Oakwood Hydro victim was not restrained, letter says OTSR's skipped on cost

This was always the one Intamin death that really *bothered* me in the sense of being relatively unexplained...well, now it IS explained, and it bothers me even more....these rides are EXTREME, no doubt, and riders must be *completely secured*....

Dave's mention of "pitch rate" makes me think the initial drop BEFORE it turns into the STEEP incline is what really tends to throw the riders forward...typically (and hopefully) into the restraints...

I'd like to see Knott's new boats in action, the old skydiving rig was time-consuming, but I knew I wasn't going anywhere...

'Gator--
You've got it. The drop isn't the problem. It's the roll-over on the top of the drop. And the throw isn't just forward, it's upward. Hence the problem.

Just look at the way the water completely misses the trough on the drop on Perilous Plunge. Water can flow vertically, so why can't it follow an 80-degree chute? Because the rollover is faster than gravity can accommodate. If the water can't follow the chute, and the boat is forced to follow the chute, what do you think is going to happen to the rider? The rider wants to follow the same path the water is following, and to the degree that path is above the boat's path, the ride throws riders, and that is a Bad Thing.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.