Orion accident

[John Peck]

I was on the valleyed Invertigo train. I was in row 14 and the ride was running like it normally does... until I felt the trims after the loop and knew something wasn't right and exactly knew what was happening. It was indeed a little scary going "almost upside down" and flopping a bit in my seat in once instance while the train was being gently slowed and stopping and rolling backwards. Being in row 14 meant I was the last to be removed as they had to unload the whole train  with a scissor-like lift platform and since I was over the queue awning, they had to release the brake and the train was able to lower a few more feet. They did a great job and i was off in about 30 minutes or so. They were on it.

[coaster sally]

7 minutes ago, John Peck said:

I was on the valleyed Invertigo train. I was in row 14 and the ride was running like it normally does... until I felt the trims after the loop and knew something wasn't right and exactly knew what was happening. It was indeed a little scary going "almost upside down" and flopping a bit in my seat in once instance while the train was being gently slowed and stopping and rolling backwards. Being in row 14 meant I was the last to be removed as they had to unload the whole train  with a scissor-like lift platform and since I was over the queue awning, they had to release the brake and the train was able to lower a few more feet. They did a great job and i was off in about 30 minutes or so. They were on it.

How did they compensate you?

[Boris81]

I am planning to visit Kings Island during Memorial Day weekend. 

Any guesses when Orion might reopen? 

Valravn had been closed for nearly two weeks in 2019 when the same incident happened and it reopened with two train operations after that (3 trains were back on Valravn 4 weeks later). 

 

 

[gforce1994]

1 minute ago, Boris81 said:

I am planning to visit Kings Island during Memorial Day weekend. 

Any guesses when Orion might reopen? 

Valravn had been closed for nearly two weeks in 2016 when the same incident happened and it reopened with two train operations after that (3 trains were back on Valravn 4 weeks later). 

 

 

Valravn was different as the floor in the station was damaged.

[coaster sally]

When was the last time an intamin coaster trains collided?  It was 2001 on SRoS.  This happens all to frequent on newer b&m's IMO.

[coaster sally]

12 minutes ago, gforce1994 said:

Valravn was different as the floor in the station was damaged.

This accident is worse cause it's on level ground.  Several things failed for this to happen.  On valravn you also have gravity contributing.

[gforce1994]

1 minute ago, coaster sally said:

This accident is worse cause it's on level ground.  Several things failed for this to happen.  On valravn you also have gravity contributing.

I was mentioning the floor as they needed a new floor for the floorless cars.

[IndyGuy4KI]

1 minute ago, coaster sally said:

When was the last time an intamin coaster trains collided?  It was 2001 on SRoS.  This happens all to frequent on newer b&m's IMO.

You are right, Intamins don't collide often, but I will take a small bump with no injuries over going to the hospital with life changing injuries any day.

[Boris81]

13 minutes ago, coaster sally said:

This accident is worse cause it's on level ground.  Several things failed for this to happen.  On valravn you also have gravity contributing.

Okay, so maybe no Orion on Memorial Day? Bummer

[disco2000]

Worse is relative.  If there is no damage to any structure or train and they are able to pinpoint the cause and mitigate it, it could be up and running faster.

[coaster sally]

34 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

Worse is relative.  If there is no damage to any structure or train and they are able to pinpoint the cause and mitigate it, it could be up and running faster.

Maybe b&M'S should not operate in multimove?

[FUN&ONLY!]

7 minutes ago, coaster sally said:

Maybe b&M'S should not operate in multimove?

B&M’s can operate very safely and efficiently in multimove as they have been doing for years. This incident is also not really B&M’s fault but rather the ride’s controls programming which was outsourced to a different company.

[coaster sally]

5 minutes ago, FUN&ONLY! said:

B&M’s can operate very safely and efficiently in multimove as they have been doing for years. This incident is also not really B&M’s fault but rather the ride’s controls programming which was outsourced to a different company.

Yes, the controls are an integral part of multimove.  B&M is still the rides manufacturer, they chose to contract the operating system out, it is on them.

 

OFF TOPIC:  No way b&m could have 10 trains or more running at once like say Hadgrids Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure.

[FUN&ONLY!]

3 minutes ago, coaster sally said:

Yes, the controls are an integral part of multimove

Yes they are, but as long as Kings Island identifies and fixes the issue, there is no reason to stop using multimove. B&M has used multimove for years, and there have been very few incidents with the system. I would assume that for parks, the benefits of multimove greatly outweigh the potential cost.

[coaster sally]

Just now, FUN&ONLY! said:

Yes they are, but as long as Kings Island identifies and fixes the issue, there is no reason to stop using multimove. B&M has used multimove for years, and there have been very few incidents with the system. I would assume that for parks, the benefits of multimove greatly outweigh the cost for B&M.

I rather it be taken care of before something far worse happens...

[silver2005]

1 minute ago, coaster sally said:

I rather it be taken care of before something far worse happens...

Knowing your post history, this isn't a legitimate concern for B&M's safety, but an effort to discredit B&M for your hopes that Intamin comes back. 

[FUN&ONLY!]

1 minute ago, coaster sally said:

I rather it be taken care of before something far worse happens...

I agree that it would be devastating if something worse happened. I do hope the issue to the block zone failure can be identified and fixed. On a B&M, however, it would be hard for a high speed crash to occur because of the magnetic brakes.

