Person Dies at Schlitterbahn Kansas City

[RailRider]

Restraints do not do much good if a rider can remove them during the ride.

[The Interpreter]

Or if, as some have said, they weren't working at all.

[RailRider]

Which takes me back to the original discussion on this site that I linked to earlier in this forum.  Water rides with restraints are just a bad idea.  I am still amazed at the tragedy that was avoided with Shoot the Rapids.

[shark6495]

Linked from here. http://heavy.com/news/2016/08/caleb-scott-melanie-schwab-schlitterbahn-verruckt-kansas-city-water-park-slide-accident-death-dies-parents-father-photos-video/

For those of us on mobile the laughing Rick Gervais gif kept showing in the preview and I thought it was inappropriate. Here is a picture of 10 year old Caleb.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[KI Guy]

Meanwhile Robb Alvey is blaming, while claiming to not be blaming the parents. He's actually saying "what kind of parents let a 10 year old ride the world's tallest water slide without them?" That's frankly ridiculous, insensitive, and wrong.

[Oldschool75]

There is a weight restriction. I know the age restriction was removed. Question is How was this kid allowed to ride? I see this slide never reopening and being dismantled.

Sent from my iOS 10 device

[King Ding Dong]

Meanwhile Robb Alvey is blaming while claiming to not be blaming the parents. He's actually saying "what kind of parents let a 10 year old ride the world's tallest water slide without them?" That's frankly ridiculous, insensitive, and wrong.

Mr. BAlvey also seems to claim that if the parents had been on the slide they could have calmed him or prevented him from removing the restraint. If that was indeed a problem.

Let's think about that. TTD is a quick intense ride with about the same duration. So next time you are on it try and have a conversation and reassure the person in the row in front of you. After launch of course.

If you disagree with anything he posts you are a "stupid idiot" and will almost certainly receive a permanent ban.

There is a weight restriction. I know the age restriction was removed. Question is How was this kid allowed to ride? I see this slide never reopening and being dismantled.

Sent from my iOS 10 device

The 400-550lb range is very narrow. Say you have three 190lb adults that want to ride. Can't do all three or even just 2. Have three 100lb kids, can't do it.

Reportedly kids are often used as filler to balance out the ride. If a lawyer is able to establish that in court......

[TombRaiderFTW]

First: this is an incredible tragedy. I can't think of this incident and not get sick to my stomach. I can't imagine the pain for the family, the employees of Schlitterbahn, and all witnesses. My prayers are with all of them.

I realize it's easy to throw stones when you aren't intimately associated with the fine details of any tragedy. I'm aware that there is more to the story with this incident, as there is with every incident. But I also can't not comment on the content Schlitterbahn has released over the years as it relates to this accident. They have displayed an astonishing amount of transparency (or those are the words I'm going to use, anyway) with the design and testing of Verruckt, including some very intimate details on design flaws.

There is a faith in engineering, construction, and operation that is inherent to every person who gets in line for any ride anywhere, and I think kids have that faith more than anyone else. They aren't concerned about whether or not a ride is safe; they're just wanting to have fun. Which, I think, is why it's especially shocking to us when children are injured or killed. Children aren't cynics; they're innocent and naive and hopeful. And we, as adultish amusement park goers, want to capture that same baseless but wonderful and simplistic optimism about the world. That's why there's a plaque at Disneyland about leaving behind the world of today and entering a world of imagination. Kids are who we would wish to be if the world didn't require us to be someone else.

We don't yet officially officially know why this happened. For all we know, this is a freak, one-in-a-million alignment of thousands of factors that no one ever could have anticipated.

But the content that Schlitterbahn has released definitely casts some doubt on them. What I have seen has portrayed the ride as dangerous for the sake of exciting the adrenaline junkies of the world. In the meantime, it also portrays the designers as people who approach waterslide design choices like the neighbor kid with a hose: he turned his back yard into a mud slide and invited you to try it, but he didn't think about the fact that you slide right into a fence at the bottom. I don't know the designers' characters personally, but the existence of the term "safe dangerous" does not do favors. Neither does the fact that statements about incorrect design assumptions and video of testing issues were both issued and made easily accessible by the general public, including broadcasting of the video on cable television. (I still can't get over that.)

