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Texas Woman Falls From Roller Coaster at Six Flags

Gathomas88

Gathomas88

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Woman Dies While Riding Six Flags Coaster

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — A woman riding a roller coaster at a Six Flags amusement park in North Texas died Friday, and witnesses say she fell from a ride that is billed as the tallest steel-hybrid coaster in the world.

The accident happened just after 6:30 p.m. Friday at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington. Park spokeswoman Sharon Parker confirmed that a woman died while riding the Texas Giant roller coaster but did not specify how she was killed. However, witnesses told local media outlets that the woman fell.

"She goes up like this. Then when it drops to come down, that's when it (the safety bar) released and she just tumbled," said Carmen Brown of Arlington. Brown said she was waiting in line to get on the ride when the accident happened.

Six Flags expressed sadness over the death and said it was temporarily closing the section of the park around the accident site. It didn't say how long the area would be closed. A message left for Parker by The Associated Press was not returned.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends during this difficult time," the park's statement said.

The Texas Giant reaches 14 stories high and has a drop of 79 degrees and a bank of 95 degrees. It can carry up to 24 riders. The ride first opened in 1990 as an all-wooden coaster but underwent a $10 million renovation in 2010 to install steel-hybrid rails before reopening in 2011.

Brown said she was next in line behind the woman and saw her being strapped into her seat next to her son.

"We heard her screaming. We were like, 'Did she just fall?'" Brown said.

Arlington police Sgt. Christopher Cook, the department spokesman, referred all questions to Parker. No other details were available.

In another amusement park accident Friday, a boat on an Ohio thrill ride accidentally rolled backward down a hill and flipped over in water when the ride malfunctioned, injuring all seven people on it. Operators stopped the Shoot the Rapids water ride after the accident, which occurred on the ride's first hill, the Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, said.

In 1999, a 28-year-old Arkansas woman drowned and 10 other passengers were injured when a raft-like boat on the Roaring Rapids ride at Six Flags overturned in 2 to 3 feet of water about 200 feet from the end of the ride.

Six Flags Over Texas opened in 1961 as the first amusement park in the Six Flags system. It is 17 miles west of downtown Dallas.
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Yikes! :shock:

I've always kind of wondered about the more modern coasters in this regard. When you're doing back flips through the air at 40 something miles per hour, are a couple of cloth straps really enough to ensure your safety?

I don't know about anyone else, but I've never exactly felt comfortable entrusting my life to (in some cases) the structural integrity of a single plastic buckle.

I wonder if this will become more of a problem as these rides continue to age.
 
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I won't ride a roller coaster ever again. I was on one where the overhead harness thingy partially released and I was on one where the bar flew up during the ride. Both times I reported it and they acted like I was making it up and didn't even take the time to check it or investigate or anything and just sent the cars out with more passengers. Both times were at branded parks so these were not some fly by night operations.
 
I have never gone on one of those huge roller coasters and I won't ever do it. Some people say that it's a thrill and it's so much fun - it's just unneeded anxiety for me.
 
Not my thing to go on rides or coasters. This kind of accident just reinforces it.
 
Gathomas88 said:
Woman Dies While Riding Six Flags Coaster



Yikes! :shock:

I've always kind of wondered about the more modern coasters in this regard. When you're doing back flips through the air at 40 something miles per hour, are a couple of cloth straps really enough to ensure your safety?

I don't know about anyone else, but I've never exactly felt comfortable entrusting my life to (in some cases) the structural integrity of a single plastic buckle.

I wonder if this will become more of a problem as these rides continue to age.
Click to expand...

No back-up harness? Just a bar?

Well obviously that's not working. They put more effort into buckling in a race car driver and he's not supposed to go up real high or twist around.
 
Gathomas88 said:
Woman Dies While Riding Six Flags Coaster



Yikes! :shock:

I've always kind of wondered about the more modern coasters in this regard. When you're doing back flips through the air at 40 something miles per hour, are a couple of cloth straps really enough to ensure your safety?

I don't know about anyone else, but I've never exactly felt comfortable entrusting my life to (in some cases) the structural integrity of a single plastic buckle.

I wonder if this will become more of a problem as these rides continue to age.
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You entrust your life to a plastic bubble every day and drive n roads where other idiots are driving their plastic bubbles which makes it WAY more dangerous than a roller coaster.
 
Josie said:
I have never gone on one of those huge roller coasters and I won't ever do it. Some people say that it's a thrill and it's so much fun - it's just unneeded anxiety for me.
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Well they're supposed to ramp up your anxiety...that's what makes them fun!!!
 
Aunt Spiker said:
No back-up harness? Just a bar?

Well obviously that's not working. They put more effort into buckling in a race car driver and he's not supposed to go up real high or twist around.
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On most of the ones I've been on, it's like they merged the two together. There's a cloth strap that comes up between your legs (with maybe one or two others coming out the side), and a bar that goes over your shoulders. The bar has a buckle in the middle that the strap goes into.

I guess that's fine most of the time, but it's still a Hell of a lot of faith to put into one plastic buckle.

That bar has actually popped up on me a couple of times right in the middle of a ride too. Thankfully the straps have always held, but it did give me reason for pause before getting on another ride.

