Six Flags' Kentucky Kingdom ~ Bad Accident

[mechurchlady]

Six Flags' Kentucky Kingdom had a bad accident where a girl had her feet severed at the ankles.
http://www.wlky.com/news/13547817/detail.html

Nobody is sure what happened other than that a cable broke.

[DLRFantasmic!Dan]

Yeah, OUCH, that's gotta hurt!! I heard about this. They said something like this hasn't happened like this before!!

Isn't this one of the Six Flags parks that is closing down?

[darph nader]

Hopefully the Maliboomer isn't based on the technology.
We feel sorry for the teenager. I saw on t.v. at work the father of the girl who gave up her seat,so this poor gal could ride. He was freaked out. :(

[mechurchlady]

http://www.chronicle-tribune.com/apps/p ... 30322/1002
Eyewitnesses say that the cable broke and as it was flying in the air it caught on the girl's feet while riding the Superman Tower of Power. Her feet were recovered.

Six Flags shut down similar rides at parks in Gurnee, Ill., in St. Louis and near Washington as a safety precaution. Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. also shut down drop tower rides at five of its amusement parks for inspection.

I spent half an hour or more researching this matter. There are pictures of the ride and guests on other days. There are interviews with other guests on what they think about ride safety. Talk about ride closures. Talk about past accidents on this type of ride. What happened to the girl? Not one article has mentioned if her feet were reattached or if she is alright.

It is sad that the girl is not the most inportant thing in the story.

I was about to quit when finally I found the Toronto Sun that says they did try to attach her feet. http://torontosun.com/News/World/2007/0 ... 2-sun.html

It seems to be a fluke broken cable but who knows.

[SirWillow]

Just to answer a couple of the questions above:

No, this is not a Six Flags park that is shutting down. In fact, NONE of the Six Flags parks are shutting down. Six of them were sold to new operators, but they are still operating as parks, just under different management. Kentucky Kingdom is remaining as a Six Flags park.

And this is a completely different ride than Maliboomer. Outside of the dropping, there is very little similarity. The ride that malfunctioned was built by Intamin AG, while Maliboomer was built by S&S out of Utah. Other similar rides to the one that malfunctioned are at the former Paramount parks (often called Drop Zone), with only a couple of other versions of that particular ride out there.

[DanC]

I wish the girl and her family the best. Obviously accidents happen, we all remember the BTMR crash. I think this just highlights a problem with PMCS in all theme parks, they are just too willing to cut a few dollars off the maintenance budget so the managers look better on paper. I hear if from the facilities guys all the time. Then again accidents do happen.

[mechurchlady]

Update.

http://www.wlky.com/news/13616604/detail.html
That is the statement from the parents.

The girl's left foot could not be reattached but the right one was reattached.
Kaitlynn Lasitter had recently moved from Florida to Kentucky. She is 13 years old. The parents say that they have not heard from the park or its parent companies.

The president of Swiss ride-maker Intamin said a failed cord on the free-fall ride but it was still unknown why the cord snapped. Intamin did not supply the cord but did make the ride.

[Big Wallaby]

The parents say that they have not heard from the park or its parent companies.

Way to step up to your responsibility, Six Flags!

I mean, geez, if I was a theme park owner and this happened, my first priority would be to make sure that the family couldn't say something like that without labeling it libel or slander, depending on how they delivered it.

Of course, my first concern would be helping the girl to come as close as possible to recovering, but then I understand that I am a decent human being, or at least I try to be on most days. Secondary or terciary would be making sure they couldn't say something like that about my company.

Accidents happen, but if the company is running from it and not facing the music, that is the truly sad and sick part.

[T'Kirr]

I was surprised, too, to read the article and not catch anything about her recovery. Thanks for checking further and updating on that! That would certainly be my first priority, for the sake of both humanity and a business sense.

[mechurchlady]

http://www.wbko.com/news/headlines/8797512.html
The family sued Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom last July. There is an injunction to stop the park from destroying the cable and ride until ? Randall and Monique Lasitter are suing for their daughter's loss of a good career because of the injury.

End of July she was back in the hospital. It is still iffy but she may be able to keep her right foot. It could take a year for doctors to know. Six Flags is trying to say that it was a faulty cable and thus the manufacturer's fault.

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbc ... /307200014