State says Son of Beast accident was due to design flaw, loop will be removed

Posted | Contributed by supermandl

A roller coaster's wooden support beams were not designed to bear the ride's weight, causing a dip in the track that jolted 27 passengers injured in July, state investigators said Wednesday. The design flaw with the looping, wooden Son of Beast coaster at Paramount's Kings Island caused a vertical support called a bent leg to crack, said the Ohio Department of Agriculture, which regulates the state's amusement parks. The park says removing the loop will allow the use of lighter trains.

Read more from AP via The Akron Beacon Journal.

Related parks

Kings Island

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"Lighter trains" will put less strain on the structure but all things being equal will give a rougher ride. Think Town Car compared to Pinto or in coaster terms PTC compared to Morgan. I hope all things are not equal.*** This post was edited by boblogone 12/14/2006 4:24:39 PM ***

Ummm...this may sound stupid, but a loop gradually travels to the left or right so the exit sits next to the entrance. I think SOB's loop is to the left so that would mean the track after the loop is about ten feet from the entrance. What will they do about that?

Wow, that's confusing.

Special Items-> S-Bend Right.

Ahh...A banked one definitely.

Corkscrew... ;)

SOB is still going to be the tallest, fastest woodie! If you want a loop, ride the Vortex or FoF. It's a wooden coaster, with a loop it was doomed from the start. And now at least it will have more bearable trains. I'm about six ft. and all i wanted to do was get off the ride once it started. Personally i'm looking at the lighter side of this change. It's the easiest most affordable fix to the problem for CF. The cheaper the fix, the more expensive any new rides will be in the future!

Neuski said: "Corkscrew"

Wow, that is EVIL....deliciously evil... ;)

Wouldn't a corkscrew or barrel roll be easier to navigate then a loop? In a corkscrew, and especially a barrel roll the train has more forward momentum then on a loop. On the loop all of the force is directly pushing outwards on the track. The first inverting coaster was a corkscrew, would they be possible out of wood, I mean we have 90 degree banks, it would just be going the exra 270 degrees.

World's meanest trick-track. :)

-Tambo

If they rebuilt that entire hill to include an insane double down, I would take back all the negative comments I ever said.

I don't think trick-track changes direction. The track will bank on one side or the other without actualy changing direction.

I like the idea of a double down.

Neuski, there is already a block brake before the loop.

But it isn't operational.

^Is it wired up? I am guessing it is.

Wrong. It IS a functional block brake.

Straight forward, Im pissed....

I had one shot @ PKI last this past summer right after the accident, coming from texas...I have another next summer. I think I'll pass.

But they haven't used the brake have they?

I know I've been SLOWED, heavily, by that brake....don't honestly recall if we hit a dead stop....but pretty close.

The train is trimmed pretty heavily midcourse, and it's a functional block brake. The MCBR has a tire drive advancing system so if the train stopped there, it would have enough speed to make the loop. The loop is ten feet shorter than the MCBR level.

It's obvious now how long I've avoided to ride it. ;)

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