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Woman Falls From The Texas Giant To Her Death

furie

furie

SBOPD
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
mispurfekt said:
Good thing I don't want to work at a park. If I did, I would fear ending up like you.
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That's a shame, because I'd love a lot more calm, knowledgeable, experienced and well respected enthusiasts on the site.

I don't have a problem with people having a go at members if they're being a dick. If you're being a dick, then you deserve people being a dick back at you.

However, people politely giving information that is relevant is not a reason for going after them. We do have people who are slow on the uptake here and often information is missed. If it's potentially important information, it's best to be repeated than missed.

If you don't like people like rollermonkey, then you're posting in the wrong place. This is a site for coaster/park enthusiasts and he's pretty much a perfect member.

Like I say, I'm fine if you really feel the need to go after members being unpleasant idiots, but I won't stand for an excellent member to take crap for no real good reason.

If anyone wants to discuss this further, then please take it to PMs. Any more off topic stuff will be deleted.
 
Bat Fastard

Bat Fastard

Hyper Poster
I went to SFOT today (8/13/13), and an employee at the park's entrance said the ride is safe and ready to go, but it closed for the rest of the season as a sign of respect. Also, one of the engineers on the railroad ride said the ride is opening back up in 3 weeks. Not sure which one to believe. I also rode the Texas Skyscreamer, and after I got off, I said to my brother "I wonder what they will put in next year", and a ride op overheard me, and said "Oh you people will love what we have in stock for next year." This is hinting at something big next year. Can't wait for Six Flags new for 2014 announcment.
 
tomahawk

tomahawk

Strata Poster
Re: RE: Woman Falls From The Texas Giant To Her Death

Ride ops always know what's up.

It all depends on inspection and when they give it the go.
 
Jason Voorhees

Jason Voorhees

Hyper Poster
She was so fat she was probably pinned like a needle into wood. She was the needle lol ;)

EDIT: Yes I know I am a horrible person, deal with it.
 
SaiyanHajime

SaiyanHajime

CF Legend
Not only does that not make sense, but don't be so vile. Imagine if it was your mum.

Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using Tapatalk 2
 
CookieCoasters

CookieCoasters

Giga Poster
Jason Voorhees said:
She was so fat she was probably pinned like a needle into wood. She was the needle lol ;)

EDIT: Yes I know I am a horrible person, deal with it.
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I don't understand the joke and by putting 'i am a horrible person' does not give you the right to be making jokes about something as serious as this. Show some respect.
 
R

rtotheizzo17

Hyper Poster
Batfastard14 said:
I went to SFOT today (8/13/13), and an employee at the park's entrance said the ride is safe and ready to go, but it closed for the rest of the season as a sign of respect. Also, one of the engineers on the railroad ride said the ride is opening back up in 3 weeks. Not sure which one to believe. I also rode the Texas Skyscreamer, and after I got off, I said to my brother "I wonder what they will put in next year", and a ride op overheard me, and said "Oh you people will love what we have in stock for next year." This is hinting at something big next year. Can't wait for Six Flags new for 2014 announcment.
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Did any of these employees have anything on other than a highlighter shirt or overalls?

I wouldn't believe ANY front line employee. At best they are getting information 3rd or 4th hand, the telephone game can be a bitch.
 
Bat Fastard

Bat Fastard

Hyper Poster
rtotheizzo17 said:
Batfastard14 said:
I went to SFOT today (8/13/13), and an employee at the park's entrance said the ride is safe and ready to go, but it closed for the rest of the season as a sign of respect. Also, one of the engineers on the railroad ride said the ride is opening back up in 3 weeks. Not sure which one to believe. I also rode the Texas Skyscreamer, and after I got off, I said to my brother "I wonder what they will put in next year", and a ride op overheard me, and said "Oh you people will love what we have in stock for next year." This is hinting at something big next year. Can't wait for Six Flags new for 2014 announcment.
Click to expand...

Did any of these employees have anything on other than a highlighter shirt or overalls?

I wouldn't believe ANY front line employee. At best they are getting information 3rd or 4th hand, the telephone game can be a bitch.
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Yeah just the regular neon green Six Flags shirt.
 
nealbie

nealbie

CF Legend
rtotheizzo17 said:
Iron Rattler reopened today with seat belts...
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Good, it always irks me when rides don't have a seatbelt. I like the safety net of a visible physical protection in this world of electrics and hidden mechanics.
 
Nemesis of oblivion

Nemesis of oblivion

Strata Poster
The only thing I don't like about seatbelts is they can be an arse to get on sometimes. But safety does come first and great to have the ride back open.
 
SaiyanHajime

SaiyanHajime

CF Legend
Like it should have had in the first place?

Good news.

Now, if we could just teach the gp how to do up seatbelts. It's not like people encounter them in daily life. Then operations won't be effected!

Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using Tapatalk 2
 
tomahawk

tomahawk

Strata Poster
If you don't want to click the link, here is the official press release.

The Texas Giant to Re-Open Following Implementation of
Incremental Safety Measures

ARLINGTON, Texas — September 10, 2013 — Six Flags Over Texas today announced that it has completed the investigation of the recent accident involving the Texas Giant roller coaster, with the ride train manufacturer, internal engineers and external experts ruling out any mechanical failure of the ride. Due to litigation, the company is not releasing any further information about the outcome of the investigation.

