Serious accident on Xcelerator caputerd on Video

Its pretty common for either the park chains or ride manufacturers to call for all similar rides to be closed until a investigation is taken. I know earlier this year when there was a In vertigo incident (Stuck) KI had cranes all over theirs for a couple days afterward.

Which - and this is 100% speculation on my part - makes me think there was nothing particularly unusual about how the whole thing played out.

When something goes wrong with a ride, it seems other installations are closed, inspected, repaired if needed and brought back into service. With this, none of the other installations missed a beat.

PRECISELY! I can remember a similar situation on another Intamin ride back in 2001 when the station approach brakes failed on Superman: Ride of Steel at Six Flags New England. In that case, the cause of the incident was so blindingly obvious that the other Superman coasters were inspected and not only continued to operate, they continued to operate with two trains, even though another ride with a similar braking system had suffered a catastrophic failure resulting in a collision and injuries.

That is what leads me to believe that in the case of the Xcelerator failure, the mechanism of the failure is well understood, and there really isn't any further precaution to be taken on the other rides while Xcelerator is investigated and reassembled.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I agree with that (the speculation part too). Seems to me that you close the other similar rides if you do not know what the problem was at Knotts or you know what the problem was and the same issue exists on the other similar rides. You keep the other rides running if the problem at Knotts is not an issue with the other rides. Liability risks if you keep the similar rides running and the same problem happens on one of those other rides are huge.

I looked on the Knotts website today 10/31/09 and they've posted that Xcelerator is down for "rehab" until 10/29. I hope it's up sooner because I'm flying out there for vacation the Thanksgiving week.

Coasternut

^With Monte consistently delivering the goods into its fourth decade, and recent reports of Ghostrider running "like new", KBF still has plenty to offer. I've yet to get on their spinner or the motorbike, looking forward to some event out that way early next year.

Have to admit, the loss of Tampico Tumbler still resonates with me....it's the PKI flyers of the West Coast. ;)

Xclererator will go back on line when DOSH signs off on it,and not a moment sooner. Considering how the Perilous Plunge incident was handled, I surmise that they are going to want a fix that will not allow this kind of incident to be repeated.

^^^ I am wondering the same thing. Their website actually says it is closed until 11/29. The part I find interesting is that it doesn't say closed until 11/30. In October it said closed until 10/31 which wipes out the whole month and leaves the re-opening date open. Since they are saying 11/29, it leaves open the possibility that Xcelerator could re-open on 11/30. Of course, it could also simply be a typo.

Ed Z., since you are going to be here Thanksgiving week, Mon or Tues, are the best days to visit that week. Wed should also be pretty good, but slightly more crowded since some Orange County schools are off that day. Try not to visit any later than that, if you can. Thanksgiving weekend is one of most busy periods Knott's has.

There is no chance that Xcelerator will be open on Thanksgiving. We will be lucky if the ride is in operation on or before summer 2010. I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't remain closed for more than a year.

Since the ride inspection law passed in California, nearly every single state investigation has resulted in mandated changes to the ride - Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin, California Screamin', Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Perilous Plunge all come to mind. The state has already closed and mandated changes to Xcelerator in the past. It typically takes 4 - 5 months before the investigation report is released and the so-called "state ride experts" just love to tinker with these rides.

I expect that the required changes for Xcelerator will be major.

The incident on the Invertigo at California's Great America that resulted in zero injuries is still under investigation. The state had the park take down part of the ride for the investigation. They can't seem to realize that the ride did exactly what it was supposed to do for a chain failure. Unfortunately, the media coverage screwed the park and they can't just fix it and move on.

I forgot to mention, I really hate California. This state sucks!

Thanks for all the advice guys. Guess I shouldn't have my hopes up for Thanksgiving. In my opinion a great ride that I can get a lot of reps on. My daily record is 62 with Richard K. I know he rode it 108 times in one day right before it "broke."

I'd agree...except it is Nov 1, sunny, and 80* outside. Kinda hard to complain about that : )

You west coast guys are lucky. You get to ride coasters year-round. If it wasn't for the earthquakes and all the nuts out there, I'd think about moving. :)

Move out here anyway. It's worth the trade off to be able to ride whenever you want. Most of our earthquakes aren't that big. I've slept thru many of them. You will be fine until we have the "big one" and California sinks into the ocean or becomes an island.

SFMMAddict said: You will be fine until we have the "big one" and California sinks into the ocean or becomes an island.

Neither of which will happen. But in 15 million years or so one will be able to drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco in about 10 mins (the first will have moved 400 miles north while the second will have remained in place).

Cool. I have had a plan on the "back burner" to go to CGA, SFDK and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk for a while now. If the parks and myself are still around, I can get there really fast, without planning a trip.;)

California's system is obviously broken. They've created an entity around investigating this stuff that couldn't possibly have the combination of expertise in safety and ride engineering to make a difference in any reasonable time.

^Good point.

I can't help but think how many more injuries Revolution has now WITH those wicked shoulder bars. Seems like a big thing is California.

The Permament Rides division of the Department of Occupational Safety and Health, is set up to be self supporting. In other words they have to pay for themselves, which means that the parks and the stand alone (i.e. carousels) here are dinged every time they are called upon, for every inspection and for whatever time they spend on a case whether they are on site or not. It was $125 per hour per person when I left the business. The longer they take, the more money that is brought in to the division. I got a bill for nearly three hundred dollars once because one of their field engineers decided to sit outside of my ride and watch it for over two hours. Supposedly there was a "complaint" but they would never produce the paperwork proving that.

SFMMAddict, if you can't do all of that, skip Great America. And while you're in the area, go to Gilroy Gardens. This summer I took a two-day trip that encompassed Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Great America and GIlroy Gardens. Turns out that Great American was a waste of time (even though I did get to ride the Worst Wooden Coaster in America*) and I didn't have nearly enough time at Gilroy Gardens.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

* Official Internet Wood Coaster Poll results for the last 14 straight years

--DCAjr

I'm wondering how Myrtle Beach Pavilions Hurricane never made the top of that list. It's been torn down a couple years, and it still hurts thinking about it. That's my worst woodie ever. :)

On the subject of Xcelerator,

rollergator said:
looking forward to some event out that way early next year.

ACE is having their Spring Conference in SoCal April 23rd to 25th. Knotts is one of the parks that will be visited.