Spideyfreak Posted March 26, 2005 Posted March 26, 2005 Hi, I'm the new kid. I'm sorry if this has alresady been asked or explained but, what was Flight Commander and where was it? Also, could someone post photos of it? Quote
drewbari Posted March 26, 2005 Posted March 26, 2005 It was in Coney Mall. One of the reasons it got removed was becase on June 8th 1991, a woman was riding the ride while she was drunk, she passed out, and fell out of the ride and died. Not many people rode it after that. It opened in 1990 and closed in 1995. As of now there is no ride in the place of this ride. We can still see the old line and whjere it used to be. In Coney Mall next to this food stand, I think it is called poneys, on the right side is were it used to be. Look on the history page for pictures of FC. Quote
Gordon Bombay Posted March 26, 2005 Posted March 26, 2005 FC looked like a great ride.....my dad rode it a few times and said it was one of the best rides at the park....too bad some stupid drunken a-hole had to ruin it for everybody.......drinking is fine if you can do it respectably but that same day another drunken fool caused two employees to die as well. The lady who died on FC also left her daughter who was like 5 or 6 wandering around the park by herself all day. Quote
PKIFan4Life Posted March 26, 2005 Posted March 26, 2005 The food next to it is called Coney Concessions. Flight Commander had a really neat queue line, where you went up a spiral staircase up into the ride. I really wish I would have gotten to ride it before it was removed. In actuality, there was something that was supposed to go there. That was the original placement for Drop Zone, however, they waited an extra year or two for the newer model (I'm guessing that's why they waited). Quote
KIBeast Posted March 27, 2005 Posted March 27, 2005 I go to ride it once. It was a unique experience. It was great to have control over the barrel rolls. My uncle just kept us spinning the whole time. The entrance was cool as well, the way it came up from underneath. Quote
CoastersRZ Posted March 27, 2005 Posted March 27, 2005 Yes, the park had posted signs on the Flight Commande pad at the end of `96 saying something to the tune of "New Thrills dropping in next season." But they opted for a water park expansion in 1997 instead of a second generation Intamin Free Fall. Then in 1999 they installed a third generation Intamin Gyro Drop. IMO, it our current Drop Zone is better than the second generation, although it would have been nice to have a ride occupy the Flight Commander spot. Maybe next season we will get a flat ride for that spot along with the rumored Nick expansion. Quote
Ben Posted March 27, 2005 Posted March 27, 2005 I never got to ride Flight Commander. I'm sure it was an awesome ride by the pictures. Quote
BoddaH1994 Posted March 27, 2005 Posted March 27, 2005 My warmest memory is dragging my older sister on the Flight Commander (who had never been flipped over on any type of ride at all at the time) under the condition that I wouldn't make the thing barrel roll. Well.. you guessed it... I made it barrel roll and she wasn't happy and slapped me or something, so in response, I flipped the thing upside down and kept giggling the joystick back and forth to keep it upside down for the rest of the ride. Needless to say, she wasn't very happy. Flight Commander had a really neat queue line, where you went up a spiral staircase up into the ride. I really wish I would have gotten to ride it before it was removed. The queue line would go through a small underground queue house near the food stands that Drewbari's talking about and then you would spiral around the base of the ride and end up on the inside of the ride. By that I mean that you would be standing with your back to the center of the ride facing outward looking at the cars. They had individual cages for each car what went all the way up similar to Face/Off's. Click here to see the remains of the queue house. These photos were taken with permission of the park, I wouldn't advise going back there and exploring without permission. You may notice that the queue basically crashes into a a cement wall. That was where the staircase began, but the whole base of the of the pad was filled with concrete with the installation of Eurobungee. You can also click here to check out the 1990 media day debut of the Flight Commander. Hope this helps, Ryan Quote
familyman Posted March 27, 2005 Posted March 27, 2005 It was a great flat. I'll bet the insurance compay made them take it out. Quote
BoddaH1994 Posted March 27, 2005 Posted March 27, 2005 ^ This is possible, but it did operate for a while after the incident. I'm willing to say that it was removed because it had very low ridership after the accident. Quote
Delirium_Guy Posted March 28, 2005 Posted March 28, 2005 ^ This is possible, but it did operate for a while after the incident. I'm willing to say that it was removed because it had very low ridership after the accident. More than likely. PKD and PGA continued to operate their models for several years following the removal of our Flight Commander. I was fortunate to hit PGA's during its last season. Brought back fun memories. I always enjoyed the ride. Very unique. While as much as I place blame on the woman riding, Intamin (surprise) are just as much to blame. No seat dividers? Come on. Then again, I always thought the policy on the ride was that no one could ride alone. I may not be remembering that correctly. In any event, it'd sure be nice to see another ride occupy that plot of land. - Todd Quote
pkifreak Posted March 28, 2005 Posted March 28, 2005 I remember riding it the year the woman died, actually it was a few weeks before, it was a total blast... I had it so crazy my sister almost got sick!! Quote
Gordon Bombay Posted March 28, 2005 Posted March 28, 2005 Why did PKD and PGA eventually remove theirs? Was it because people gave it a bad rep for what happened at PKI? It wasnt the ride it was the drunken idiot. I wish I couldve ridden it. Did they also take it out and put in some stupid pay to play trampolines!? Quote
RollerNut Posted March 28, 2005 Posted March 28, 2005 Intamin doesn't make the ride anymore(it looks like), so maybe the others were removed due to parts(lame excuse). Quote
Gordon Bombay Posted March 28, 2005 Posted March 28, 2005 That sucks, it looked great, but just cause of one idiot a ride is ruined for lots of people. Quote
PKI Foodguy Posted March 28, 2005 Posted March 28, 2005 I remember riding it once, it was an awesome ride, I was sad to see it go. Did it have enclosures over the entire car? Quote
BoddaH1994 Posted March 28, 2005 Posted March 28, 2005 I remember riding it once, it was an awesome ride, I was sad to see it go. Did it have enclosures over the entire car? No, the top was open-air. Quote
PKI Foodguy Posted March 28, 2005 Posted March 28, 2005 Thanks, that was a long time ago, I don't know why I always thought it did. Does anyone know what happened to the rides? Did paramount sell them to any other parks or just scrap them? Quote
RollerNut Posted March 28, 2005 Posted March 28, 2005 PGA's sat in storage until 2003 when BORG was relocated. More than likely scrapped. Quote
BoddaH1994 Posted March 28, 2005 Posted March 28, 2005 Thanks, that was a long time ago, I don't know why I always thought it did. Does anyone know what happened to the rides? Did paramount sell them to any other parks or just scrap them? PKI's was sold to a park in Australia. Someone please elaborate on that... Quote
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