 

I want to believe that the impression they're giving is all a tremendous misunderstanding, but Schlitterbahn--from construction to now--has produced no statement, media, or other action to indicate that any faith put in their product, Verruckt, is well-placed. I get that Schlitterbahn obviously isn't in the business of hurting people, but literally the only counter to the "it's dangerous because we did it wrong and we had to redesign it" hype they have provided is "well, we redesigned it, but you still might die." And then someone actually died. How that could ever not come across as irresponsible and lacking integrity escapes me. It definitely seems like guests' faith in them seems misplaced.

 

I want to be clear: I am not blaming Marketing, Public Relations, or any other professional or department in particular. They did not wake up one day and maybe decide to market Verruckt as unsafe without getting someone's approval. And the person who gave approval might have had someone to report to who thought it was a great idea, and so on. This could be just as traumatic to them as it is to the people who witnessed the accident. They, too, need prayers.

 

As a fan of the amusement industry, I am, for lack of a better word, an advocate for it to people who either casually visit parks or don't visit parks at all. A ton of people think amusement parks and/or waterparks are unsafe. It is absolutely maddening when parks give evidence to this thought.

 

I don't know how to end this post. I'm just so frustrated with it all.

[Tanna]

There was an event for lawmakers that day, I've not heard of that before at a park.

That event alone doesn't make the park look very good, event if this horrible accident didn't happen.

It makes it look like a case of Greasy Palms, especially in light of the accident.

There were some Tweeters grumbling that the lawmakers and their guests got in free, thought I've no evidence to that fact. The park simply states that lawmakers got a free buffet and sandwiches.

In retrospect, theses facts makes the owners of SchlitterBahn look a little shady.

[Magenta Lizard]

One of the many articles I've read about this incident also mentioned the free admission. I have no idea which one it was, at this point, to link to it, though.

If the park is not bankrupt and/or closed after the lawsuits this death will generate, I will be very surprised. And the impressions I have gotten about the park leaders' devotion to safety (or lack thereof), from the things I have read, I'm not so sure that is a bad thing.

[KIfan73]

This has made me realize that it may not be coincidental that certain parks that are well-known for record breaking attractions have avoided breaking any records when it comes to water park attractions.

[malem]

AP: Two riders say ride had loose straps. One had reported it to the park. http://www.ky3.com/content/news/Police-explain-why-a-criminal-probe-in-death-of-boy-at-Schlitterbahn-in-Kansas-City-Kansas-389622462.html

Kansas City Star: Inspection responsibility with the park, not the state: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article94494127.html

[Tanna]

This has made me realize that it may not be coincidental that certain parks that are well-known for record breaking attractions have avoided breaking any records when it comes to water park attractions.

Water seems to compound the chaos theory. In the theme park world, a precise illusion of chaos is desired, real chaos? No.

Wet velcro straps and wet bodies doesn't feel a good combination to me: too much potential for slippage. I hadn't thought until previous riders complained that the straps might have come undone.

How many of us have tennis shoes with furry velcro because the straps cling to the laces and shred the laces when you seperate the two?

That the slide is reported not to have been inspected bothers me, especially in light of the event held for lawmakers.

[RailRider]

The state does not conduct annual inspections of rides and this park holds an annual day honoring state lawmakers.  Rides are inspected annually by private individuals paid by the parks.  Conclusions will be drawn, right or wrong, but conclusions will be drawn. 

[Imperial79]

So if the straps were loose and wasn't working properly,  that's like a safety feature on a ride,  but this is on a water slide and not just any water slide, but the biggest tallest in the world.  Imagine if any other ride like say a roller coaster had one of its safety features not working correctly and they kept running it...  Doesn't look good at all for the park.

