Incident on Typhoon at Bobbejaanland.

[roomraider]

Seems like a low speed collision as the cars at the base of the lift. 5 people with minor injuries.

Note article translated with google from here
http://wonderworldweb.over-blog.com/2017/08/bobbjaanland-belgique.html

Would it be a black series? In all cases this high season 2017 is visibly marked by some accidents in the leisure parks.

On the Bobbejaanland side in Belgium, many wonder why the big eight Thypoon has been closed for a few days. The incident has almost passed unnoticed, but the main attraction of the Belgian park was the scene of an unexpected August 15.

Indeed, a collision, at low speed, took place between two of the cars of the big eight. There were five lightly wounded, two of whom were transferred to hospital for further examination. Without seriousness, they were able to join their families during the day.

The incident occurred between the exit from the boarding station and the ski lift. Few details about the causes, if not the Typhoon of Bobbejaanland is closed until further notice and that an internal investigation was launched, in close cooperation with the inspection body TÜV and the German manufacturer of large Eight, Gerstlauer .

Built in 2004, Thypoon is a Euro-Fighter type eight , the second of which is a standard 670 meter long track with a 25 meter vertical lift and 4 reversals. The speed of the cars does not exceed 80 km / h.

What is it with Gerst and accidents at the moment?

 

[Ireeb]

I feel like Gerst has to make their block system more "childproof" because this looks like an operator fault once again.

 

[Ethan]

All these accidents don't look to good for Gerstlauer, do they... That's three I can think of now since 2015, but there might be more.

 

[roomraider]

I can think of 4. Smiler, Krater, Mina Train and Typhoon. Plus New Texas Giant a little earlier.
They may not be their fault in the majority (All?) cases but they are racking up.

 

[Bert2theSpark]

The Smiler stalled initially due to wind speed, the ride should been closed because of it, and we know what happened after that... I think the scenario is similar in these other cases(Excluding Texas Giant), I'm suprised Gerst haven't enforced the 'Do Not Run Past 35MPH Winds' rule. It's mostly down to the ride op but Gerst should of said something when The Smiler incident happened.

 

[Astro61201]

To me it looks as though, either the pre-lift block failed for what ever reason allowing the car on said block to hit the car that had just entered the lift, or the chain snapped (unlikely) and the Anti-Rollbacks failed meaning the the car went down the lift and hit the car on the pre-lift block, however this is extremely unlikely and the first seems more plausible.

 

[Ethan]

^ Definitely wasn't the chain snapping or anti-rollback failing, as it says it was a "low speed" collision.

 

[CrashCoaster]

There must be something that Gerstlauer is doing wrong on their coasters. Is it just that the parks that have Gerstlauers can't operate them properly, or is it that Gerstlauer make a faulty control system on all their rides?

 

[Pokemaniac]

There must be something that Gerstlauer is doing wrong on their coasters. Is it just that the parks that have Gerstlauers can't operate them properly, or is it that Gerstlauer make a faulty control system on all their rides?

Or it could be that Gerstlauer operates in a price segment that makes them attractive for stingy parks, which may also be the same kind of parks that save a penny or two on teaching ride ops proper operating procedures, or just run attractions with minimal staff who then become too busy/overworked to notice when something is wrong. The problem does not necessarily lie on the manufacturer, it could very well be corner-cutting on the parks' part (and corner-cutting parks show up more often in accident statistics). Not mentioning any names, of course...

 

[Ben]

^Tbf that's true of a lot of other manufacturers, for a lot cheaper, and they don't have this issue...

 

[Pokemaniac]

^Tbf that's true of a lot of other manufacturers, for a lot cheaper, and they don't have this issue...

Ah, good point. I guess one could rightfully assign some blame to Gerstlauer, then. Could be something as simple as them not having (as strict) "warranty voided if..." clauses, that makes parks more sloppy with their rides compared to those of other manufacturers. I mean, from the incidents it appears as if Gerstlauer rides are particularly susceptible to human error. Then again, there aren't that many incidents to judge by...

In other news, I've never seen the term "big eight" used about roller coasters before ("grand huit" in French, apparently), like the article in the OP does. Is that a quirk of Belgian French, or is it a common term used alongside "montagne Russe" which I always thought was the proper French term? Tagging @KristofWB and @Coaster Hipster to shed some light on this...

 

[KristofWB]

In other news, I've never seen the term "big eight" used about roller coasters before ("grand huit" in French, apparently), like the article in the OP does. Is that a quirk of Belgian French, or is it a common term used alongside "montagne Russe" which I always thought was the proper French term? Tagging @KristofWB and @Coaster Hipster to shed some light on this...

I don't think the term 'grand huit' is somekind of Walloon (Belgian French ). It has to do something with the shape of rollercoasters seen from above. Some of them are shaped as an eight, a 'big eight'. For example the Schwarzkopf Looping Star.

So I think that in France and Belgium, this term for a rollercoaster, has grown into something like a general term for rollercoaster. In Dutch it is the same thing. A rollercoaster translated in Dutch is 'achtbaan'. When you translate it literally in English it says 'eight track'.

 

[Coaster Hipster]

Gerstlauer's several incidents linked to human error does raise a little concern as Pokemaniac said.

Ah, good point. I guess one could rightfully assign some blame to Gerstlauer, then. Could be something as simple as them not having (as strict) "warranty voided if..." clauses, that makes parks more sloppy with their rides compared to those of other manufacturers. I mean, from the incidents it appears as if Gerstlauer rides are particularly susceptible to human error. Then again, there aren't that many incidents to judge by...

In other news, I've never seen the term "big eight" used about roller coasters before ("grand huit" in French, apparently), like the article in the OP does. Is that a quirk of Belgian French, or is it a common term used alongside "montagne Russe" which I always thought was the proper French term? Tagging @KristofWB and @Coaster Hipster to shed some light on this...

Grand Huit is a synonym used for Montagne Russes here, although then again, it is mostly the GP and mainstream media who use it. French coasterfans usually say "coaster" but that word is rarely every used by non-coasterfans and the media in France. @KristofWB already dropped some good insight to explain why we use the word!

While we're being here, French GP and media also often use manège for "ride" which are either coasters or flats - not to be confused with ménage which means housekeeping

 

[Pokemaniac]

Thanks for the replies, both of you!

In Dutch it is the same thing. A rollercoaster translated in Dutch is 'achtbaan'. When you translate it literally in English it says 'eight track'.

I've read the term plenty of times, but for some reason I never made the connection. I always assumed "acht" would be similar to the Norwegian "ake" or Swedish "åke", which can be translated as "sliding" or "riding". So "achtbaan" would be "a track you slide along" or something to that effect. Thanks for correcting me!

 

[HeartlineCoaster]

It has to do something with the shape of rollercoasters seen from above. Some of them are shaped as an eight, a 'big eight'. For example the Schwarzkopf Looping Star.

I bet it was satellite images of Wacky Worms rather than the Looping Star.

P.S. Stupid Bobbejaanland