Women dies after riding Perilous Plunge at Knott's

BB: Oh. Not what I was thinking. :)

Sounds like you're thinking in terms of an active hydraulic system, such as on a 1,001 Nacht or a Ranger, where pump pressure operates the bars.

On the Intamin coasters (and presumably on Plunge), the system is entirely passive, and each bar is independent. No hydraulic pressure is required for the system to operate...the fluid is used to lock the cylinder position, and fluid movement (when the valve is open) is accomplished by moving the cylinder. The nice thing about it is that each cylinder can be built as a sealed unit with the cylinder, solenoid valve, and tiny reservoir so that there are no external fittings to fail. I'm not certain whether that's how Intamin does it or not, but I do know that's how the cylinders used to operate airline seat-backs are constructed (although those use a mechanical valve, not an electric one), so there is a precedent for it.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

BB, I feel for you. My husband is in the same sort of shape you are, but his condition was caused by an automobile accident. Like you he will be in pain for the rest of his life.
I am a ride enthusiast, but there is one ride I will no longer ride under any circumstances--the Mind Eraser at Six Flags New England. The last time I rode that coaster I had trouble getting my OTSR to lock down all the way ( I am short and on the small side). I called the problem to the attendant's attention, but he just told me it was fine without bothering to check it, and the ride started before I had a chance to say anything else or get off. I managed to get the restraint locked down on the lifthill, but it popped open partway just before the train reached the top. I spent the rest of that ride clutching the restraint with a white-knucked death grip and fearing for my life.

I think it is definitely possible, if the woman who died on PP was small and/or thin, she might have slid out if the lapbar was not down all the way.
M

yikes, i hope the restraints on S:TE dont fail when i ride it...

This does bring up the issue; Should large people be allowed to ride? Yesterday at BGW, I saw a very large man riding Loch Ness Monster. His restraint was so far off of his chest I couldn't believe it was locked. It didn't look safe to me at all. While we're on the subject of restraints, has anyone else been a little scared riding the B&M hypercoasters? There's no safety backup clip or seatbelt. If the restraint failed, what would you still be seated at the end of the ride?

I am not now, and at the time of my accident considered "large","obese", or "fat". I was not "skinny" or "small". At that time I wore a ladies size 8 on average... I stand at five foot four-five inches and wear a size 10 in ladies on average...I have an athletic build from years of ice skating prior to my incident. I can wear short skirts or legging pants without fear of looking silly..

Since my accident I have been very skinny at times and went through a period of carrying more weight then I should have.. but since I have to maintain my back and hips with such care I have come to a reasonable weight , through PT, and size that I have maintained for several years...this is VERY hard since I cannot just go be a gym nut like I could prior to July 92.

I share this because I am sure some of you wonder my size and if that had an effect on the incident. If you saw me on the street in passing you would wonder why I have a cane and why I limp, but otherwise I look "normal" while clothed. I do have a deformed rib cage from the way my ribs broke and healed and it is noticable when I wear a swim suit.

I do worry about seriously overweight people riding, only becasue it is such a strain on their muscle-skeletal structure and their cardio vascular system. Does anyone know if these factors are considered in design or at the loading stations? Have any ride-ops refused a patron because of their size?

Thank you for you concern BB. Your problem was an equipment failure though so it would have happened to anyone regardless of size. Your experience shows that regardless of how sure we may thing something works, it is always prone to failure. This goes beyond lapbars.

I do believe that riders of large proportions should be limited to some extent. The window on some of these rides are rather small I feel, mainly on 2 Intamin rides I know for sure in Millennium Force and Superman: Ultimate Escape. One time I rode with this man and his two children on Magnum. He was large but not to the extent of being a health risk. I would say he looked more like an Offensive lineman. He rode with no problem and enjoyed the ride, as well as his children. He was new to riding coasters and they wanted to move up to the big blue one. I explained that he might not be able to fit and to try the test chair first (even though at GTTP we found that chair to be inaccurate). I showed him about how much room I would have on MF with my Magnum belt and he and I agreed there was little chance that he would fit.

I just find it Ironic that an Arrow lap bar restraint system that has been used since the 70's has bee effective in keeping people in and allowing larger people to ride yet these new "high tech" Intamin systems seem to have problems and are extremely limited in allowing larger people to ride. (Impulses are big here.)

On the opposite scope the lady who stapled (really it was her to wended up pushing the bar down all the way) said it hurt her abdomen and did not enjoy her ride. Her friends followed me on again but she sat out which is another reason why this whole ordeal just disturbs me. If the ride is going to be painful and just not fun anymore, what the hell is the point of riding? Even Dick Kinzel himself says there is nothing wrong with a little room, he should have made a disclaimer "as long as there is a seat belt."

Bottom line I think these restrains need to be modified for many reasons. I feel they are squander the ride experience and are painful when they are pushed down all the way, yet on the opposite end when they are left up just a bit (like Dick dose ;)) to actually enjoy the ride they can be elusive. I say get rid of the stupid things and just use the belts. :)

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Save Cheese on a stick!

I realize this is a very old thread, but knowing much about this subject I just had to contribute to it. The lady that fell to her death was Candy Taylor and it happened on June 9th 1991. The death was NOT her fault. It was a very simple design flaw. The sets where bucket style sets and where meant to hold two people. There was nothing dividing the person on the left from the person on the right. It was just one large set. She rode alone and there was no one sitting next to her. The workers that day where either in a hurry, or just didn’t care. They checked her harness. But left the one next to her, sense it was empty, wide open. They did not close it or pull the harness down. So when she went to turn upside down, there was nothing keeping her from sliding over to the next set, her whole body just slid over to the other side and once it turned upside down she feel right out. Some reports say she was very skinny and that was how she was able to so easily slide over and out. Others say she had a few drinks. Either way this was a major design flaw in the ride. The closed the ride and fixed the sets, adding a divider to the sets, making it two separate sets instead of one large one. They reopened it for 1992, But no one rode it, and it was taken down at the end of the year