Fury 325 Support Failure

[TombRaiderFTW]

1 hour ago, Tr0y said:

I’m surprised no other park has taken this incident and made a marketing video of a backstage tour on how their coasters are kept safe with daily checks and stuff. If I was in marketing for a competing park I would be throwing major shade towards Carowinds.

Why, though? The amusement industry is already perceived as being unsafe by many Americans. How does publicly throwing a major player under the bus do anything besides make that negative perception worse for every park in the country? Remember that the general public neither knows nor cares to know the difference between a Fun Spot and a Cedar Fair. Enthusiast perception is not the reality of the market.

It's also not like Cedar Fair or Carowinds are in the business of being negligent. Obviously, this wasn't anticipated. If you make a big production of throwing one park under the bus and then it happens to you as unexpectedly as it did to them... Where does that leave the public perception of the industry then? You've sold your colleagues for a shot at more ticket sales, and it wouldn't have even paid off for you.

[Tr0y]

You gotta throw shade! It’s a missed opportunity! This can be done subtly by Showcasing your maintenance department and promoting  yourself. You know how many companies throw shade at McDonald’s Ice cream machines because they are constantly down?

Also any amusement park incident or accident that makes national news looks bad for the industry as a whole. You gotta make it seem as if it’s a them problem and not a you problem. 
 

[Tr0y]

No I’m not saying blatantly call out Carowinds. You would do it subtly by showing off how your park does its daily inspections and showcasing your maintenance department. 

[TombRaiderFTW]

1 minute ago, Tr0y said:

You gotta throw shade! It’s a missed opportunity! Showcase your maintenance department and promote yourself. You know how many companies throw shade at McDonald’s Ice cream machines because they are constantly down?

Also any amusement park incident or accident that makes national news looks bad for the industry as a whole. You gotta make it seem as if it’s a them problem and you problem. 
 

Ice cream machines being down aren't perceived as a threat to human lives. That's the difference. McDonald's ice cream machines being down doesn't make Wendy's customers wary of buying a Frosty. Amusement parks don't exist in a vacuum the way fast food, for example, does.

Yes, a nationally publicized park incident makes the whole industry look bad. What you are missing is that organizations like the ASTM F24 committee, IAAPA, etc. exist to help professionals support each other and improve safety for everyone. Company lines have no meaningful presence in those places, because a loss for one is a loss for everyone. I know nothing, but I guarantee you that Fury is and will be discussed heavily there so that this does not happen again.

The industry is much, much more of a family than various Twitter feeds would lead you to believe.

[SonofBaconator]

@Tr0y I don’t think that’s the best thing to do in response to this type of incident.

[disco2000]

So car manufacturers never tout the safety rankings they get?  They never produce videos showing what goes into making their cars safer?

I think many took his comment a little too literally.  He wasn't saying to actually call out Fury. A park coming out with a video showing how they inspect rides can be done respectfully and without mentioning Fury by name would be good not only for said park but for the whole industry.  Given all the events happening this year, such a video is needed in the industry.

I seem to recall when KK Drop happened, that parks were quick to point out they had a different model.

[TombRaiderFTW]

13 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

So car manufacturers never tout the safety rankings they get?  They never produce videos showing what goes into making their cars safer?

That's not an apples to apples comparison. Car accidents typically don't cause people to question the safety of cars as a genre of machine. If a car is unsafe, people will at most not buy that model or make again. The amusement industry does not work the same way (with non-enthusiasts, anyway.) The car industry is not nearly as dependent upon each other the way the amusement industry is.

I don't think Tr0y deserves hellfire and brimstone for their post, and I hope I didn't come across that way. There's a lot of ways that Tr0y's kind of response makes sense when compared to how online PR often works nowadays. I just think "throwing shade at Carowinds" (which IS what was original post said) isn't the right approach for the amusement industry, and I decided to explain why.

[Tr0y]

16 minutes ago, jsus said:

Which car manufacturers came out in response to Toyota's sudden unintended acceleration fiasco and said, see, our cars can't do that because XYZ?  They don't do that.  They don't draw attention to themselves when a competitor's product is experiencing (potential) defects.

Which OEM made light of Ford's Explorer rollover fiasco?

Which OEM comments on how few recalls they issue vs. XYZ competitor?

That doesn't happen in the auto industry.  Discussing the safety features in your own product is selling the strengths of your product.  Hyping up your product in comparison to your competitors' products experiencing safety defects is not the same and doesn't happen in that realm.

Any time there is an incident involving a ride, guests are going to assume that similar rides are the same.  During the incident of which you speak, you'll recall that all rides from the same manufacturer were shut down until the incident could be better understood and prevented going forward.  Naturally, the public will ask, why isn't your ride closed?  The correct response is to share that the ride is from another manufacturer.  That's not commenting on the safety of the other ride, it's saying that the safety of yours hasn't been called into question.  Not the same.

The safety issue is directly related to Carowinds maintenance department missing the crack during their daily inspections, this isn’t so much a ride defect. Like you said any person that sees B&M support structure or track is going to be asking “Why isn’t this coaster closed?” “Coasters of that style aren’t safe.” How are you going to tell them this isn’t from the same manufacturer when it actually is? The idea I was suggesting is that you would market what your park does to keep people safe. Carowinds caused distrust in the industry because of their complacency. Therefor showcasing how one does inspections and safety is essentially saving face while at the same time subtly throwing shade…

Let’s get back on topic tho.

