Posted on 08/08/2016 11:19:01 AM PDT by Wolfie
Lawmaker's Young Son Dies on 'World's Largest' Water Slide
he young son of a Kansas state lawmaker died Sunday on a water slide that is billed as the world's largest, according to officials and the boy's family.
Authorities did not immediately identify the child who died at Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas, but state Rep. Scott Schwab and his wife released a statement saying it was their son Caleb Thomas Schwab.
"Since the day he was born, he brought abundant joy to our family and all those he came in contact with," said the statement, which asked for privacy as the family grieves.
Schlitterbahn spokeswoman Winter Prosapio said the child died on one of the park's main attractions, Verruckt, a 168-foot-tall water slide that has 264 stairs leading to the top.
Verruckt, which means "insane" in German, was certified as the world's tallest water slide by Guinness World Records. Riders go down the slide in multi-person rafts and have to be at last 54 inches tall, according to the park's website.
Officials haven't provided specific details about what led to Caleb's death. Kansas City, Kansas, police spokesman Officer Cameron Morgan said he did not have any information, and Prosapio said more details would be released later.
"We honestly don't know what's happened," she told reporters at a news conference. "That's why ... a full investigation is necessary. We have to understand what's happened."
The park will be closed Monday, and the ride will be closed pending the investigation, Prosapio said.
Authorities initially said the victim was 12 years old, but Clint Sprague, a pastor who is acting as a spokesman for the family, said Caleb was 10.
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I wonder if he tried to stand up or something and hit his head?
OMG. So, why report the death in such a mysterious fashion? As if it could be unrelated to the ride.
Outrageous.
Only a few weeks ago there was an accident on a water ride. Some guy (adult) went over the edge and broke both his arms.
A year or so ago, The science channel (if I recall correctly) did a special on the design and construction of this water slide. They had lots of design challenges and initial testing proved that the “rafts” tended to go airborne at the top of the initial drop and the top of the second drop. They modified the angles of approach and put nets over the areas. Sounds like maybe something like an airborne raft may have recurred. Perhaps it was too light weight with a 10 year old in it. So sad.
A year or so ago, The science channel (if I recall correctly) did a special on the design and construction of this water slide. They had lots of design challenges and initial testing proved that the “rafts” tended to go airborne at the top of the initial drop and the top of the second drop. They modified the angles of approach and put nets over the areas. Sounds like maybe something like an airborne raft may have recurred. Perhaps it was too light weight with a 10 year old in it. So sad.
Most of that stuff really isn’t tempting fate. Most of it is safer than crossing the street, but sometimes your number is just up, you’ll make just the wrong bounced in just the wrong way bumping just the wrong body part and there you go.
Sad but I would never allow my 10 year old on something like this.
Another report I saw early this morning said decapitation.
Oh, dear God. This is soooo sad. I think these slides are ridiculous.
God forbid. Speechless.
I’m no expert, but it seems to me that more weight in the raft would increase its speed down the slide, which would increase the likelihood of it going airborne over the second hump. Having people go airborne in a vehicle (the raft) that’s not attached to the slide, and not belted into it, seems problematic from a safety point of view to me. Amusement park / water park rides are supposed to give the sensation of doing something dangerous without any real danger involved.
Sort of like posting on the internet. ;)
Thanks for the information. It is much more coherent than the public remarks made by the authorities.
They had it sounding as a mystery why he died and that they were investigating. I took it that possibly it was even unrelated to the ride.
I would say the scene spoke for itself, if the little boy was decapitated or fell.
I hadn’t really considered aerodynamics. While a heavier raft would tend to be faster (I figure), a lighter raft would be more prone, once it lifted off the surface of the slide, to being lifted by the force of the air underneath it.
I always love it when someone looks at a pic for 5 seconds and suddenly knows more than the engineers who designed something.
I always love it when someone looks at a pic for 5 seconds and suddenly knows more than the engineers who designed something.
You are right.When I am at the airport I look at these huge airplanes and tell myself: “There is no way these can fly”... but they do.
The raft clears the second hump, with both momentum and the assistance of water jets. For this reason, a lighter raft is actually more at risk to fly off the ‘hump’.
The heavy rafts just don’t make it up the hump sometimes, and they settle in the low point in the middle. For this reason, there is a short gap in the safety netting, around one raft length, at the low point, for extraction.
People are belted into the raft...with lousy Velcro straps.
There was an unsubstantiated rumor on Reddit, that a woman in the raft damaged her jaw. If true, this would indicate the entire raft lifted up...and that out of the 3 people needed to achieve 400 lb, one was a small kid and another was a woman, meaning the raft was probably right at the minimum.
There’s some sort of curved piping holding the netting up. Don’t know if that’s the case further down the ride, but coming up & out of your seat, and being garrotted by the support pipe...oh no.
What a horribly sad tragedy. 10 years old! So sad.
“the engineers who designed something” designed a ride on which a 10-year old died. News reports said it reaches speeds of 65MPH, and alterations had to be made to prevent cars from going airborne. Personally, knowing all that, and just looking at the thing, I wouldn’t get on that ride.
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