Trains on New England's Superman collide

Well you can relax about the press coverage in MA. A small private plane crash landed on a Florida highway today so that has taken over as the hot disaster, well that and the price of Madonna tickets in Boston. *** This post was edited by Figaro on 8/7/2001. ***

Jim Fisher-

Yep , I agree. The park was owned by FUNTIME, Inc and yes Six Flags now has the liablity.

My incident was not a run of the mill 'accident". I have copies of their maintence records for 8 weeks prior to my experience showing an ongoing hydrualic fluid problem in the lap bar restraint system. They were bleeding the lines, adding fluid daily ( even several times a day) and shutting down the row and seat I was injured in LONG before I flew cross country and attended the park.

They chose to operate that ride with full knowlege of a problem. They have admitted the accident occured and they have admitted I was not at fault. Usually an injury is from rider misconduct, in my case, I refer to it as MECHANIC MISCONDUCT :)

How many of these incidents this year are from similar situations? How many were preventable by shutting down a ride?

The Leisure Industry, as they call themselves, has not had a policy of being forthcomming about the amount of deaths, injuries and malfunctions that occur. Untill they improve their track record I am skeptical and I believe that their profit margins are more important then the safety of the consumers that frequent the parks.

Disney just settled out of court for a sealed amount so they would NOT HAVE TO DISCLOSE the number of brain injuries from a particular ride!

For those of you are just want the ride re-opened.. dont you want is SAFE first? Wouldnt it just ruin your day to be the next victim? And if the injury was critical enough ; ruin your life?

And for those who dont think the injuries are "serious" ... ANY injury on an amusement park ride that is not rider misconduct should and needs to be treated with respect for those who suffer from it! Why is it so hard to be decent to those people and just admitt the situation is just awful and dampens the fun that these rides provide?

*-BB-*

ok, so i still fail to understand this crash. i've been on the ride several times, and usually at the end of the ride you have to sit at the brake run for a minute or 2 while the train in the station loads. now, the way it sounded from the report in the newspaper made it sound like the brake run (i'm referring to the magnetic one that stops you before you get anywhere near the station) just plain out failed. otherwise, the train would have only been going 5 or so MPH when it entered the station. what i don't understand is this: shouldn't the brake run ALWAYS be used to stop the train, even if there wasn't another one in the station? so if the prox. sensor told the train that the station was empty, what would it matter seeing as how there are no brakes in the station anyways (aside from the small one's used to position the train in front of the gate correctly)?

maybe i'm misunderstanding how the brakes are set up, but it seems fluky that intamin would have designed their ride so screwey. i'd be much more apt to blame the employees, or even still six flags themselves for their lack of training which is sooo apparent to anyone whose ever visited this park. i love the rides at SFNE, but you hardly ever get to ride all of them because a) there aren't enough employees to run them at full capacity; or b) something minor goes wrong and all of the employees are scratching their heads for hours over something that should be well documented in the ride's manufacturing. case in point - cedar point has never, to my knowledge, had a single accident with the millenium force. i've been to cedar point and i know all of their rides are over-staffed and they are all well-trained and seem to be enjoying themselves. i knew someone who worked there and had a great time staying there for a summer. i think the unfortunate accident at SFNE is more a result of Six Flags being a giant corporate conglomarate and that it cares less about hiring quality, well-trained employees than it does about being the "biggest" and making more money. i hope they realize that in the long run they will lose money if these stupid, seemingly avoidable accidents keep happening and come to their senses.

well, i just changed my vacation plans for next week. CP, here i come! =)

you know, I liked this park better when it was Riverside Park. Call me...Riverside Guy. I could get on Cyclone with a short wait, the old first drop was there, no trim brake to ruin airtime and better cars! you heard me BETTER cars. less rattleing gong on. come back Riverside!!

Figaro that is a good way to put it. It is a reflection of our society, and the general publics attitude. People seem more entertained by sex, destruction, death, and chaos then they do a wonderful thing like say an infants birth.

What's wrong with the people's attitude in this nation? People love to watch others suffer for some strange reason. I think it raises peoples self esteem. Makes them feel like they don't have it so bad. We are a dysfunctional nation, and its only getting worse.

Look at the Tobacco industry for an example. Government sues tobacco companies for cigarette related death. Duh. People who smoke know their chances for dying are greater than that of a non- smoker. There is a warning on every pack.

Amusement parks are sort of similar. They have a warning at the entrance to every coaster and thrill ride. People know the risk when they get in line. As Jeff put it you are more likely to win the lottery than be in an amusement park accident, but the media don't tell you things like that except for the Discovery Channel's rollercoaster shows.

What it comes down to is the almighty dollar. In the case with the cigarette companies the government is getting an unheard of settlement for something that is common sense. Cigarettes kill. I think it similar in the amusement industry that the government wants in on what the Discovery channel reported to be a 40 billion dollar a year industry. As if they aren't already getting enough money from them now.

