On Thursday, a bird hit a boy that was riding Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure. The 456 foot tall ride is currently the tallest in the World. It begins with a blistering launch of 0 to 128 mph in only 3.5 seconds. While the roller coaster, dubbed a strata coaster, is incredibly tall, the boy was struck by the bird when the train was closer to the ground.
Right away, I thought of a somewhat similar accident on Apollo’s Chariot at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Celebrity Fabio was struck by a goose while riding the hyper coaster during a media event. That accident apparently occurred because birds were congregating around the water at the bottom of the ride’s first drop. The bird hitting the boy on Kingda Ka seems very random as I don’t know of any areas around that ride that would encourage birds to hang around.
Here’s a quote from a Daily News article:
Kristin Siebeneicher, a spokeswoman for the park in Jackson, N.J., said the roller coaster had already plummeted 45 stories back toward the ground and was pulling into the station when the bird struck the passenger’s face.
The boy suffered minor injuries and was treated at a local hospital, Siebeneicher said.
Thankfully, it sounds like the boy will be fine since they described his injuries as minor. What’s your take on this accident? Leave a comment below.
July 27, 2012 at 13:58
What kind of measures will be taken place here and at Cedar Point?
July 27, 2012 at 14:20
I doubt they will do much of anything. The flying aspect of the bird kind of makes it tough to control. I am going to Cedar point this upcoming week and excited to finally ride TTD (hopefully the wife doesn't chicken out).
July 27, 2012 at 15:00
It's totally out of control and completely random. Had the bird hit the rider while Kingda Ka was at its maximum speed of 128mph, I would say that they were on a collision course but for the bird to hit the rider as the train returned to the station is just a bizarre freak accident. Enjoy TTD! I finally got to ride it two weeks ago after getting stuck on the lift hill of Maverick for an extended period and getting compensated for the inconvenience by the nice folks at Cedar Point with no-wait access to Dragster and Millennium Force. I rode Dragster twice and Kingda Ka once, and would probably have to ride each one a hundred times to feel comfortable. The launch comes as such a shock, even though you're expecting it, that it's not the kind of ride to which you can easily get accustomed. Unlike Millennium Force or El Toro, with which I feel completely at ease, Dragster and Kingda Ka are way outside my comfort zone.
July 27, 2012 at 15:10
I wouldn't even want to think about the damage of taking a head on bird collision to the face like Fabio but at 128 mph. luckily this sounds like a more low speed accident, weird.
July 27, 2012 at 18:52
It's a reason why I wear glasses (with a strap) on superfast rides. I haven't been on Ka but I have ridden Top Thrill Dragster – and rode with sunglasses in the day, clear glasses at night. Bugs in the eye at 200 kph doesn't sound like fun.
July 30, 2012 at 13:53
Looks like the wildlife at Great Adventure is getting out of control. First a goose gets trapped and killed on the conveyor belt of congo rapids (I was there that day and saw the geese in the water on the ride, then found out later that one of them got killed) now a pigeon collides with a kingda ka rider. Maybe these animals are coming from the nearby wild safari?
August 7, 2012 at 23:12
Yikes, that would be awful haha. This is one thing Six Flags can do nothing about as they can't stop birds from flying around, but maybe everyone should wear special bird protector helmets on coasters from now on.
October 10, 2012 at 16:15
Ouch!!!!! Poor kid. The only way they could stop the birds is to make a giant net or cage over the entire ride. Does anyone really see that happening… Nothing you can do about it. I hope he'll continue to ride Kingda Ka. But that incident might have just scared him from ever riding it again.