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Carowinds Employees Hurt Testing Ride


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Seven Carowinds employees were hurt Saturday evening while test riding the BORG Assimilator. Eyewitness News has learned some locking devices that hold the seats on the ride down came a loose. The ride was not in danger of coming off the track, but the malfunction caused the ride to shake vigorously. The employees were taken to Carolinas Medical Center in Pineville with bruises. They have all been released. Carowinds officials say they are working to repair the problem with the BORG Assimilator.

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/11287823/detail.html

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The way I read it... The mechanism that moves the seats from sitting to flying position came loose, so they basically ended up hanging upside down for a short time. It said it valleyed just before the loop, so at that point they probably fell back down to laying.

Just a guess based on the two news articles I saw on it.

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According to The Herald Online:

FORT MILL -- Carowinds could open for the season next weekend without its tallest roller coaster if workers can't fix a mechanism that malfunctioned this weekend on the BORG Assimilator.

Employees were riding the coaster on its 51st test run of the season Saturday when the mechanism that keeps the seat in position disengaged, said park spokesman Scott Anderson. The ride had already passed a state inspection this year.

That failure triggered a safety precaution built into the ride: The car the employees were riding in stopped at the base of the vertical loop. The ride hits 115 feet -- 11 stories -- at its highest point, according to the park.

When the car stopped, the 16 employees riding it were about 8 feet from the ground and climbed down a ladder to get out, Anderson said. Seven were treated and released with minor injuries at Carolinas Medical Center, Anderson said.

The S.C. Department of Labor will investigate. The theme park is scheduled to open for the season next Saturday. The park will open as planned, although the coaster will not operate until they know what went wrong and fix it, Anderson said.

Workers are taking the passenger train completely apart to find and fix the problem, he said.

This is the first time in four seasons that the park has had a problem with the coaster, Anderson said.

"We're not going to open it until it's safe, and we know what happened and whether it will happen again," he said.

http://www.heraldonline.com/109/story/14547.html

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This is why every ride is tested thoroughly before the season starts, in case of accidents like this. Better employees then the general public. Keep in mind every train is disassembled and reassembled before the season, so this very well could have been a maintainence issue.

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Well thats just fantastic for the media ... now they are gonna be all over Cedar Fairs a**

but agreed at least it wasent in public like sob was I remember being on the sob earlier that day before it happened and thought it was extremely bumping for some reason..

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You would think a ride relaying on a motor or pin to hold the cars in the correct postion would have a few backup devices just in case of a failure. I guess Borg didn't have that or they both failed. Cedar Fair got the parks and having to deal with the Son of Beast accident and now this.

Actually the ride did get to its back up, It stopped before the loop when the restraint lock basically timed-out. Based on looking at the ride and assuming where the lie-fly broke loose, though we dont know for sure, They were only in the upside down position for I would say 10-15 seconds at most before coming to rest. And they were absolutely in no danger to actually fall off of the roller coaster, or out of the restraint. It also looks as though there wasnt really a possiblity that the indiv. seats could become detached from the train, though anything is possible.

The ride is still "SAFE", an industry-safe coaster being one that when working properly completes a full circuit without injuries to a healthy rider every dispatch, but in the event of a systems failure or multiple systems failure is able to minimize guest injuries, if not outright preventing them, and at all costs preserve guest life, due to numerous other built in fail-safes. So again, although it isnt being debated; to supress perhaps some of our members fears of riding Firehawk now or BORG, the coasters are safe. Once the ride has its cars put back in place and is rechecked to be in Full safe, working order, you will be fine!

I completely agree that there are more than likely numerous fail-safes implemented to "lock-down" the cars in the Lie down position, that failed. However if there aren't, the ride worked as it is supposed to and was able to stop safely without any serious damage to the riders.

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Even though the ride past a state inspection I don't understand why they had passengers on it already, even though it completed 50 test runs. I just don't understand that part of it.

So how many test runs would you have them run? 52? 506? People have to board it some time, if it is to run at all. Where would you draw the line? And on what basis?

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The state of NC says that rides on the NC side of the park must be cycle 100 times before anyone can ride. Also, BORG stopped the train shook due to the seats coming up not because of a safety feature, as there is NOT one. On a side note, Firehawk trains are very different from BORG's.

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...That's what I thought...

And:

Despite Mishap, Carowinds Officials Say Rides Safe, Well Tested

POSTED: 4:59 pm EDT March 19, 2007

UPDATED: 6:26 pm EDT March 19, 2007

YORK COUNTY, S.C. -- Five days before opening, Carowinds is usually busy with menial work -- lots of painting and last-minute tweaks. But this year's preps include a state investigation into a ride malfunction that sent seven employees to the hospital over the weekend.