[Maddog]

Wow.  That statement from Carowinds provides an incredible amount of information above and beyond what I had expected.  Proving this step-by-step series of events, since the public can readily observe, can squash a lot of online rumors.  It is interesting how this highlights the whole support to the ground is getting replaced (inferred from the info regarding "pulled out of foundation" and "thorough cleaning" of the grout pockets).  They aren't leaving any of the metal on this specific support to chance--it all goes.

This also reveals they have high confidence in the defect being limited to that specific support, and not any overall design failure or deficiency.  

A statement like this really can go a long way (for those who have no technical background/understanding) that Carowinds is ensuring their safety.  I agree with @jsus there is no benefit from any other park to throw shade at this incident to pump themselves up.  The entire industry could use an improvement in perception of safety.  The past few years have been rough.

[MDMC01]

Agreed. Their latest statement was extremely thorough.  

[Tr0y]

Further investigation on the broken support will commence once it is taken down. 
 

https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/local/carowinds-fury-325-roller-coaster-crack-repair-cranes-support-beam-replacement-charlotte/275-93109968-e293-456b-a357-4761d1f69882

[Maddog]

Primer is really all that is needed for initial steel protection from rust.  They could easily sneak in finish color paint to match onsite after installation at some point.  There will likely be a couple of days somewhere in the extended test cycling where a crew could cherry pick up there and roll on a coat.  I have no doubt they did whatever feasible to crash the schedule and get delivery as soon as possible.  

After watching the painters on Diamondback (via the webcam) it wasn't too crazy a task to paint a support in short order.

[silver2005]

Good googly moogly that was fast.

[PKIDelirium]

Looks like the lateral brace column is also being replaced, the one being raised in that video thumbnail has a bolting flange on it.

[PKIDelirium]

Ah, a not-so-shiny new column!

[Tr0y]

Might as well leave it the color as is. It’s what the do with their wooden coasters am I right?

[PKIDelirium]

Wood doesn’t rust, the most this has is some kind of primer or fabrication coating. It’s scuffed up where the rigging was attached to it. 

[IndyGuy4KI]

Looks like it might be testing soon! Thank goodness for B&M engineering.  Can we say if this same scenario had happened to another manufacturer, it would have ended without injuries? 

[Orion-XL200]

23 hours ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

Looks like it might be testing soon! Thank goodness for B&M engineering.  Can we say if this same scenario had happened to another manufacturer, it would have ended without injuries? 

Potentially...doesn't hurt that the support was manufactured within 10 hours of the park. 

[IBEW_Sparky]

On 7/15/2023 at 9:25 PM, IndyGuy4KI said:

Looks like it might be testing soon! Thank goodness for B&M engineering.  Can we say if this same scenario had happened to another manufacturer, it would have ended without injuries? 

C'mon man, really.  Yes we can say that, as it would have been shut down just the same, at the same time,  had it been a coaster of any other manufacturer.  

[FoF96"]

I’m not sure what Cedar Fair does, but at a park I worked at, the only coasters that got an entire DAILY track walk were the woodies, as they had the highest potential for failure or debris.  The steel coasters were walked at the end of the day, but this was to collect lost articles, not inspect the track or supports (it was dark anyways).  It’s not reasonable to suspect a full track walk of a steel coaster daily as to do so properly would take HOURS with assistive machinery needed to help.  The drone solution is likely the only easy way to ensure it could be looked out without having  to add and remove a device onto the tracks. 

[Tr0y]

9 hours ago, FoF96" said:

I’m not sure what Cedar Fair does, but at a park I worked at, the only coasters that got an entire DAILY track walk were the woodies, as they had the highest potential for failure or debris.  The steel coasters were walked at the end of the day, but this was to collect lost articles, not inspect the track or supports (it was dark anyways).  It’s not reasonable to suspect a full track walk of a steel coaster daily as to do so properly would take HOURS with assistive machinery needed to help.  The drone solution is likely the only easy way to ensure it could be looked out without having  to add and remove a device onto the tracks. 

Im willing to bet B&M recommends daily track and support inspections. How it is executed is entirely up to the owner. Much like owning a car the manufacturer recommends when and what oil to get during changes but ultimately it is up to the owner to decide. 

[Coastercrush]

Was fury ever showing closed on the carowinds website?  Unless it's open it should say temporary closed or closed on the website.  Kinda a bait and switch IMO.

[disco2000]

30 minutes ago, Coastercrush said:

Was fury ever showing closed on the carowinds website?  Unless it's open it should say temporary closed or closed on the website.  Kinda a bait and switch IMO.

Yes, that evening the crack went viral is showed it was closed on the website and still does.  They were on top of it from the beginning:

 

[Coastercrush]

6 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

Yes, that evening the crack went viral is showed it was closed on the website and still does.  They were on top of it from the beginning:

 

You have to dig for it.  Park info, schedules closes......be easy to put it on ride page as well like hershey park?

[MDMC01]

Off topic, but why is Vortex (at Carowinds ) closed?

[disco2000]

4 minutes ago, MDMC01 said:

Off topic, but why is Vortex (at Carowinds ) closed?

It is sinking 

[MDMC01]

I hope it's open next year... I was looking forward to riding it when I go as it would be a new credit for me, plus it's a 90's coaster.

[disco2000]

On 7/6/2023 at 7:31 PM, IndyGuy4KI said:

This got me thinking. How many bridges do we drive over every day that are not inspected regularly enough and would be deemed unsafe or condemned if they were? 

We probably don't want to know the answer to that question.

Speaking of bridges...

https://local12.com/news/investigates/trouble-on-tracks-cincinnati-train-bridges-major-wear-poor-condition-difficult-find-information-butler-county-hamilton-stones-fall-falling#

 

[Coastercrush]

More problems for fury.  Park won't confirm or deny another crack.