Major Coaster Accident in Japan

I've submitted to news

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,270154,00.html

1 dead 21 injuried. From the picture it looks like it feel apart.

Ouch! That pic looks bad.
I can't say i've heard of an axel breaking before.

Hope the injured people pull thru okay.

Looks like it was the Fujin Raijin II coaster, by process of elimination (they didn't specify the name of the coaster in the article).

Looks like another TOGO has a happy ending. Japanese might build good cars, but they certainly do not build good coasters. An axel broke, meaning it must have been suffering from stress & weakness for awhile. Can't daily inspections notice any of those potential problems ahead of time?

^other than x-rays, the only other method for checking hair-line fractures is a spray-on agent.

It's a powder blue color (at least the stuff i used was) and it dried purple when on a crack.
We used to test for stress fractures in crane hooks and hydraulic cylinders.

Most, if not all, coasters in Japan have a walkway with railings along one side of the entire length of the track. I wonder if this was the reason for the injuries once the axel broke?

Good question Mamoosh. That would be sadly ironic if something designed to help keep the ride safe ended up killing this woman.

Sad.

By the picture, it would seem so Moosh. On the other hand, had the walkway railing not been there, it looks like the car might have plummeted from the track.

So....the axel broke, it left the track and struck a guardrail running next to the track? Just trying to piece it together.

Here's a video link.

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/videonews/fnn/20070505/20070505-00000102-fnn-soci.html

Ouch.

If not for that catwalk, it might have been able to just screech to a stop with that car hanging by the rest of the train.

It was the Fujin Raijin II, the worst coaster in Japan, and possible the world.

This is a terrible event. A real tragedy. Unlike SD2K, though, I won't want to see this coaster back up and running. I won't miss it. Good riddance.

....and all during Golden week, no less. :(

So does anyone else think this coaster is going to stay closed as long as SD2000?

It was a pretty horrid ride to begin with. If I was a betting man I'd say it's history.

So does anyone else think this coaster is going to stay closed as long as SD2000?

Longer...as in "dismantled."

Yeah, it'd be amazing if anything but demolition was in its future.

To paraphrase Richard, this ride was atrocious. I'm glad I took those pics before they pull it down. It wasn't half bad in 1998, but by 2001, it was the worst thing, by far, that I've ever ridden.

Out of curiosity, what made this ride so bad?

SERIOUS lack of maintenance, which partially led to this accident, TOGO craftsmanship, serious honkin' humidity, and temperature fluctuations.

Basically, the same things that have plagued older Arrow coasters that aren't maintained. It's not just a TOGO problem. It's a steel fabrication issue as well as a wheel design issue, and it affects a great many rides, be it Arrow, TOGO, or in some small cases, B&M (Scream! comes to mind).

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More details on the accident:

The girl, Yoshino Kogawara, was 19. Her friend, a 20 year old, sitting directly behind her, is in critical condition with a head injury as well.

There are pics on Asahi.com of the wheel assembly from where it detached. This happened on the way down the hill towards the helix, right where the coaster gets most of its speed. The train was almost to the end of the ride, at the valley just after the upwards helix, and just prior to the final curve.

Fortunately, she was killed instantly, so there was no lying there, in pain. Again, it's all very sad. :(

You may not be able to read it, but here's the link to the Japanese paper, and its photos/drawings to help better explain the tragedy.

http://www.asahi.com/national/update/0505/OSK200705050005.html *** Edited 5/6/2007 1:48:17 AM UTC by nasai***

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pkidelirium said:

If not for that catwalk, it might have been able to just screech to a stop with that car hanging by the rest of the train.

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Bingo...and that's EXACTLY what happend on Kings Island's Togo back in 87 or 88 when pretty much the exact same thing happened on it too. I even have a pic of the derailment in an old ACE mag or other Amusement publication. No serious injuries on that one.

Why did KI and KD decide to buy a togo, because they were the only stand ups at the time

Why did KI and KD decide to buy a togo, because they were the only stand ups at the time