 'Rotor' rides
(Thursday, March 28, 2002) - In a settlement with the family of a girl who was injured on the Cajun Cliffhanger rotor ride at its Gurnee, Illinois theme park in 2000, Six Flags has announced that it will remove or modify all similar amusement rides from its parks throughout the country.
The Cajun Cliffhanger, more commonly known as the 'Rotor,' was manufactured by Chance Rides of Wichita, Kansas. It uses centrifugal force to pin riders against a spinning circular wall. Once riders are clinging to the wall, the floor beneath them drops from under their feet. The floor returns as the ride slows to a stop.

Witnesses of the accident say that the floor was raised at the wrong time, and that two girls were injured when their feet got caught between the wall and the rising floor. The girl whose parents filed the lawsuit lost most of her right toe. The other girl was not seriously injured.

Six Flags says that it will add a rubber safety strip around the floor of the ride to prevent similar accidents.

According to park records, at least twelve other people have been injured on the Cajun Cliffhanger.

The park also agreed to pay the victim an undisclosed sum of money.

[flgirl]

That's the one, thanks for finding the story.

[IronWolf98]

Originally posted by flgirl
I found this report, which doesn't state that one girl lost a toe, I will keep looking for a actaul news report:

Record ID: 898170
Date: 7/19/2000
State: IL
City: Gurnee
Company: Six Flags Great America
Fixed or Portable: Fixed
Ride: Rotor ride
Type of Ride: whirling/spinning
Manufacturer Info: n/a

Accident Description: 2 girls, ages 11 and 13, had their toes pinched between the wall and the floor as the floor was being raised at the end of the ride cycle.

Injury: Both girls were transported to hospital, where the 13-year-old was later released. The 11-year-old was taken to another hospital for further evaluation.

Body Part:
toes
Multiple Injuries:
yes, 2 children ages 11 and 13
Other Information: As a result of the incident and the investigation, modifications were made to the ride. The operation's manual was changed to reflect a change in the procedure and the operators were retrained

**** EDIT ****

I emailed my local news channel and asked for help in finding the story, since they are the one that reported it. I'll let you know if I ever here back from them.

*** end edit ***

She did not lose a toe. She lost part of her toe. She was riding improperly, and when the floor raised up too quickly it lodged her foot between the wall and the floor, to where she was unable to move. I will add, that it was 90% operator error. The operator, whom I refused to train at my roller coaster because he couldn't understand english, was transferred tot hat ride. The ride, Cajun Cliffhanger, is almost entirely operator controlled (I should say, was), and someone who doesn't understand English should not have been there. When I found out who was running the ride I was agahst.

I must add, howver, that rides breakdown all the time. That's just the way it is. No matter what park you go to. Six Flags in Illinois is probable the best Six Flags park to deal with downtime. Back when I worked there, we had the least amount of downtime of all the Six Flags parks. I don't know what happened in Maryland though. How could they not have unloaded the ride? SFGrAm would have evacuated the ride within a half-hour at most. This also shows some bad ride designs, but you can hardly blame Six Flags for ride flaws. Though they should have handled the downtime better.