[coaster sally]

2 minutes ago, FUN&ONLY! said:

I agree that it would be devastating if something worse happened. I do hope the issue to the block zone failure can be identified and fixed. On a B&M, however, it would be hard for a high speed crash to occur because of the magnetic brakes.

Magnetic brakes are relatively new to b&m.  They used to not have these problems.  

 

Skyrush's multimove is poetry in motion with the speed.

[jsus]

7 minutes ago, FUN&ONLY! said:

I agree that it would be devastating if something worse happened. I do hope the issue to the block zone failure can be identified and fixed. On a B&M, however, it would be hard for a high speed crash to occur because of the magnetic brakes.

It's not just a block violation.

What roller coaster, at least in normal auto mode, is designed to not bring the train to a safe stop in the station and wait for 1) all restraints to be secured, and 2) dispatch command from the operators?  The train entering the station should've easily come to a very controlled stop and apparently didn't.

This isn't even a train slipping through the brakes since modern stations like B&M's use drive wheels to move and stop a train, not magnetic or friction brakes.

Something seriously wrong had to happen for the system to mess up something so simple, basic, and normally highly controlled.

[FUN&ONLY!]

9 minutes ago, coaster sally said:

Magnetic brakes are relatively new to b&m.  They used to not have these problems.  

 

Skyrush's multimove is poetry in motion with the speed.

It is amazing how fast Skyrush’s trains enter the station. That helps a lot with sending trains out faster.

[beastfan11]

Leaving the Intamin/B&M argument out of the conversation, I gotta say I’m still pretty disappointed. Regardless of the severity of the incident, it’s never nice to see safety in jeopardy like that. Certainly makes me lose a little trust.  

[coaster sally]

At kings dominion and Carowinds I have seen some questionable employee crosses.  I don't want to see someone lose their life.

[FUN&ONLY!]

10 minutes ago, beastfan11 said:

Leaving the Intamin/B&M argument out of the conversation, I gotta say I’m still pretty disappointed. Regardless of the severity of the incident, it’s never nice to see safety in jeopardy like that. Certainly makes me lose a little trust.  

Good point. Even though the incident was not bad, it represents the failure of safety systems.

[beastfan11]

6 minutes ago, FUN&ONLY! said:

Good point. Even though the incident was not bad, it represents the failure of safety systems.

Exactly. Most accidents in these environments are preventable and come as a result of some kind of safety failure or oversight. I don’t want to bring the Icon Park incident into the conversation because it’s obviously very, very different, but in getting back to the park on season pass preview day I commented to my fiancé how grateful I was to have a home park where accidents don’t typically occur to the extreme that occurred in Florida. 
 

Don’t want to sound like a broken record, but it’s just disappointing and I regret making the above statement about safety, now. You just don’t know what else could happen. I guess that’s the risk, though. 
 

Has the park released a statement yet? 

[FUN&ONLY!]

2 minutes ago, beastfan11 said:

Exactly. Most accidents in these environments are preventable and come as a result of some kind of safety failure or oversight. I don’t want to bring the Icon Park incident into the conversation because it’s obviously very, very different, but in getting back to the park on season pass preview day I commented to my fiancé how grateful I was to have a home park where accidents don’t typically occur to the extreme that occurred in Florida. 
 

Don’t want to sound like a broken record, but it’s just disappointing and I regret making the above statement about safety, now. 
 

Has the park released a statement yet? 

They have not released a statement, and I don’t know if they have any plans to. While something obviously went wrong, I don’t know if the trains physically touched. Kings Island could just say that there was a technical issue and that the trains never came into contact with each other.

[coaster sally]

2 minutes ago, FUN&ONLY! said:

They have not released a statement, and I don’t know if they have any plans to. While something obviously went wrong, I don’t know if the trains physically touched. Kings Island could just say that there was a technical issue and that the trains never came into contact with each other.

I can almost guarantee there won't be a statement.

[beastfan11]

4 minutes ago, FUN&ONLY! said:

They have not released a statement, and I don’t know if they have any plans to. While something obviously went wrong, I don’t know if the trains physically touched. Kings Island could just say that there was a technical issue and that the trains never came into contact with each other.

Might be better to release a statement to clear the air than let rampant speculation drive the narrative. 

[FUN&ONLY!]

10 minutes ago, beastfan11 said:

Might be better to release a statement to clear the air than let rampant speculation drive the narrative. 

True. I think Kings Island is watching the situation closely, and they will probably make a statement gif the speculation gets beyond a threshold. They did make a statement last year when water dummies flew out of Orion because people were speculating that the ride was malfunctioning when it was just undergoing some sort of testing.

[beastfan11]

Not to bring Reddit into it, but there’s a few more details: 

 

[Captain Nemo]

1 hour ago, beastfan11 said:

Exactly. Most accidents in these environments are preventable and come as a result of some kind of safety failure or oversight. I don’t want to bring the Icon Park incident into the conversation because it’s obviously very, very different, but in getting back to the park on season pass preview day I commented to my fiancé how grateful I was to have a home park where accidents don’t typically occur to the extreme that occurred in Florida. 
 

Don’t want to sound like a broken record, but it’s just disappointing and I regret making the above statement about safety, now. You just don’t know what else could happen. I guess that’s the risk, though. 
 

Has the park released a statement yet? 

I highly doubt they will, if anything they will just state the ride is closed for inspection. KI doesn't seem to discuss or output news of this kind unless it is on main stream news. Twitter rarely responds to guests.