[m3ta1head]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/06222007...ionalnews_.htm

Quote:

June 22, 2007 -- A teenage girl's legs were severed above the ankle while on a thrill ride at a popular amusement park yesterday, park officials said. The accident happened around 4:45 p.m. on the Superman Tower of Power at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, said Six Flags spokeswoman Wendy Goldberg. A witness, Chris Dinnette, was riding one car over from the girl who was hurt. He told NBC affiliate WAVE he heard what he thought were screams of excitement. But then he saw a cable "come back and hit a lot of people" and realized he was hearing screams of horror. The girl, 13, was taken to University Hospital. There was no immediate word on her condition. The ride lifts passengers 177 feet straight up, then drops 154 feet, reaching a speed of 54 mph, according to the park's Web site. But riders say they saw a cable snap on the platform as the ride reached the top. It then seemed to snap again on the way down. "As the ride came down, the wire swung left, struck the young lady on the back side of my children," said Chris Williams, whose daughter had traded seats with the 13-year-old. Once it reached the ground, Treva Smith raced to the ride to find members of her group who had been on it. "When I got up there, the lady, she was just sitting there and she didn't have no legs," Smith said. "She didn't have no legs at all. She was just calm, probably in shock from everything." State officials immediately closed the ride and were conducting an investigation into what caused the accident. The ride was shut down indefinitely. The rest of the park remained open. Investigators returned to Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom to examine the Superman Tower of Power ride, said Bill Clary, a spokesman for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. The Agriculture Department is responsible for inspecting amusement park rides in Kentucky. "We don't know the cause and we may never know the cause, honestly," Clary said.

Unbelievable. Remind me to stay the hell away from this amusement park.

 

[BigSurSpoon]

So long, Six Flags.

 

[ecclesand]

They have a similar ride in a local amusement park here in Denver and it was built by the same company as the Superman Tower in Kentucky. The ride at our local amusement park (which used to be owned by Six Flags) was shut down until further notice once word of what happened in Kentucky got out.

 

[redshifter]

Her legs were "severed above the ankle"? What the hell does that mean? I mean, there is a lot of leg above the ankle.

What passes for journalism these days is stupid.

 

[Mr Do]

Nothing to see here go enjoy the other rides please. Are you freeken kidding me. The entire park should have been shut down in case another ride malfunctions. What a shame. I feel awful for the poor girl and everyone involved in such a horrific tragedy. There's gotta be pics of this somewhere.

Do!

 

[Wmcmanus]

So sad, and such a young kid.

Lawyer time. I'm thinking at least $20-$50 million on this one, given her age, but there is no amount that could ever compensate her or her family.

For now, let's just hope she survives, given what must have been a massive blood loss.

 

[colonelkernel8]

Quote:

Originally Posted by redshifter /img/forum/go_quote.gif Her legs were "severed above the ankle"? What the hell does that mean? I mean, there is a lot of leg above the ankle. What passes for journalism these days is stupid.

Let me translate, its really quite simple, her legs were severed right above the ankle area, like half-way between the knee and the heel of the foot.

 

[Mr Do]

http://www.11alive.com/video/player.aspx?aid=74418&bw=

Here's a live news report.

 

[Mr Do]

Quote:

Originally Posted by colonelkernel8 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Let me translate, its really quite simple, her legs were severed right above the ankle area, like half-way between the knee and the ankle.

Err.. Wrong.
She lost her feet as mentioned in other reports. Not her legs. this article is misleading.

Do!

 

[colonelkernel8]

You're right, she would lose her feet if she was cut right above her ankles. She'd still have legs, but no feet and a little of her calf/shin area.

 

[GSurge]

Ugh... that is terrible.

 

[Superpredator]

This sucks. However, there's no need to react as though amusement parks are suddenly horrendously unsafe and evil.

"In 2005, more than 300 million guests visited U.S. amusement facilities and safely enjoyed 1.8 billion rides. The most recent Fixed-site Amusement Ride Injury Survey highlights that an estimated 1,713 ride related injuries occurred in 2005 with a low average of four fatalities a year going back to 1987. Only 132 of the injuries in 2005 were reported as “serious”, meaning that they required some form of overnight treatment at a hospital; this comprised roughly 7 percent of all ride injuries."

- http://www.iaapa.org/pressroom/Amuse...Statistics.asp

 

[braillediver]

Not to belittle the trajedy but amusement park accidents happen fairly regulary. Seems there's a death or 2 on a regular basis.

Putting it into perspective - there's hundreds of millions of safe rides yearly and the trajedies are a very small percentage of the total ridership.

I hope she recovers as best as could be expected and there's probably no limit to the amount she should be paid but it'll never be enough for what she's been through.

Hopefully she'll be OK.


Mitch

 

[Mr Do]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braillediver /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not to belittle the trajedy but amusement park accidents happen fairly regulary. Seems there's a death or 2 on a regular basis. Putting it into perspective - there's hundreds of millions of safe rides yearly and the trajedies are a very small percentage of the total ridership. I hope she recovers as best as could be expected and there's probably no limit to the amount she should be paid but it'll never be enough for what she's been through. Hopefully she'll be OK. Mitch

Well said.
DO!

 

[PiccoloNamek]

This certainly won't stop me from going to Six Flags. When it comes right down to it, riding a ride an an amusement park is incredibly safe, many thousands of times safer than the drive to the park.

People always like to sensationalize it when a serious injury happens at a theme park, but the truth is that such accidents are incredibly rare and virtually never serious.

Quote:

The entire park should have been shut down in case another ride malfunctions.

Why? The other rides have completely different mechanisms than the problem ride and certainly do not suffer from lack of upkeep. An unfortunate failure in one ride does not imply a lack of safety on all rides.

We have a similar ride at our local Six Flags. However, the permanent magnets at the bottom half of the pole make it physically impossible for the ride to fall to the ground.