Injury on IAAPA Scad Tower
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Thinking it may be time for another one of Jeff's talks
http://www.themeparkreview.com/iaapa2001/iaapa2.htm
*** This post was edited by PhantomTails on 11/23/2002. ***
By the way all...SCAD was up and running today at IAAPA. They had two way radios going from the net operator to the person up top and were taking everything extremely slow.
This setup was much like the bungee towers. You walk up steps, out on a ledge...they raise the net, strap you in and drop you. It needs two operators to run. Evidentally, the net operator forgot their job.
The boy suffered a broken hip and head injuries and should be fine.
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"...they came like a winged curse. A twin plague of demonic dragons!" - Dueling Dragons
All rides at IAAPA are free (including the Segway). No, there were no S&S rides.
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"...they came like a winged curse. A twin plague of demonic dragons!" - Dueling Dragons
CsTrFrK said:
The boy suffered a broken hip and head injuries and should be fine.
I beg to differ. A scratch, cut or scrape is fine. A sprained ankle really sucks and a broken hip is catastrophic.
There's nothing about immoblization, non-weight bearing activity and months of physical therapy just to walk with a normal, non-antalgic gait that adds up to 'fine'..to say nothing of the potential sequelae of a head injury.
I know how I'd feel if it was my child.
-'Playa
(with hopes for the best for him and his family...I know it will be quite a while before that time comes)
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The CPlaya 100--6 days, 9 parks, 47 coasters, 2037 miles and a winner.....LoCoSuMo.
I knew I should have gone!
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James Draeger
-Captain Sarcasm
CsTrFrK said:
By the way all...SCAD was up and running today at IAAPA. They had two way radios going from the net operator to the person up top and were taking everything extremely slow.
Also, for some reason, the release forms were not being offered to be signed. I could tell the crew was taking extra, extra mesures to make sure this didn't happen again. Rumor has it it may not have been the manufactures fault after all, but that's just a rumor at this time.
The boy suffered a broken hip and head injuries and should be fine.
Let's hope so.
A group of us were walking to the tower to ride it again just after this happend. On Saturday, it appeared that the news increased the popularity of the attraction because there was a very long line.
By the way, thanks for the rides Cstrfrk!
-Sean
Yeah, I did notice the long line as well. But they were really taking their time with the loading and unloading.
No problem Sean!
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"...they came like a winged curse. A twin plague of demonic dragons!" - Dueling Dragons
The correct procedure appeared to be to have the rider in the harness, but not hang them over for release until the net was repositioned. The net was spring loaded and had to be reset. There was a small air cusion under the drop point, because the net did go to the floor.
My opinion is that the rider should never have been off the platform without the net being set.
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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
"Climbing as we fall, we dare to hold on to our fate, and steal away our destiny to catch ourselves with quiet grace" - The Stairs, INXS
Jeff said:
My opinion is that the rider should never have been off the platform without the net being set.
I can't vouch for what happend when the boy was injured, but when I was around the attraction, the net was up before any rider was hanging.
By the time the rider who was next to drop was at top of the tower, the person that just dropped was out of the net and the net was raised again.
Now, if the kid decided to jump off the tower before he was hooked in, then I can easily see him getting injured. I honestly don't know what happend. I mean, the same people that were operating the ride the day the incident happend were operating it the day after if I remember correctly.
-Sean
I was standing about 100 feet away from the SCAD Dive when the accident occured. In case anyone still can't quite picture the scene after the prior descriptions and links above:
The version of the SCAD at the IAAPA show was inside the Orange County Convention Center. The ceiling is probably 40-50 feet. There was an aluminum stair tower behind the SCAD where you climb up to the main platform. No elevator. A "diving platform" extends out from that platform allowing the "rider" to walk out and be hooked to a stationary point with a short cable with a release mechanism.
When the customer is hanging still in the harness facing the ceiling (rear end pointed down) and the net is in place (manually by the operator on the ground), then the upper operator retracts the diving platform out from under the rider. When the rider is ready, the upper operator releases the rider.
The rider falls about 30 feet into a net about 12-15 feet off the ground. There is a second safety net right below the first. For the show, they had added a normal air mattress (about 12 inches thick) on the ground, under the center of the ride to make sure that the heavier riders didn't hit the ground (concrete floor) when dropped. It also gave a little cushion when the net was lowered to let the rider out.
The security people were there within moments and began providing first aid and securing the area. There were not nearly as many people pressing in to see as I would have thought. Maybe 50 or so. Everyone kept a respectable distance (30 feet or so) to let the paramedics work.
If the air mattress wasn't there, his injuries would have almost certainly been much, much worse. Imagine a 40 foot drop on his back, directly onto concrete. The fact that he was 13 probably also helped (as opposed to a 50 year old).
News reports indicate that some signal lights malfunctioned making the upper operator think that the net was in place. The net is light blue and so is the floor below, so from directly above, it is difficult to tell whether or not the net is ready. That's why they have the lights.
Some news reports say the boy broke his hip, others say he broke his leg. I don't know which. They also indicate that he received a RELATIVELY minor head injury.
He is extremely lucky to have only those injuries. I would have expected much worse. As they loaded the backboard onto the stretcher, he didn't seem to be very hurt, which was totally amazing to me.
Apparently this is the first accident after 8 million rides on SCAD Dive equipment.
Praying for his quick recovery...
*** This post was edited by IAAPA Attendee on 11/25/2002. ***
IAAPA Attendee:
Thanks for contributing. It's very helpful to have the additional information regarding the safety procedures and the boy's injuries, etc. It's very good news that the injuries weren't worse. Even a broken hip, as serious as it is, is better than what *could* have happened. Also good that people didn't compound the problem by crowding around.
It makes sense that the operator would rely on an indicator given the difficulty in telling visually whether the net was raised. I *thought* the 50' measurement in the original article seemed a bit high....thanks again, bill
rollergator: as far as the height goes, I recall the woman working the Montic booth telling me the drop was 30 feet this year compared to 80 feet last year. Good thing this didn't happen then!
If you liked this mini-SCAD tower, I highly recommend the larger version. You feel like you are falling forever.
-Matt
IAAPA Attendee said:
Apparently this is the first accident after 8 million rides on SCAD Dive equipment.
This is what makes the whole incident even worse. The first injury, and look where and when it took place.
-Sean
Draegs said:
They had Segway's there to try out for free???I knew I should have gone!
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James Draeger
-Captain Sarcasm
They've been trying to market the Segway to theme parks for a few years now. Disney had first shot at the technology because of their (former) relationship with Dean Kamen. They turned them down, ultimately, because they felt they would destroy the views within the parks by having hundreds of them parked everywhere, a bit like strollers already do.
The Segway would be useful both for park employees, First Aid, and for guests.
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~~~ Maddy ~~~
"Stalkee: The woman everybody wants"
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