10 year-old dies on waterslide

[the dude abides]

Apparently he flew off the raft and was decapitated:

http://www.people.com/article/caleb-schwab-decapitated-water-slide-accident

Adios Schlitterbahn.

 

[the dude abides]

State hasn't inspected this slide since it opened:

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article94494127.html

 

[Don]

I live about 15 minutes from this park. I know the ride underwent a slight redesign before it opened a couple years ago due to rafts going airborne during testing. My guess is that there was some kind of weight/weight distribution issue in regard to this particular incident. Could've been a rider not following the rules issue too (not trying to blame the kid, just weighing the potential causes. I'll never fault a kid for being a kid). Bottom line is that they were pushing the limits of physics with this ride to begin with, and a mistake like this was bound to happen eventually. I just feel horrible for this kid and his family.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Is that kind of common? When i was a kid my parents told me a similar story, so i was always scared of water slides as a kid. (Really want to know if its common, or if my parents were geniuses that knew how to shut their kid up when they didnt feel like spending money)

[Adam]

That reads like an onion article

[CaliAngel]

This ride has magnets which controls the rafts speeds by computer, so they should have been able to control speeds to keep airtime minimal, to keep a person from flying out of the restraint. However, it sounds like they only had velcro restraints which I can't believe are acceptable on a ride going 65mph. If you watch videos of the ride, anyone on board, nor the raft, is getting any kind of air time over the second hill. It slows down signifigantly.

Ride designers are constantly pushing limits with physics, and something like this was NOT bound to happen eventually. This was a freak accident and when you have hundreds of millions of people getting on rides every summer, unfortunately something is going to happen every now and again.

I think there is something else at play here other than just manufacturer defect. I think easily being able to get out of the restraints is a factor, and I think being a young kid on a big scary ride is a factor as well.

[CaliAngel]

This article has a witness who talks about what happened, and decapitation seems to have been ruled out. As much as it pains me to say it I would trust ABC news over a People article trying to get clicks by making it sound worse than it actually was.

"Castaneda, who said he hasn't been interviewed by police, said that he started running toward the slide, then heard a lifeguard yelling and a boy screaming hysterically. Castaneda saw the young victim, Caleb Schwab, lying in the water, but he said a lifeguard told him, "There's nothing you can do.""

http://abcnews.go.com/US/kansas-water-park-witness-describes-horrific-scene-boy/story?id=41203463

[Sciosciapath]

everyone has to be so trendy and faux-adventurous going on this crap. 

[gotbeer]

@CaliAngel The first thing that stood out to me about the ride and video you posted, was that the restraints were velcro.  But I agree, that second hill, it gets slowed down quite a bit where you won't have that zero G liftoff.  I'm wondering, if the kid did the amusement park thing, and had his hands up and it got caught in the netting?  That he would get affected so severely, but not the two people behind him, just seems odd. 

[mrwicked]

that ride looks shady as f*ck. 

mutha f*ckin chicken wire above your head with no helmet? so at the apex, your boat lifts up a little in the front, your head is now back and your mouth is open.

boom. curb stomp water slide edition.

nasty. ill pass on the ride, and hang out at the bar with the chicks in bikinis.

[Lhalo]

That doesn't event count as a water slide to me. Just like Splash Mountain or The Log Ride don't either.

[Tank]

7 hours ago, Lawrence said:

That doesn't event count as a water slide to me. Just like Splash Mountain or The Log Ride don't either.

Wait, you don't like. The log ride at Knotts?!? Back to the gulag for you, comrade.

[Lhalo]

2 hours ago, Tank said:

Wait, you don't like. The log ride at Knotts?!? Back to the gulag for you, comrade.

I like them. I just don't consider them water slides. 

Ya know what I mean Vern?

[fan_since79]

A 3-year old falls from a PA roller coaster and is flown to a hospital by medical helicopter.

Third amusement park incident in four days.

http://www.wtae.com/news/child-falls-off-idlewild-roller-coaster/41153660

[Vegas Halo Fan]

On 8/10/2016 at 0:29 PM, mrwicked said:

that ride looks shady as f*ck. 

mutha f*ckin chicken wire above your head with no helmet? so at the apex, your boat lifts up a little in the front, your head is now back and your mouth is open.

boom. curb stomp water slide edition.

nasty. ill pass on the ride, and hang out at the bar with the chicks in bikinis.

