TrBiggar said:
...1st-gen freefalls, even with those, there was an accident on one, a fairly serious one. On the Edge at SFGAm, a car fell down the shaft and trapped (but never killed) a few people. So, even with all of those saftey measures, accidents happen.
Minor correction on this, it wasn't a Six Flags property at that point, it was still Mariott's Great America. The Edge rollback was a pretty serious failure but luckily no one was killed and as a result *all* the 1st Gens were made safer by having an anti-rollback positioned at the top of the tower.
Honestly Great America pre-Six Flags had a horrid safety record with the Edge rollback just being one in a fairly long list of ride failures. That's one park (and chain in general) that I think was changed for the better by acquisition.
Incidentally, if anyone is interested in riding the Edge it's currently operating at SFWoA as Mr. Hyde's Nasty Fall. The first time I went down there I had to take a drop on it just out of sheer morbid fun and was lucky enough to ride with a couple of squemish teenage girls who I told the entire rollback story to during the waiting period and lift up the tower. I don't think I've ever heard more "OH MY GODS!" or louder screams on a drop ride in my life :-)
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* The Legend @ HW
* Superman: Ride of Steel @ SFNE
* Mondial Top Scan
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