Posted on 06/25/2007 12:06:35 PM PDT by John Cena
(CBS/AP) Six Flags and another company shut down eight more thrill rides Friday around the country, including a ride at a North Carolina amusement park, after a teenage girl had her feet chopped off at the ankle on a Superman Tower of Power.
State inspectors, meanwhile, returned to Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, where the accident happened, to examine the ride, which lifts passengers 177 feet straight up, then drops them nearly the same distance at speeds reaching 54 mph.
It was unclear at what point during the ride the 13-year-old was injured Thursday, said Wendy Goldberg, a Six Flags spokeswoman. The girl was taken to a hospital. She was not identified and details of her condition were not immediately available Friday.
Chris Williams, who witnessed the event, told CBS affiliate WLKY that riders saw the cable break as it got to the top on the right-hand side.
Treva Smith said it snapped again as the ride descended.
"The people on the ride just came and hit the ground," Smith said.
Next, Williams said he saw the teen maimed.
"As the ride came down, the wire swung left, struck the young lady on the back side of my children," Williams said.
Williams' daughter had traded seats with the 13-year-old, and was sitting on the other side of the ride.
Smith told WLKY she 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."
Six Flags has shut down similar rides at parks in St. Louis, Gurnee, Ill., and near Washington as a safety precaution, Goldberg said. Six Flags Over Texas, near Dallas, also has a Superman Tower of Power, but it is not the same ride, Goldberg said.
There were no reports of injuries on the ride before Thursday, she said.
"Millions of people have safely ridden this ride in our parks," Goldberg said.
The accident led Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. to shut down and inspect drop tower rides at Carowinds in Charlotte, N.C., and other four of its other amusement parks as a precaution, company spokeswoman Stacy Frole said.
The ride lifts passengers 177 feet straight up, then drops 154 feet, reaching a speed of 54 miles per hour according to the park's Web site. It opened in 1995 and was known then as "the Hellevator," reports the Louisville Courier-Journal.
Intamin, a Swiss company, made all the rides that were closed by both companies, said Craig Ross, a spokesman for Cedar Fair.
"We're going to keep these things down until we're certain it's safe," Ross said. "We'll wait and see."
An e-mail message sent to Intamin was not immediately returned Friday.
The four other Cedar Fair rides that will be shut down are at Kings Island near Cincinnati; Canada's Wonderland, in Toronto; Kings Dominion in Doswell, Va.; and Great America in Santa Clara, Calif.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
To sum up your post: Sh*t happens.
BTW, my only trip to Cedar Point was a bust. Hope your visit is enjoyable.
I said the same thing... I can’t figure out what really happened with those witness statements. I assume the cable took her feet off. Sad story nontheless...
Now this is the picture that I saw Saturday or Sunday. I noticed the cables running down the sides. Wild horses couldn’t drag me on to a ride like this.
I guess there are more riders on the other side of the pole behind these riders?
Good Lord in Heaven! I’m never letting my kids out of the house!
I love fun and excitement too but why does every ride have to take it to the extreme? Why?
A cable must be flexible. To be flexible it must have the fewest points of contact. If this cable could have been effective with numerous points of contact then structural steel would have been used instead.
That is my understanding though I could be wrong.
I have been skydiving and it appears to both be more fun and safer than this ride.
this is mad.
Water skiing at 20mph is technically skiing but if one is experienced then it is no fun. Now 50 ~ 60mph, that is fun.
Same with whitewater rafting. My wife and I have been through class fours and THAT is fun and exciting.
Different strokes ya know.
So I guess you don’t think Six Flags owes this girl any money? Ah hell, crap happens. It sucks but it’s a part of life. So to hell with this girl who lost her legs, right?
Here’s the deal:
1. Are all roller coaster designers and builders incompetent? No
2. Did somebody at this particular amusement park with this particular ride seriously f*** up? Absolutley.
3. Has this 13 year old girl’s life been ruined now because somebody f***ed up? Yes
So the fact is that what’s done is done. But Six Flags better compensate for their mistake. And this girl deservse compensation for her loss period!!
I know but everything is extreme! Just look at the faces and the knuckles on that photo. Look how high they are. Seriously, this is mad.
I know but everything is extreme! Just look at the faces and the knuckles on that photo. Look how high they are. Seriously, this is mad.
Why thank you.
I wish you the same.
She'll be better off if they're not reattached. Severe ankle injuries are considered valid reasons for amputations, because they seldom heal without permanent pain. The ankle is a complex joint.
Elevators are protected by massive spring loaded brakes that are activated by the rapid fall. That won't work for the 'amusement' rides, because the fall is part of the ride. They are engineered to create fear, so safety is ragged at best.
Am I the only person that realizes that when a limb is severed in mid air the limb “splats”.
All in all I feel real sorry for this girl I used to be a coaster enthusiast but never liked the free fall rides.
This just reminded everyone at amusement parks that Murphy’s Law Applies universally.
Anyone know the Ht requirement for those rides. 13 female sounds short not to be rude.
It’s still there. It is one of the oldest rides at the park.
#29 is a picture of the ride in Arlington, Texas - at Six Flags Over Texas. As I recall, the article stated that this particular ride is of different design than the ones that have been shut down.
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