Park officials plan to re-open the Texas Giant coaster this weekend, following the addition of incremental and overlapping safety measures for the ride that include re-designed restraint-bar pads from the manufacturer and new seat belts. As with other rides in the park, guests with unique body shapes or sizes may not fit into the restraint system. The company is providing a coaster seat at the ride entrance so guests can test their fit prior to entering the ride line.

"We are heartbroken and will forever feel the pain and sadness of this tragic accident. Our sincerest condolences go out to the family and friends of Ms. Esparza," said Steve Martindale, park president of Six Flags Over Texas. "The safety of our guests and employees is our company's absolute highest priority and we try to take every reasonable precaution to eliminate the risk of accidents."

The Texas Giant has undergone extensive testing and has received approval from the state of Texas, Department of Insurance, to resume operation.

"The Texas Giant is one of my favorite rides in the park," added Martindale. "My staff, family and I are pleased to be among the first riders as we prepare to re-open the Texas Giant for our guests."

Six Flags has successfully operated regional theme parks for 52 years and takes great pride in the quality of its safety record, ride maintenance and employee training, safely delivering approximately
200 million rides each year. According to data gathered by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, the industry safely provides approximately 1.7 billion rides annually in the United States and the likelihood of a person being seriously injured on a permanently-located amusement park ride is extremely remote.
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tomahawk

tomahawk

Strata Poster
A lawsuit has been filed by the family. Article via Fort Worth Star-Telegram

By Deanna Boyd — Fort Worth Star-Telegram

FORT WORTH — The family of a Dallas woman killed in July after being thrown off the Texas Giant ride has filed suit against Six Flags, alleging the amusement park was negligent in not having an adequate restraint system in place despite past fatalities at other parks.

Rosa Esparza, 52, was killed July 19 on her first visit to the amusement park in Arlington after being tossed off the roller coaster while her family looked on. The suit says Esparza was upside down in her seat and holding on for “dear life” before she was thrown to her death.

The lawsuit alleges Six Flags was negligent because the amusement park had known for decades the risks and extreme dangers posed by such rides, yet failed to make the rides safer until after after a serious injury or death has occurred.

The suit states inspections done on the roller coasters since Esparza’s death “showed that various parts of the security systems on the ride were experiencing inconsistencies and intermittent failures.”

“In addition, Six Flags has now admitted that, after these inspections, they replaced a ‘limit switch’ for a restraint in the very car in which Rosa was riding because Six Flags found the switch to be defective,” the suit states.

The suit does not define what a limit switch is or what it does.

“It’s a tragedy of the highest order,” said Dallas attorney Frank Branson, who filed the suit Tuesday in Tarrant County on the family’s behalf. “I believe it should have been avoided and could have been avoided.”

The lawsuit names Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, Six Flags Them Parks, Inc, Texas Flags, Ltd. and Six Flags Over Texas as defendants. The family is seeking more than $1 million in monetary relief.

Six Flags did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

Esparza’s death

According to the lawsuit, Esparza, who has also gone by the last name of Ayala-Gaona, had been riding by herself in the front left seat of the train’s second car behind her daughter and son-in-law when the incident happened. The car had no seat belt or shoulder harness, only a single lap or “T-bar” to restrain passengers.

“As the roller-coaster was in its first large descent, Rosa Esparza’s daughter heard screaming and yelling behind her, and turned to see her mother in the process of being thrown out of the car, out from behind the safety in her seat,” the suit states.

The suit states Esparza was thrown against a support piling as the car twisted and turned.

“She was then catapulted many feet below onto the metal roof of a tunnel,” the lawsuit states. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office has estimated Esparza fell about 75 feet before landing on the tunnel’s roof.

“Her daughter and son-in-law were forced to complete the ride for what seemed like an interminable time, knowing that Rosa Esparza had been thrown out of the ride and not knowing whether she was dead or seriously injured and in need of immediate medical attention,” the suit states.

When the ride finally returned to the station, Six Flags employees initially refused to believe Esparza’s daughter and son-in-law’s account that their mother had been thrown off, the suit states.

“An agonizing period of time passed before Rosa Esparza was located at the top of the tunnel,” the suit states.

Problems with ride

The lawsuit alleges that Six Flags used a green-light system that reportedly would not allow a train to be dispatched unless each safety bar restraint was in the “proper position.”

“This system of lights was confusing and dangerous because it had a tendency to create a false sense of security and complacency on the part of the operators of the ride” who might not then undertake further checks of the restraint, the suit states.

The suit alleges inspections later found there were inconsistencies in the relative locking positions of the safety bars on the train’s cars, as well as failures found in the green light system.

Six Flags has also admitted that, after these inspections, they replaced a defective “limit switch” for a restraint in a seat in the very car in which Esparza had been riding, according to the suit.

The suit names several other incidents dating back to 1978 in which people were seriously injured or killed in roller coaster accidents at other Six Flags parks.

“More often than not, the response of the Six Flags defendants to roller-coaster tragedies at their parks has been merely to feign surprise and to belatedly add safety belts in an attempt to call the public’s fears,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit alleges Six Flags knew, or should have know, the danger of ejection that an “inadequate” restraint system posed to riders.

“You can do shoulder harnesses. You can do lap belts. I think any of the above may well be safer designed that what they were using out there that day,” Branson said. “... It was unreasonably dangerous.”

The Texas Giant, which rises 14 stories high and has a 79-degree first drop (the steepest in the world for a wooden roller coaster), has been closed since Esparza’s death.

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2013/09/10/2791074/s ... rylink=cpy
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http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/09/10 ... gs-in.html
 
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