[teenageninja]

So if the straps were loose and wasn't working properly,  that's like a safety feature on a ride,  but this is on a water slide and not just any water slide, but the biggest tallest in the world.  Imagine if any other ride like say a roller coaster had one of its safety features not working correctly and they kept running it...  Doesn't look good at all for the park.

 

See Superman: Ride of Steel at Six Flags Darien Lake.

[The Interpreter]

Ride CLOSED for season.

More:

http://fox4kc.com/2016/08/09/interview-from-july-2014-with-verruckt-designer-we-had-a-great-team-involved-in-doing-this/

[King Ding Dong]

Has any ride that experienced a death ever open again that season?

[Cody]

Has any ride that experienced a death ever open again that season?

Top Gun/The Bat at Kings Island

[The Interpreter]

Rolling Thunder, NJFTP.

[The Interpreter]

Also, Shockwave, Paramount's King Dominion, Batman, Six Flags Over Georgia...the list is nearly endless...

[Kenban]

Has any ride that experienced a death ever open again that season?

Numerous rides have reopened after deaths. If the ride was not at fault it can reopen with a few days/ weeks.

Mission Space has had two deaths for instance. Both were found to be pre-existing conditions.

When an issue with the rides design or maintence is found then it can take more time to reopen.

 

EDIT: just fixed an auto-correct issue.  Pre-existing not predicting...

[KIghostguy]

Has any ride that experienced a death ever open again that season?

Here at Kings Island: Lion Country Safari opened a day after it's incident in 1976 and the Eiffel Tower opened a week or two after it's incident in 1983. Flight Commander was closed the rest of the 1991 season, though.

[King Ding Dong]

I guess I didn't phrase that well. I meant from an issue of design or maintenance, or undetermined, not something like a heart attack.

[The Interpreter]

Huh?

Leading causes of deaths on rides are guest misconduct or operator error/negligence....

I wasn't aware the proximate cause of death here had yet been determined.

[King Ding Dong]

Huh?

Leading causes of deaths on rides are guest misconduct or operator error/negligence....

I wasn't aware the proximate cause of death here had yet been determined.

I don't understand Terp, it has? We know it was the netting/supports? It certainly looks that way, but no findings by the experts. Are you saying this is cased closed and no need for an investigation?

[The Interpreter]

No. The exact opposite.

Until the investigation is complete, we know next to nothing. And eye witness accounts often turn out to be wildly inaccurate.

[King Ding Dong]

Ok then. That leads me back to what you don't understand about my question. Any causes undetermed, not something inherent to the individual such as a heart attack. Maybe Kenban's "predicting conditions", not sure what that means.

[jcgoble3]

^ I think that's an autocorrect error. Probably meant "pre-existing conditions".

[Tanna]

Huh?

Leading causes of deaths on rides are guest misconduct or operator error/negligence....

I wasn't aware the proximate cause of death here had yet been determined.

I don't understand Terp, it has? We know it was the netting/supports? It certainly looks that way, but no findings by the experts. Are you saying this is cased closed and no need for an investigation?

I recall, for me, one of the worst accidents I'd read about;

http://archive.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/05/02/conn_man_dies_in_six_flags_coaster_accident/

It was the worst accident for me to read about, as the first indication was operator error, but as I followed the report, it seemed to me a perfect storm.

The patron was of an unusual body type, and had tried and was refused a board on the ride before, he did not have the body strength to hold himself in properly (probably why he was refused a seat before.) There were inexperienced operators, a front seat made for larger riders, with a longer lap belt came into play, and the confusion about the segment of the ride he was ejected. Later it was found out the poor patron sitting behind him was tring to hold him the entire ride.

This deceased had come to the park alone. When he went with his family, they would not allow him to try to board the coaster again.

After all that, I decided to halt judgement until all of the pieces had been pored over, all witnesses interviewed, ert., etc.. I'Ve made angry snap judgement before, and it only made me the fool.