Political figures seem to target things that their advisors think will win the election for them. I am surprised that they haven't tried to break up Six Flags because they are becoming the Microsoft of the amusement world. They regulate every other industry to an extent. Why not target amusement parks. They know its lucrative and there is money to made. The media helps that by sensationalizing every accident at amusement parks today.

I am watching Blind Date, and they cut into it to show helicopters flying around Titan. "Coaster stuck on top of 255 ft lift hill. See this story coming up on News 8." Big deal. To the General population it is a big deal. Its that fear that resides in a person, and that is what makes them tune in to watch the news. To me its part of the excitement of the ride.

I do feel sorry for people that are involved in the accidents. My sympathy goes out to them and their families. I know I would be devastated to lose a member of my family to any accident.

Jeff that was an excellent editorial, and I also liked your posts in the news article on the accident on SROS at SF New England. Thanks for the great site, and keep up the good work.

I wish us coaster enthusiasts were more of a majority than a minority. Maybe we'd have more of a voice.

As far as accurate reporting is concerned, park accidents are not the only examples of inaccurate reporting. Remember, all networks originally declared Al Gore the victor in the last presidential election. First reports of any incident are always inaccurate. I remeber during the Gulf War, when Iraq launched missiles against Israel, there were reports on CBS that the missiles contained chemical payloads. This was later proven to be false.

With this accident, many coaster enthusiasts are learning now the news media works. The lack of accuracy of reports of accidents such as this one is in direct proportion to how soon after the accident it is. Plane crashes and other disasters involving multiple injuries or deaths frequently start out with sketchy details and irresponsible "guesses" at numbers and facts.

Yes, for whatever reason, people like to read/hear about other people getting hurt, or being involved in scandal. Meanwhile, the news media is in the business of getting you to watch/read/listen to *their* reports instead of somebody elses, so they will sensationalize. This is not an American thing, but is the same in most cultures with a free press. Why is it not reported that the Cyclone or some other ride ran without incident that day? Because that is not news.

A complete report should include something about the relative dangers of riding coasters. At this point one should be told what they probably already knew; that they are in far more danger in their car on the way to and from the park than they are on it's rides. Or in the dreaded bathtub. But car (and bathtub) accidents are relatively "routine" unless there are unusual details.

Roller coaster accidents are relatively rare, and I think they generate interest partially because of the inherent contradiction. You ride a coaster to experience thrills and a perceived exposure to danger, though in reality you know you're going to be safe. When this bubble of safety is burst, the surprise and dismay are strong.

Many people have speculated about the possible causes of this accident. Most appear relatively clueless about how this ride actually works. Others seem to know a lot of detail, but they especially don't claim to know it all. Even an operator of a different Intamin coaster did not claim to know the workings of this one.

If there is a possibility of operator error, then that is one of the possible causes. No need to go into "crack smoking" or racial slurs against people working in the park. Human error can be made by any human, even the ones at Cedar Point.

A programming error sounds unlikely, but I suppose is possible if there is a combination of events that had not been considered. Breakdowns or sensor failure should be written into the programming.

What it all boils down to is that nobody here in this forum seems to know enough about the ride's details to do more than make rough guesses at the actual cause.

By the end of the day, I imagine the ride experts in the park had figured out what few possibilities could have allowed this accident to happen. This information will probably not be given out until Six Flags has done everything it can to limit its liability. Regardless of the facts, they have to protect themselves against the lawsuit(s) that are likely to be filed.

Multiple people injured? Big company in charge? Yes, lawsuits extremely likely. When we "ride at our own risk," this means we agree to be subjected to the forces of the ride when it does what it's made to do, not to be in a train wreck.

I have sympathy for the riders, because one of them might have been me. I love coasters, and I ride them a lot. I've been on rides that malfunctioned or had problems, but nothing that caused an injury (ever seen the "emergency brake area" on Superman at Magic Mountain in CA? 'Been there).

Of course it's in the park's best interest to have safe rides. Whether parks and their owners can self-police is being challenged this year, with a number of highly publicized accidents. Yes, I expect there to be more accidents this year, as coaster popularity is way up, and new ones are being built constantly. More rides=more riders=more chance of accidents.

When will the ride reopen? Hopefully when the problem is identified and solved and hopefully no sooner! Descriptions of the damage make it sound like at best, one train can be made to operate after repairs, and lots of inspection to both the train and the station where the accident occurred. A new train or major train repairs will surely take much longer, though whether longer than it takes to investigate is anyone's guess.

The park takes a big financial hit with it's "premiere" ride down. Less people will go. So Six Flags has pressure to get it open ASAP. Hopefully they don't rush it. As in the circus industry, reports of accidents can drive ticket sales *up*, not necessarily down. This is probably less of a worry for Six Flags than lawsuits.

Love them coasters,
John Foss
www.unicycling.com

does this mean they will temporarily shut down all of the superman: rides of steel? i.e: SF America, SF Darien Lake...