Lutherf said:
You entrust your life to a plastic bubble every day and drive n roads where other idiots are driving their plastic bubbles which makes it WAY more dangerous than a roller coaster.
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Sure, but there's actually a reason for getting in a car, and if a car fails, you're generally not looking at being thrown several hundred feet from four or more stories up in the air. :lol:
 
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I grew up in the DFW area, so I went to Six Flags and rode that ride, the Texas Giant, like a million times.

Even as a kid I never trusted that ride. It's made almost entirely out of wood, rattles, and ****s your neck up.
 
Hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of people ride on roller coasters around the world everyday. It's incredible so few people die. You probably have higher odds of being killed while driving to the amusement park than you do being killed on a roller coaster.

Odds Of Dying On A Roller Coaster - Roller Coaster Accidents

Besides, actual risk of death just adds to the thrill. :lol:
 
Lutherf said:
That's it? Frankly, it seems rather tame.
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It's a many story drop at 75mph. Plus, I'm deathly afraid of heights. I don't remember what the g force is, but that was a big draw when it first went up.
 
RabidAlpaca said:
I grew up in the DFW area, so I went to Six Flags and rode that ride, the Texas Giant, like a million times.

Even as a kid I never trusted that ride. It's made almost entirely out of wood, rattles, and ****s your neck up.
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Me and a friend agreed as kids the longest stop light in the world was that last one just before you got into six flags. My Dad actually worked on some of their ads back in the 70s
 
My 15 year old is a roller-coaster-a-holic. She rides every one she gets a chance to ride. She actually got a chance to ride a wooden roller coaster last summer. Those are getting hard to find. There's a ginormous wooden roller coaster in Miami. Don't know if it's still operational, but it's huge.
 
Gathomas88 said:
Woman Dies While Riding Six Flags Coaster



Yikes! :shock:

I've always kind of wondered about the more modern coasters in this regard. When you're doing back flips through the air at 40 something miles per hour, are a couple of cloth straps really enough to ensure your safety?

I don't know about anyone else, but I've never exactly felt comfortable entrusting my life to (in some cases) the structural integrity of a single plastic buckle.

I wonder if this will become more of a problem as these rides continue to age.
Click to expand...

What a terrible accident! I hear you about the structural integrity of these things. I hate when I hear them moaning and creaking. Scary! :shock:

Yup, there's a reason I don't like amusement park rides besides the fact that they make me sick to my stomach! :mrgreen:
 
Superfly said:
My 15 year old is a roller-coaster-a-holic. She rides every one she gets a chance to ride. She actually got a chance to ride a wooden roller coaster last summer. Those are getting hard to find. There's a ginormous wooden roller coaster in Miami. Don't know if it's still operational, but it's huge.
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Wooden! Good God she's brave! :shock:
 
Superfly said:
My 15 year old is a roller-coaster-a-holic. She rides every one she gets a chance to ride. She actually got a chance to ride a wooden roller coaster last summer. Those are getting hard to find. There's a ginormous wooden roller coaster in Miami. Don't know if it's still operational, but it's huge.
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They have one of those old wooden coasters on the waterfront at Myrtle Beach. I tried it once, and honestly didn't like it.

It wasn't particularly scary. It was actually pretty tame by today's standards.

The thing was just absolutely painful to ride. It was so rough and rickety that I felt like I basically needed to visit a chiropractor afterwards. :lol:

ChrisL said:
Yup, there's a reason I don't like amusement park rides besides the fact that they make me sick to my stomach! :mrgreen:
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Ever ridden one in the rain? That turned out to not be such a great idea. :lamo
 
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Well she wasn't going to ride it - she wanted to ride the more modern ones. She loves them so much, though, that her Dad told her she owed it to herself to ride at least one wooden roller coaster before they were all gone. She loved it. The creakiness and ricketiness made it more creepy, which made it cooler. :lol:
 
Gathomas88 said:
They have one of those old wooden coasters on the waterfront at Myrtle Beach. I tried it once, and honestly didn't like it.

It wasn't particularly scary. It was actually pretty tame by today's standards.

The thing was just absolutely painful to ride. It was so rough and rickety that I felt like I basically needed to visit a chiropractor afterwards. :lol:



Ever ridden one in the rain? That turned out to not be such a great idea. :lamo
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Can't say that I have. :) Why? Did something happen?
 
ChrisL said:
Can't say that I have. :) Why? Did something happen?
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Nothing particularly bad, but it was probably the closest I've ever come to be water boarded.

Ever seen the Prince of Egypt, and how the evil Pharaoh get's washed away at the end? It felt a bit like that. :lol:
 
Gathomas88 said:
Nothing particularly bad, but it was probably the closest I've ever come to be water boarded.

Ever seen the Prince of Egypt, and how the evil Pharaoh get's washed away at the end? It felt a bit like that. :lol:
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Like a flume? When I was a kid, I used to go to a local amusement park (Rocky Point), and they had a flume. It was pretty awesome! One of the few rides that didn't make me sick too! :)
 
ChrisL said:
Like a flume? When I was a kid, I used to go to a local amusement park (Rocky Point), and they had a flume. It was pretty awesome! One of the few rides that didn't make me sick too! :)
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A little bit. Only, instead of carrying you along with it, all of the water was flying towards your face at 50 mph. lol
 
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