Employees were riding the Borg Assimilator on the 51st test run of the day, when, according to park officials, the seats shifted into the upright position during the ride when they should have been laying flat. The workers only suffered bumps and bruises from being jostled.

Carowinds officials say they now know how it happened, but they will make 100 percent sure they are correct before saying the cause.

"Before we go out and we tell folks, 'Hey, we know what happened; we've fixed this problem,' we want to be absolutely sure that we've got it," said Scott Anderson of Carowinds.

Anderson said riders were never in danger because the problem was not with restraints or safety gear.

In the days before the season opens, every attraction in the park is tested and evaluated repeatedly.

"All of them go through what we call a 'rebuild,' where (workers) take them down, every part is looked at, inspected and (then put back together), and then once we open, it continues," Anderson said.

Officials don't know whether the Borg Assimilator will open Saturday with the rest of the park. Carowinds is waiting for an inspector from the South Carolina Office of Elevators and Amusement Rides, a division of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, to check out the ride.

Carowinds officials said their rides go through a multi-step inspection each day before the park opens. They are also reviewed by state inspectors just before the season begins.

Because the park straddles the state line, state agencies from both Carolinas are involved.

See also the video at the site:

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/11298370/detail.html

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This is why every ride is tested thoroughly before the season starts, in case of accidents like this. Better employees then the general public. Keep in mind every train is disassembled and reassembled before the season, so this very well could have been a maintainence issue.

Any incident resulting in an injury is the same be it guest, employee or maintenance crew. Safety is number one, and always is, Employees getting injured or even shaken up is just as bad as if it happened in July with guests. Incidents like this always affect ride crews, maintenance staff, managers and supervisors, as everyone works very hard to avoid even the slightest incident.

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Tusker,

SOB was a one-time failure of a support. Therefor, your ride being "bumpy" the day before had no bearing on the failure whatsoever.

As for this incident: what were the employees doing riding it anyway? I know that maintenance will ride the wooden coasters in order to "warm them up" during testing. The bearings are new and are not worn in, so its slower, but for a steel, its fine. Thus, what WERE the employees doing on the ride?

I guess to check out the car mechanisms, and luckily they did.

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Tusker,

SOB was a one-time failure of a support. Therefor, your ride being "bumpy" the day before had no bearing on the failure whatsoever.

As for this incident: what were the employees doing riding it anyway? I know that maintenance will ride the wooden coasters in order to "warm them up" during testing. The bearings are new and are not worn in, so its slower, but for a steel, its fine. Thus, what WERE the employees doing on the ride?

I guess to check out the car mechanisms, and luckily they did.

Simple answer, having fun. The day before dry run day, employees are allowed to ride rides. They were not testing the ride, the rides are tested empty.

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Ride Malfunction At Carowinds Blamed On Human Error

POSTED: 3:23 pm EDT March 20, 2007

YORK COUNTY, S.C. -- A Carowinds spokesperson says it was human error that caused a rollercoaster mishap on Saturday.

Seven park employees were hurt after the seats on the Borg Assimilator suddenly flipped to an upright position during the ride.

Eyewitness News has learned that the ride operator accidentally pushed a button that unlocks the seat position.

A Carowinds representative said the problem has been fixed so now if the button is pressed during the ride, the seats won't unlock.

Officials are hopeful the ride will be open on Saturday.

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/11308720/detail.html

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I wonder what is going to happen, or what has already happened to this mysterious person that pushed that button? Something tells me that was a NO-NO!

At least it wasnt an unforseen problem with the ride mechanics, but rather a "human-error" which in all likelihood is just as hard to correct :(

I would think that that button should have been disabled to start with as well, especially since it was obviously alright to fix it this late in the coasters life.

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Wouldn`t this mechanism, like buzz bars on The Beast and The Racer, only work when the train is in the station and have direct contact with sensors/electrical equipment in the station? Seems a little odd that a ride operator can push a button in the station and the trains out on the course will be affected. Granted, the Vekoma trains do have computers on board each train to monitor the ride throughout the course. But it still seems a little fishy.

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Wouldn`t this mechanism, like buzz bars on The Beast and The Racer, only work when the train is in the station and have direct contact with sensors/electrical equipment in the station? Seems a little odd that a ride operator can push a button in the station and the trains out on the course will be affected. Granted, the Vekoma trains do have computers on board each train to monitor the ride throughout the course. But it still seems a little fishy.

I was wondering about that myself. To me, it would seem like a sensible safety feature to only let the restraint systems work in the station by computer, and manually on the coarse of the ride.

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