Comments on: Xcelerator Accident @ Knotts Berry Farm

By: ZaCloud

ZaCloud — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 10:06:06 +0000

No actually, the kid required multiple surgeries to repair the torn muscles and ligaments in the leg so he could even have a prayer of walking again. Luckily, they won an undisclosed amount of money in the lawsuit. Was lucky the kid didn't lose an eye too, given the debris.

By: KK operator

KK operator — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 14:15:22 +0000

I used to operate Kingda Ka. Every night after the trains have been put onto the storage track, the maintenance team checks and makes and repairs any faults. I forget how often they go up to the top of the tower[I am assuming every day or two (they do it early in the morning before most employees get there)] Then we do several test runs with and without dummies, slowly adding the weight. It does a few rollbacks then. Finally before we are allowed to start we have to call the head person and make sure maintenance has checked and calibrated every system of the ride. This goes for the same with TTD and any other strata coaster. I am not sure about any other coaster though. If something does happen to go to any part of the ride that calls for replacement we close down the ride for like a few days and have it replaced or we have to get Intamin to send us replacements which takes weeks to months.

By: Amber

Amber — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 23:25:42 +0000

OMG i feel real bad for those people i dont know how tht kid could handle dang strong kid lol i really hope they r fine today if i heard on the news today tht they died i would cry my eyes out they didn't deserve to be in tht terrible accident stupid retarded xcelerator

By: Quil

Quil — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 18:18:59 +0000

What, do you think Knott's is going to intentionaly tell the courts to completely bleed them dry?

By: Tosser

Tosser — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 23:59:14 +0000

Funny how Knotts' statement completely exonerates the park from any responsibility. In the case of the child they make it look like the child wilfully came in contact with the cable and the child's injuries were as a result of the child's own negligence. In the adult's case the way it's written as if he's a hypochondriac. The child's trip to ER also makes it sound like the ambulance ride was another attraction, where the child perhaps chose an ambulance as opposed a fire truck, police car…

By: CARAMAC

CARAMAC — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 12:04:20 +0000

this wont ever happen on kds i305 as it is not a cable launch coaster.

fact is this can happen on all launch coasters!

it happened before on kingda ka, it could happen on top thrill, stealth, storm runner, rita any ride with the cable launch system.

i think they reinforce the bottom of the trains so the cable cant penertrate the cars.

The way i see it is that these rides put so much strain on the cable that the cable is bound to fail some time, hence why parks like ceder point, six flags, knotts, hersheys, thorpe park, alton towers are told to do rigourous checks every day.

my only guess is that this is freak catistrophic failure of the cable or even more scary knotts doesnt do proper daily checks and maintainence on its rides.

for this to be caught on film i hope knotts buck their ideas up.

does anyone actually work on any of the intemin launch coasters at a park? maybe you could shed some light on the maintainence of these rides?

By: CFC

CFC — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:57:16 +0000

You know, this kind of thing makes you stop and think. You think something like this will ever happen to KD's I305, considering they're made by the same company.

By: I ride roller coaste

I ride roller coaste — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:58:43 +0000

First of all, Stormrunner doesn't use magnets to launch. It uses cables and is built by the same manufacturer as Xcelerator. The magnets are there to stop the train after the cycle. Magnetic propulsion is prohibitively expensive to use to launch a roller coaster. No type of propulsion at this time except for compressed air provides the rate of acceleration that is achieved using hydraulic catapults at this time and even compressed air is used to spool a large drum with a cable attached to it.

By: The Coaster Critic

The Coaster Critic — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:22:26 +0000

I noticed that too Emma. As a parent that would be a nightmare to see my kid so freaked out. I'd have to stay as cool as possible too if for nothing else than to keep him calm.

That's true jjhobo, but here's where something like emotional distress would come into play, especially with a kid. Plus, we don't know what it sounded like, looked like from their view, smelled like, etc. I don't know if just free lifetime admission is going to cover this one even if they weren't physically hurt that bad.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:33:10 +0000

Thats terrible. The ride is extremely fun, would suck to have to go through that. I wonder if TTD or KK would have an even harsher break due to the cables higher speed