Expedition Ge-Force Accident...
- Thread starter Nemesis Inferno
- Start date
Mark
Strata Poster
Martyn B said:
Indeed. In a very general (and totally unfair way) it will give a slightly tarnished view of the company. Especially if it couples up with other instances from the same company. I guess that is just how the human psyche works though. Will parks be so inclined to invest in Intamin (or any other brand for that matter) if they keep having accidents? Im not really taking the cause of the accident into account here, because often people wouldn't.
The only real example I can think of is the Hydro/Perilous Plunge situation. Both of which had accidents at similar times of a similar nature. We also know that it was NOT down to Intamin that these accidents occured. However, we haven't exactly seen an abundance of these rides turning up around the rest of the world - unless I have completely missed them for which I apologise. For me that suggests that either, parks are avoiding the ride type because of the reputation or that they generally just don't like the ride type. Of course, it could just be they are rather large and most parks can't have something like that.
SaiyanHajime
CF Legend
Quite incredible no one got hurt and a terrible shame for the park, since this is the only reason anyone with a brain would go there.
I think the ONLY reason it's not been reported that much is that no one was hurt, which is pretty sick isn't it really. Gotta love the media.
I think the ONLY reason it's not been reported that much is that no one was hurt, which is pretty sick isn't it really. Gotta love the media.
Antinos
Slut for Spinners
Could part of it be that parks don't realize just how intense Intamin's rides are? We all know that Intamin designs some insane rides and I'm guessing need more maintenance due to the forces. Although I doubt that an amusement park such as Holiday Park, who earned its reputation basically from EGF, wouldn't realize how much maintenance is needed.
Just an idea...
Just an idea...
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
Whoaa, that's nuts! I feel so bad for the people who had to sit in those middle cars, ugh. But I do agree, it does seem like a strange place for an accident to happen, though I'm really glad nobody died or was seriously hurt. By the looks of things, it could've been a lot worse.
rollermonkey
Strata Poster
Thanks, I was wondering what hill that was and if there was a trim on it....
No trim there certainly does give the impression that it is related to inspection of the wheel assemblies.
No trim there certainly does give the impression that it is related to inspection of the wheel assemblies.
rollermonkey
Strata Poster
OK. Dude. No need to be snarky.
If there was a misalignment or bending of brake fins, something like on Wild Thing @ Valleyfair, it wouldn't matter if they were magnetic or friction brakes. They could still concievably impact between the two parts and cause an incident.
If a fin on the train impacted a fin on the hill, then bad stuff would happen. 'Nuff said.
Does that make more sense? I do realize that I came in mid-conversation from another forum, so that's my fault.
If there was a misalignment or bending of brake fins, something like on Wild Thing @ Valleyfair, it wouldn't matter if they were magnetic or friction brakes. They could still concievably impact between the two parts and cause an incident.
If a fin on the train impacted a fin on the hill, then bad stuff would happen. 'Nuff said.
Does that make more sense? I do realize that I came in mid-conversation from another forum, so that's my fault.
rollermonkey
Strata Poster
Go back and look at the VF incident.
I forget if it was car 4 or 5 in the train, but the fin on that car impacted the brake caliper and derailed the car behind it.
With magnetic brake fins, the impact could warp the fin further without shearing off, jamming the train in place. For this, look at the pics of Xcelerator.
Regardless, this happened in an area without trims, and therefore, is not what occured.
When you're talking about mechanical / structural failures, issues are almost never black+white.
In the end, I'll just wait to read the accident report, as all this speculation is just that: Speculation.
I forget if it was car 4 or 5 in the train, but the fin on that car impacted the brake caliper and derailed the car behind it.
With magnetic brake fins, the impact could warp the fin further without shearing off, jamming the train in place. For this, look at the pics of Xcelerator.
Regardless, this happened in an area without trims, and therefore, is not what occured.
When you're talking about mechanical / structural failures, issues are almost never black+white.
In the end, I'll just wait to read the accident report, as all this speculation is just that: Speculation.
I would just like to state that parks are well aware of the extensive maintenance involved in Intamins.
