Boy Dies on Verrückt at Schlitterbahn Kansas City

According to Schlitterbahn's web site, the only requirements to ride are 2-3 people in the raft with a combined weight of 400-550 pounds and each rider being at least 54" tall. So, I don't think age is going to be a factor in this investigation as long as the victim was tall enough to ride.

http://www.schlitterbahn.com/kansas-city/rides/all-new-verruckt

I would expect just about any Lawyer to rake Schlitterbahn and the manufacturer over the coals for removing the age requirement, regardless of if it really made any difference.

Pretty sure that would be the same entity. Doesn't Schlitterbahn build their own equipment through a company they own?

I think they do- New Baunfels General Store, or NBGS.

Here's a picture showing the damaged netting in the 2nd drop https://www.facebook.com/kmbc9/posts/10154280290026221 based on that picture he apparently was not properly seated on that 2nd drop for whatever reason could be rider fault or maybe park fault this is under investigation. I don't know but I have my theories on what happened and it's not pretty. I may have to seek help on it.

As fir the age requirement. The slide does not have one. It was originally gonna have the 14+ requirement but the park decided to drop it before the slide opened in 2014.

The two other riders on the boat were also significantly injured. According to this article here: http://fox40.com/2016/08/08/kansas-boy-spending-day-at-waterpark-wi...-on-slide/

Looking at that article, it won't be a total mystery what happened if there were two survivors on the boat. I don't know anything about the rigidity of the boats, but if they're a lot like a conventional slide, it seems like a weird choice. Nothing that terrible happens going down something 20 feet tall and you fall out. At that height and speed, really terrible things can happen. Seems like a lot of risk for it not to be tracked.

Just because a ride CAN be built doesn't mean it should be. I thought that when I first saw rafts flying off the hill during testing...and I still think that.

Verruckt looks like a toddlers drawing of a roller coaster.. Just.not.right. My heart goes out to those whom beared witness to this horrible tragedy. Wow. Terrible.

NBC News did a national story on the accident and one of the first bits of video they showed was the clip from the Travel Channel documentary of the raft flying off the slide during testing.

In other news, the police department sent a release that confirms that the boy died of a traumatic neck injury and could be interpreted that the boy was found outside of the boat ("at the end of the ride, in the pool").

This is one of the most tragic stories that we've had in a long time, I rewatched some of the coverage from before it opened, it's odd that all the discussion about the problems it was having in such good humour.

Thoughts to all concerned.

I saw a post that the two women were in the front two seats, so it's possible the balance was off just enough for it to catch some air, tip forwards, and hit the netting with the back of the raft.

^I was just discussing this very fact with someone else, as I had read the riders are supposed to be placed in order of increasing weight, meaning the victim should have been in the front? Anyone know if this was the protocol normally? Wondering if the normal rules for loading were not followed.

It'll be interesting to find out if that was the case. It makes sense that it could have happened that way, but I'm not totally sure how the two women in front of him would be injured, assuming the injuries came from a collision with the little boy like most are saying.

It's all very mysterious at the moment, and there is a whole lot of speculation already going on (of course). Personally, I think that one journalist's use of the word "decapitation" when the word "killed" would have been strictly accurate has not helped matters any.

I should mention a couple of things...
a) Three people in the boat, one was killed, the other two were injured. To me this suggests that the ones injured could have been injured through contact with the one who was killed, or all three could have been injured by the same mechanism.

b) There has been no mention yet of any failure on the ride, apart from the usual comments about, "My restraint didn't fasten right an hour ago and nobody did anything about it." Those claims are almost always ultimately found to be without bearing on the case.

c) It takes a tiny amount of blood to discolor a very large amount of water.

Finally...

PhantomTails said:
They already have. People are going ballistic on social media over this.

Ummm...that deserves some kind of mention. What kind, I am entirely unsure, but it deserves some kind of mention. I presume, under the circumstances, you weren't really trying to make a joke, but still...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Tekwardo said:

He was 10 years old and the son of a politician there. The ride requirements are 54" and at least 14 years old to ride. Wonder how tall he was.

Google says that the average height for a ten-year-old boy is 58 inches.

Lord Gonchar said:

How long before people start referring to that video from the Travel Channel show where the test raft goes totally airborne and making outlandish claims?

I almost did that. Rumors, or eyewitness reports, or whatever, says that the boy was decapitated. That sounds a little too dramatic to be true, now that I've had a day to think about it.

Sorry for the double post, but I wanted to use the quote feature to quickly get my idea out.

RideMan said:
a) Three people in the boat, one was killed, the other two were injured. To me this suggests that the ones injured could have been injured through contact with the one who was killed, or all three could have been injured by the same mechanism.

I figured the boat was loaded light to heaviest in the back. If the boy was ejected he would had hit the other 2 riders behind him as you said here.

pkidelirium said:
I saw a post that the two women were in the front two seats, so it's possible the balance was off just enough for it to catch some air, tip forwards, and hit the netting with the back of the raft.

Doubtful as the ride operators will never allow such a load to happen. They always make sure the lightest is on front.

Jeff said:
I don't know anything about the rigidity of the boats, but if they're a lot like a conventional slide, it seems like a weird choice.

The only thing Rigid on the boats is the 3 seats which are on a board that is attached to the boats by carabiners and straps. The boats them selves are inflatable rafts.

BTW Schlitterbahn will be closed again tomorrow. I don't know when they will reopen, it's day by day with them right now.

^^It seems too dramatic to be true, but if you have seen the photo of the end of the ride, there were what looked to be two yellow tarps in the bloody water, one bigger, one smaller, spaced apart, with screens next to them to block the view. It doesn't take much imagination to realize why there were two tarps, not just one, IMO.

The police statement posted earlier already called it a fatal neck injury, which could just be a broken neck, but also could imply the worst. Of course, nothing has been confirmed, but I fear this gory detail is true..

It sounds like the cause was very poor design by the in-house employees that led to this boy's death. Maybe Schlitterbahn should hire professionals for their next waterslide design, if they still even exist this time next year, they're going to have a very sympathetic politician on their asses. Verruckt is hitting the scrap heap for sure.