An article that I read said that the straps that keep people in the raft are secured by Velcro rather than any kind of metal fastener. A reporter who rode this ride before the day in question said that his shoulder strap came loose when he rode it, and that only by hanging onto the raft itself was he able to keep from being thrown out of it. Another person rode the ride and his shoulder strap tore completely off.

Sounds like these people operate on the cheap, and up until now they have gotten away with it.

[Tank]

2 hours ago, Vegas Halo Fan said:

An article that I read said that the straps that keep people in the raft are secured by Velcro rather than any kind of metal fastener. A reporter who rode this ride before the day in question said that his shoulder strap came loose when he rode it, and that only by hanging onto the raft itself was he able to keep from being thrown out of it. Another person rode the ride and his shoulder strap tore completely off.

Sounds like these people operate on the cheap, and up until now they have gotten away with it.

Hey, now, you big city feller! Watch yer behind!

#carnylivesmatter

[Vegas Halo Fan]

They have more important things to do in Kansas than inspect carnival rides for safety, like criminalizing the teaching of "harmful" topics (without defining exactly what that means, of course).

[CaliAngel]

On 8/11/2016 at 7:11 PM, Vegas Halo Fan said:

An article that I read said that the straps that keep people in the raft are secured by Velcro rather than any kind of metal fastener. A reporter who rode this ride before the day in question said that his shoulder strap came loose when he rode it, and that only by hanging onto the raft itself was he able to keep from being thrown out of it. Another person rode the ride and his shoulder strap tore completely off.

Sounds like these people operate on the cheap, and up until now they have gotten away with it.

Yah, I mentioned the velcro straps in my first post, IMO they did not belong on this ride. They are commonly used on rapids rides like Bigfoot Rapids at Knott's, but those are pretty tame rides.

One thing you have to keep in mind, the general public constantly exaggerates their claims about things that happen to them on rides, and if a reporter is saying that I am sorry to say I hardly believe them. I'm sure a velcro strap WOULD tear off, so I believe that from the other person. But honestly, people have such a skewed reality when it comes to roller coasters and attractions because they don't really understand them. And most really have no clue what they're talking about. So much so that when I was a ride operator at Knott's and Magic Mountain people would come in from the ride saying the restraint popped open to me and all their friends, and I'd say "Oh okay," check the restraint and it was working exactly as it should and there was no way it popped open.

I am just baffled why a ride going 65 MPH passed inspection with velcro straps as restraints. It's absurd. This ride should have atleast require a seat belt like in a car, or like on the Matterhorn at Disneyland. The ones on Matterhorn are retractable, and super efficient, safe, and low maintenence.

This is a fail on everyone's part who was involved with putting together this ride.

[yk9001]

On 8/12/2016 at 8:54 PM, CaliAngel said:

I am just baffled why a ride going 65 MPH passed inspection with velcro straps as restraints. It's absurd. This ride should have atleast require a seat belt like in a car, or like on the Matterhorn at Disneyland.

This is a fail on everyone's part who was involved with putting together this ride.

It is a water ride, with at least a decent chance of that thing somehow turning ass-over-teakettle in the water.  Probably the thought behind the velcro is that you can tear the restraint off easily if someone is upside down, face down in the water.  Certainly easier than a seatbelt type restraint.

[Don]

http://www.kansascity.com/latest-news/article206611679.ece/BINARY/Read the full Schlitterbahn corporation indictment#storylink=readmore_inline

Just saw this today. This is bad. Like really bad. It’s a long read, but these guys basically screwed up (purposely) every single step in the design/construction process of this ride, then pushed safety/injury incidents under the rug, forced staff to falsify reports, and as a finale engaged in some witness intimidation and serious legal malpractice. Bunch of shitbags.

[ten ocho recon scout]

On 8/10/2016 at 8:55 PM, Tank said:

Wait, you don't like. The log ride at Knotts?!? Back to the gulag for you, comrade.

"Sit down! Sit down!"

[RallyMo]

On 3/23/2018 at 11:10 PM, Don said:

http://www.kansascity.com/latest-news/article206611679.ece/BINARY/Read the full Schlitterbahn corporation indictment#storylink=readmore_inline

Just saw this today. This is bad. Like really bad. It’s a long read, but these guys basically screwed up (purposely) every single step in the design/construction process of this ride, then pushed safety/injury incidents under the rug, forced staff to falsify reports, and as a finale engaged in some witness intimidation and serious legal malpractice. Bunch of shitbags.

This is truly horrendous. We live very close to the original Schlitterbahn here and absolutely love it (we had season passes last year), but this really makes it freaking impossible to support (or trust) the organization.