After about a dozen rides at last night's I305 ERT Aidan & I rode in the 3rd to the last car & freaked out when the car started shaking & rattling like crazy. We've ridden the coaster quite a bit over the two days we've spent at the park & normally the coaster is super smooth. We even rode in the 2nd to last car on our previous ride & didn't feel a thing. So I went to the ride ops as soon as we got off & told them what was happening. The crew member I spoke with had been talking with me all day & knew something was up when I told him about the car. The on-duty manager rode in my seat for the next ride & confirmed what I said. He told me that the trouble was a maintenance issue & I asked if the coaster is too new to already have issues. He said it's expected from an Intamin, due to the type of coasters they build. He wouldn't say exactly what the trouble was, but I got a good look at the wheels & they looked very worn. I asked him how often they have to change the wheels, but he said he couldn't tell me that or if that was even what the trouble was. He just said that it's a high maintenance coaster due to the forces that are put on the train.
They suspended the ERT to swap out the train even though there was just 25 minutes of ERT left. Of course it took quite a while to replace the train with such a minimal crew on duty & I was surprised they went to that trouble just to allow us to have a few more rides.
Anyway, my point is that parks know exactly what's involved in purchasing an Intamin & still do so because of the kind of coasters the company offers.
After about a dozen rides at last night's I305 ERT Aidan & I rode in the 3rd to the last car & freaked out when the car started shaking & rattling like crazy. We've ridden the coaster quite a bit over the two days we've spent at the park & normally the coaster is super smooth. We even rode in the 2nd to last car on our previous ride & didn't feel a thing. So I went to the ride ops as soon as we got off & told them what was happening. The crew member I spoke with had been talking with me all day & knew something was up when I told him about the car. The on-duty manager rode in my seat for the next ride & confirmed what I said. He told me that the trouble was a maintenance issue & I asked if the coaster is too new to already have issues. He said it's expected from an Intamin, due to the type of coasters they build. He wouldn't say exactly what the trouble was, but I got a good look at the wheels & they looked very worn. I asked him how often they have to change the wheels, but he said he couldn't tell me that or if that was even what the trouble was. He just said that it's a high maintenance coaster due to the forces that are put on the train.
They suspended the ERT to swap out the train even though there was just 25 minutes of ERT left. Of course it took quite a while to replace the train with such a minimal crew on duty & I was surprised they went to that trouble just to allow us to have a few more rides.
Anyway, my point is that parks know exactly what's involved in purchasing an Intamin & still do so because of the kind of coasters the company offers.
rollermonkey
Strata Poster
^No worries, it's the inherent limitations of trying to have a conversation via internet.
Your posts are educational, I'm not making my point clearly.
So.
How 'bout them Yankees?
Your posts are educational, I'm not making my point clearly.
So.
How 'bout them Yankees?
El Patricko
Roller Poster
Some Intamin accidents.
HYDRO: I think it was a failiure to check the restraint properly by the ride op, restraint (lapbar) was not at the right setting
RESULT: Human error
SROS: Large dis-proportioned guest (was not very tall but very large) was not rejected a ride and thus was ejected near the final hill.
RESULT: Human error
Stealth had a malfunction involving the brake fins a while back, it wasn't to do with the cable though to the best of my knowledge
Anyhoo i don't understand why people are saying the train design is basically what saved these people, if there had been catwalks either side of the track (fujin-rajin 2) the result would of been worse. Also the mind-bender accident was so bad largely due to the concrete pillars and the fact that it was the last car of the train. In all of these incidents the cars have all remained attached to each other.
And as for the trims thing, some very early posts suggested the train was actually intentionally stopped by the trims or, the trims somehow jumped off the track to attack the train :shock:
HYDRO: I think it was a failiure to check the restraint properly by the ride op, restraint (lapbar) was not at the right setting
RESULT: Human error
SROS: Large dis-proportioned guest (was not very tall but very large) was not rejected a ride and thus was ejected near the final hill.
RESULT: Human error
Stealth had a malfunction involving the brake fins a while back, it wasn't to do with the cable though to the best of my knowledge
Anyhoo i don't understand why people are saying the train design is basically what saved these people, if there had been catwalks either side of the track (fujin-rajin 2) the result would of been worse. Also the mind-bender accident was so bad largely due to the concrete pillars and the fact that it was the last car of the train. In all of these incidents the cars have all remained attached to each other.
And as for the trims thing, some very early posts suggested the train was actually intentionally stopped by the trims or, the trims somehow jumped off the track to attack the train :shock:
Nemesis Inferno
Strata Poster
El Patricko said:
Well trims are utter bastards and will sometimes do just about anything in order to experience them before you need to...
I think we should have a cull of them for preventing rides being as good as they could be...
