Death At Schlitterbahn Kansas City on Verr??ckt

[Oscar]

KANSAS CITY, Kan. ??? Kansas City, Kan., police chief Terry Zeigler tweeted Sunday afternoon that officers are on the scene of an accident death investigation at Schlitterbahn.

[Mikey]

So when I heard about this I was not really surprised that this happened given all the trouble the ride had in the beginning. However looking at the pictures I have come to suspect that one of two scenarios likely played out here:

1. The guest left the boat causing the guest to strike the catch net.
2. The boat left the slide with the guest strapped in and that caused the guests to strike the catch net.

There are currently conflicting statements from eyewitnesses over the seating arrangement of the deceased and whether or not another guest seated in the unit was injured. If multiple guests are injured the later is more likely than the former based on the restraint design. I imagine that in the later scenario a weight imbalance and maybe an overspeed or combination or flow off the water jets caused the back of the boat to rise up. Put all the weight in the front of the boat and its not that hard to flip it. Not only have I seen it happen, but I have experienced it first hand as a kid. When I was 11 me and my dad went down a waterslide in a double tube. He weighed 250lbs and I weighed 50lbs. They made him sit in the front, the first quick dip we went down I got thrown into the top of the tube and rolled out into the runout section dazed and confused with a terrible headache.

I think everyone remembers the video that was released showing the units on this ride under the original design gaining flight like some twisted Roller Coaster Tycoon contraption. If memory serves me correctly they made some profile changes and redesigned the back half of the ride. That wasn't enough so they added friction materials to control the speed these are seen at the bottom of the first drop. The opening day videos and some videos I found from 2015 seem to indicate a guide in the trough on the first drop was installed and it seems to slow the boat down. That trough is removed in the 2016 videos.

Reviewing the available videos of the ride I also noticed that there was a change in the water flow from the original 2014 video to the 2016 video that was taken four weeks ago. Without a bunch of video data taken from them and now it would be impossible to figure out if the average speed is higher then it was in 2014. However it could be duplicated if the original conditions were restored. The park hasn't really announced anything, it's very early in the investigation, and this is my opinion as to what happened.

[Coasterkidmwm]

This is all kinds of sketch. My gut reaction would be the kid trying to stand up or something, but we'll see. Poor kid.

We are waiting for the truth as this accident doesn't seem to be that 10 year-old boy's fault.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article94254507.html

[Paradox]

Apparently it was the ride's fault as the restraint system malfunctioned and he got decapitated by the netting.

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=72230&start=10

All I can say is what a gruesome scene. I'm going to throw up...

[Coasterkidmwm]

EEEeeeeesh that is really terrible.

ugh that picture with the slide filled with blood

Yeeesh, I do not suspect it will reopen.

[Mikey]

I don't think the kid tried to stand up. Reports saying all three riders were injured.

Mikey wrote:

I don't think the kid tried to stand up. Reports saying all three riders were injured.

This article says he was paired with two women. One woman has a broken jaw, the other a broken facial bone and stitches to her eye. Likely the 10 year old was in the front and he struck each of the women while being ejected. He then fell onto the slide I would guess. The restraints are Velcro and in my opinion insufficient. I can see people with a small frame easily slipping out.

http://fox4kc.com/2016/08/08/schlitterbahn-tentatively-scheduled-to-reopen-on-wednesday-verruckt-remains-closed/

Warning this article goes into even worse detail
http://abc7.com/news/gruesome-details-revealed-in-boys-water-slide-death/1462000/

^ Wait, I don't want to believe that yellow jacket thing is actually his upper body... plus his legs might be on the slide in the photo...

I feel for that boy... Not only did we realize the "OMG" failure of safety straps, but this ride obviously had so many "technical" design flaws. This ride would not have met any ideal track safety requirements. Oh gosh, the transition at the top of a plunge appears to be too sudden, even for a regular coaster that is of course in check. The entire layout seems to be awkward as well, which reminds me of one of really old and... "brutally rough" Arrow Husses. From some videos posted on YouTube, I have another feeling that the raft speed just before hitting a first drop is "way" too fast. They should have put some tire brakes so as not to produce unnecessary negative g's that could put some riders at risk.



I do not think that part is properly shaped, which has me think of a RCT2 65-foot Corkscrew steep drop.



This image is IMO accurate.

I don't think the transition at the top is a problem, you don't launch forward on that.
Nobody gets hurt on those vertical slides:


The hill is the 'dangerous' part

Schlitterbahn has announced that Verruckt will be removed.

Statement regarding Verr??ckt

SCHLITTERBAHN KANSAS CITY??TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2016

All of us at Schlitterbahn have been heartbroken over the tragedy that occurred on Verr??ckt. In our 50 years of providing an environment for families and friends to gather, we???ve never experienced this kind of devastating event. The safety of our staff and our guests is our top priority. We are parents and grandparents ourselves and many of us have ridden Verr??ckt with our own children and grandchildren over the years it operated.

Once the investigation is concluded and we are given permission by the court, Verr??ckt will be decommissioned ??? closed permanently and the slide removed from the tower. In our opinion, it is the only proper course of action following this tragedy.

We will, at some point in the future, announce what will be built in its place.

We continue to fully cooperate with investigative teams and work with the families, their attorneys and our staff impacted by this accident. As we move forward, we assure everyone who works for us and the community: we remain wholly committed to our Kansas City park and the original vision of Schlitterbahn ??? providing a great place to work and an environment for families and friends to gather together.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/schlitte ... 5546846187

I don't think I really missed out on much. May its replacement be an objectively and technically better experience.

Seriously... Just chop down the camelback and call it a day.

VF15 wrote:

Schlitterbahn has announced that Verruckt will be removed.

Verr??ckt will be decommissioned ??? closed permanently and the slide removed from the tower.

I like this. "The tower." Make something else happen.

How has this slide not been closed?



No one died on this one?

Excellent point. Let 'em roll around.

Jeez I forgot someone died on this thing. Forgive me, mean.

^ You're forgiven... Anyway we'll never forget this mind-twisting accident.

As much as I'd love to chop down the second hill and leave it as that, it's the stigma the ride will get, and the general public will probably still ride it less. Especially since it was a child that got killed which the general public will thus frown upon Verruckt more.

They should probably just take the tower down as well. Even though the slide will be gone, the tower itself could still be a painful reminder of the incident.

[Turbo]

I agree with this^

I wonder if they're planning to build another slide just as tall but actually safe and functionally sound. Tho that may be too soon.