Accidents in 04

I'd like to say right now how sorry I am for all of the victims and the families/friends involved.

It seems as though this is the worst year for accidents, thus far. I probably couldn't count them all, but I'm going to try. We've had more accidents in 04, as early as it is in the season, than all of 03, or so it seems.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - victimless, accident nonetheless

Magic Mountain employee killed by Scream's train

Gravitron sends riders flying

Woman falls from Dollywood train

Woman falls from Zamperla Hawk 24

Girl falls from Oakwood's Hydro: Water's Revenge, resulting in death

Any that I'm forgetting? In terms of accidents/injuries/deaths, 2004 is not looking to be a great year so far. We can only hope and pray that we see no more, as 2004 has already seen its share.

What the one where the new 95 degree drop coaster overseas broke it's front axel and jammed in the inline twist? I just heard about it somewhere in the past few days.

^This happened yesterday. There is a thread here.
I am still not sure if there was a wheel malfunction or if the ride simply stalled.
That particular inline-twist is taken at a very slow speed.
No one was harmed.

There were a ton of accidents in 03. I think even with everything going on, 03 was still a lot worse.

Maybe, but none of the seasonal parks have even opened yet! Priop to summer, I think that this year has been worse.

Just because the first few weeks have yielded a bunch of accidents doesn't mean the rest of the year will follow suit.

How about 1984 when there were two accidents on brand-new stand-up rides, or Kings Island's Black Sunday in 1991? Multiple accidents in a short period of time always get headlines, but it doesn't mean the sky is falling. Considering how many more rides there are now than there were 20 years ago, the industry safety record is probably as good, if not better than it ever was.

Yes the industry is very safe. Statistically, most accidents are cause due to the guests not following the rules of the ride. Granted there are accidents- it is the evil reality of anything. But you are much safer on an amusement park ride than you are driving to the park to enjoy your day.

DollywoodRideOp

Lemme hear ya'all: Rocky Top Tennessee

Aren't we forgetting what happened in 99?

A whole weekend's worth of accidents that resulted in the deaths of four people....one being the death of a 13 year old who fell out of PGA's DZ,another being the rider who was thrown from PKD's shockwave & an 8 year old & her mother who died when the wild mouse car they were ridding in rolled back due to a faulty anti rollback ratchet that failed causing their car to smash into another one in the station.

As far as I remember that was one of the most deadliest weekends for the amusement industry in recent years.

Like others have said, just because the season has started out bad does not mean that we will have any more accidents this year. It's terrible luck, but they are in no way connected. The media may make a big deal out of it but I myself trust rides now more than I ever have. *** Edited 4/16/2004 3:12:03 AM UTC by ClarkChavez***

"Kings Island's Black Sunday in 1991" ?

I believe there were three deaths in the park on the same day. One was an incident involving the swinging ship (I don't remember what happened). The other two occured at the fountain on International Street. IIRC somebody fell in and due to some faulty wiring somewhere they and their rescuer were both electrocuted.

Please, somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

People like Marky will try to enforce the size and speed of new rides thinking they are dangerous when they don't see that even small simple rides seem to have more accidents

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Michael Darling said:
I believe there were three deaths in the park on the same day. One was an incident involving the swinging ship (I don't remember what happened). The other two occured at the fountain on International Street. IIRC somebody fell in and due to some faulty wiring somewhere they and their rescuer were both electrocuted.

Please, somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

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Actually it was Flight Commander. The person who died there was drunk.

The other 2 I believe were the Octoberfest garden lakes. I believe the person who fell in surived but it was is his rescuers who died from the faulty water pump.
Of course the ki of 1991 Isnt PKI of today. Paramount takes great stides on safety.

Why, that is very peculiar.

Was the girl that fell from Hydro-Water's Revenge a near-300 pound person like in the fatality case of Perilous Plunge back a few years ago?

That's two females thrown to their deaths on the only two Intamin River Plunge flumes ever built.

I have heard that there was a minor accident on Chessington World of Adventures new MS spinning coaster Dragons Fury. It appears somebody was struck by a falling piece of the rides platform.

It was a 16 year old girl thrown from Hydro, and from her picture she does not look anywhere near that large.

And it just keeps getting worse...

Damandan, nobody was hit. A catwalk fell, and now the ride is shut so they can check the ride diligently before it re-opens.

I doesn´t stop:

A 3 year old boy fell from a kiddie train and was overrun in the process at a German Safaripark.
He is in critical condition.
There are different reports wether he fell or tried to climb from one wagon to the other.

Put that Freefall-Tower accident on Korea on the sad list as well.

**marks another on the chalkboard**

Girl falls from a ferris wheel at Joyland in Kansas...

My prayers to the families who have lost someone.The amusement industry had a bad year for accidents last year i hope this one gets better I do not know but it seems to be getting worse. I know people need to follow rules . But all the GP hears is somebody died they do not follow the story to find out the person may not have been following the rules.The parks are not doing well financally because of the reccession and 9/11.I just hope some of these accidents where not caused by a ride it untill it breaks then we will fix it mentality.The accidents affect us because parks are afraid to try new things (RIDES).So we get more clones.Prices go up to cover insurance & lawers so less is spent on improvments.So lets just hope and pray that everyone who shows up at a park gets to GO HOME at the end of the day.