Teen dies after fall from Terra Mitica roller coaster

Dammit Intamin...

Why assume that it is Intamin's fault, assuming that the harness really did fail? It could be a maintenance problem at the park.

With Intamin's Track Record for safety and reliability over the last few years. I would put my money down on them for the problem. Intamin needs to spend more time on engineering and finding out what could go wrong with these rides for safety and reliability, then their rides would really quit showing up with these news releases.

What a shame. Poor kid...his family and friends...just awful.

I'll admit Rick's thought was one of my first thoughts as well, although in many of Intamin's deaths, ride ops and improper maintenance have been to blame. It will be interesting to see what they find in this case. No matter what though, my heart goes out to this teen's loved ones. Awful news.

The first thing in my mind when reading the headline was also "Intamin."

Then I felt like a selfish poo poo head, because I really do feel bad for the kid's family. That should have been my first thought. I imagined dieing like that. Sad, and once again, disturbing.

Intamin causes a lot of disturbing thoughts to run through my head from time-to-time.

This is why I like Cedar Point point putting seat belts in addition to restraints on their coasters. That extra layer of safety makes me feel better.

I'm pretty sure it does have seatbelts, from what I recall which makes it even more bizarre.

Wow, another fatality. I feel really bad for his family. I couldn't even start to imagine...

Pete said:

Why assume that it is Intamin's fault, assuming that the harness really did fail? It could be a maintenance problem at the park.

Before everyone starts hissing and booing, let me start by saying that I am not defending Intamin in any way. Their track record speaks for itself.

I've heard from a few trusted sources that Intamin is a low bidder. They seem to get contracts from companies with less financial stability than, let's say (the Rolls Royce of coasters) B&M. That leaves the question: Can this company afford to maintain this ride? Hell/Inferno is the latest coaster to arrive at Terra Mitica back in 2007. Is this due to financial trouble?

The stars of the show at that park seem to be a Vekoma SLC and a mid sized RCCA Woody. That's evidence that this company is more concerned about price than quality. I would hope that maintenance would be the very last budget cut. Hopefully, we will know more soon.

Blaming Intamin is like blaming Boeing when a plane crashes. Why do Intamin rides have their unfair share of accidents? Because Intamin builds a lot of rides.

Some of you are as bad as Ed Markie. How about we let 24 hours pass and see what comes of the investigation?

The trend in new rides is a design where you are 100% reliant on the restraint to hold you in and there are forces that throw you against your restraint. 2 good examples are the Huss Giant Frisbee and the RMC coasters. There is nothing to hold on to if your restraint would fail. Is this coaster of similar design?

wahoo skipper said:

Blaming Intamin is like blaming Boeing when a plane crashes. Why do Intamin rides have their unfair share of accidents? Because Intamin builds a lot of rides.

I get the point you're going for (base rate comparison) but even adjusting for that, nobody's rides throw as many people. I can think of at least 5 Intamin rides that have thrown people since I've started following (not to mention their issues with cables on rockets and drop towers). B&M builds about as many rides and, afaik, have lost 0. Vekoma have lost 0 afaik, and have way more rides. PTC trains have only lost the 1 at Holiday World and that was due to intentional subversion of the restraints. The NTG (Gerstlaur trains) did lose one.

It's not like Intamin is building 5 times as many rides as all the other manufacturers put together.

It's one of the ZacSpin/Ball coasters, so I'd imagine the answer to that is yes. However, it's the I-305 style restraint with the overhead lap bar and soft vest, plus seat belt. I'm confused as to how he got/came out.

I haven't ridden anything with the vest style, but all the Intamin overhead lapbar restrained rides I have ridden have a redundant seat belt.

From what I vaguely remember from riding the zacspin at SFMM, the restraint is vest/lap bar/ankle support and seat belt to close - think, similar to vekoma flyer restraints. Also like the flyer designs there is a lot of force between the chest and restraint, but much more abrupt. I compared it to getting punched in the chest.

wahoo skipper said:

Blaming Intamin is like blaming Boeing when a plane crashes. Why do Intamin rides have their unfair share of accidents? Because Intamin builds a lot of rides.

I don't think that's a fair assessment at all. If a death or injury is caused by a design issue or failure, it's most certainly their problem. B&M has a lot of rides too (and generally higher capacity on top of that), without all of the injuries and deaths.

People will always try to defend Intamin over and over, but come on now... This is just ridiculous anymore. Just off the top of my head I can think of:

Superman Ride of Steel @ SFNE throwing a rider.

(2) Superman Ride of Steel incidents @ SFDL throwing riders.

Perilous Plunge @ Knotts throwing a rider.

Inferno at Terra Mitica throwing a rider.

Tipping boat on Shoot the Rapids at CP.

And add to that list:

Countless cable issues on Kingda Ka, Dragster, Xcelerator and various drop towers... Some with pretty hefty injuries.

Now look at B&M and tell me what issues, park maintenance related or not have happened? I can't think of anything aside from a broken lift chain which did not cause injury. People will argue that all the rides B&M make are simple machines and don't push the envelope like Intamin does... Sure, but you can still push the envelope and keep people safe while doing so with proper restraints and ride designs.

Parks can only do so much to upkeep poor designs to start with... They make amazing rides, but damn...

Hydro (Perilous Plunge style ride in UK) also threw a rider.

When I get a phone call in the middle of the night, I assume a relative has died...do you think when Intamin gets a call in the middle of the night, they're wondering 'which ride killed someone this time?'

Don't forget that half of the incidents mentioned above involved riders who should not have ridden. They were either to large, or in once case, missing a limb that is essential to the restraint design. These are tragic, for sure, but, as pointed out, not limited to Intamin rides, nor necessarily Intamins fault.

I will withhold judgement and speculation on this newest incident because I know nothing more than what is above this post. But, like others, my first thought was "Intamin" despite the fact that one might label me as a defender.

P.S. Fly Airbus.