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Intafail

Swat said:
Look what it did to the brake fin's. If it does that to Brake fin's It can damage the weaker fence a lot more.
Click to expand...
The brake fins are made by softer metals so they bend a lot more easily then a steel chain link fence.

Btw, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that it is less likely for this to happen on a more modern Accelerator coaster...
I can't find any close-ups on the launchtrack of Xcelerator to confirm it properly, but Xcelerator doesn't appear to have the extra bit's of angle iron that help to enclose the wire better as the newer does, like on Stealth Click for image (the top pieces) [from RCDB]. That piece will really help to keep the wire in place if this were to happen on for instance Stealth...

If someone have any good close-ups of the launch track on Xcelerator from above, then feel free to confirm/dismiss my theory...
 
Bloody hell its only a matter of time untill someone is seriously hurt or killed if this continues to happen on Intamin accelerators.
I don't know if its the parks or Intamin's fault though? Maybe the cable wasn't changed regularly enough, I know Rita has a new cable fitted every October.

Is the video completely offline now or is there still somewhere to watch it?
 
I'd be willing to bet that the damage to the brake fins did not occur during the launch, cable breaking and subsequent snapback event. (The snapback is likely what damaged the front of the train, though.)

The damage to the brake fins most likely occured after the cable came to rest on the tracks, the train then rolled backwards through the tangle and dragged the cable across the brake fins. Something during that is also what damaged the boy's seat, as it obviously occured towards the end of the train's movement.

Also, since these are magnetic brakes, they can only slow the train, not stop it. (The feed wheels in the station stop the train in a rollback, IIRC.) The train obviously comes to a sudden stop, so it's likely that the cable caught enough of the train and a brake fin to stop it cold.
 
(Duane asks specifically that people don't hotlink to images on RCDB.)
http://www.rcdb.com/729.htm?p=9769
http://www.rcdb.com/3454.htm?p=17636

Wow.

I never realized how different the two systems' catchcars are.

Top link is Hypersonic XLC, bottom is Zaturn.

Look how narrow the opening for the catchcar on Hypersonic is. The cable actually connects to a part of the catchcar that is inside the catchcar track, and the portion of the catchcar outside of the track mates with the train.

On Zaturn, the opening for the cable and catchcar is as wide as the catchcar (The red part), which sets between its rails (blue), mating with the train on it's top surface.

If the cable on an S&S ThrustAir were to part, the cable would have to be narrower than that opening and go straight up to have any chance of damaging the train or injuring the riders. I suspect that these cables are actually wider than the opening.

Meanwhile, over on the Intafail Accelerator coaster, the opening where the cable runs, and thus can come out through, is roughly 25% of the rail guage. This means that not only does the cable have the ability to get out of its channel, it could go a significant angle to either side of vertical as well.

Yeah, people give Stan a lot of flack for his business approach, but at the least, they seem to have forseen this issue and designed a way to reduce the risks associated.

Now that I think about it, the shorter launch segment on the S&S coasters also reduces the length of the cable (duh) but, that means the cable has less ability to stretch, would be quicker to inspect and is less likely to break.
 
loefet, I think I know what you're talking about. Next time i'm at the park, i'll try to snap shots to see what's up with it. I'm sure after this it'll be all renovated though... :roll:

A-Kid said:
Haha It ripped the nose in half!

Im glad future models were designed differently... I.e. with 2 cables in a runner avoiding this.
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Xcelerator does use 2 running cables inside of a runner. But even those can snap out of the runners due to the TREMENDOUS force the cables put out when they snap ;)
 
I'd just like to reiterate that with proper inspection and maintenance, correctly rated steel cables should never part under the expected loads.

It is also visually very apparent, long before a catastrophic failure of any steel cable, that it is deteriorating.

I've worked with steel cable in the military, and know how the static and dynamic load rating of a steel cable is tested, and that even if up to 50% of the cable is frayed or broken, it should still support the load rating.

Someone at these parks isn't paying adequate attention to these cables OR, they are buying inferior product that isn't actually strong enough to carry these loads.

I also have to wonder if Intamin is designing these rides to utilize cables that are actually large enough and strong enough to support the incredible loads that they are subjected to over and over and over.

Or maybe they're just cutting corners again, like not having onboard sensors in the restraint systems on the rides they sell, despite it becoming normal for nearly all other coaster companies to do so.
 
Well, taking into acount there were probably 100-110 launches prior to the incident that day, there could have been a crack in one of the cables at the start of the day that went unnoticed. Well, add all that stress and such over the entire day and you have a cable that has frayed, and eventually got to the point of snapping.
 
That's the point of it, though. 50% of the cable would have to fray and break before it would fail.

We had an occasion where the cables on our drop tower started to fray, and the operators noticed the very first tufts of frayed steel fiber when they popped off, stopped the ride and called for maintenance.

I think someone either missed the signs earlier in the day, or were under some sort of pressure to ignore them. ($$$)
 
It's not exactly easy to see the cables either. The only fully clear view you have of them is in the front car. Off to the sides, your view is obstructed.

Also, the catch car only sits under the train about 30 seconds prior to launch, and if staff were buisy, I doubt they would notice.
 
The ops at ours noticed the rain of metal fragments and gnarled wires pretty quick. I guess that's an advantage of the drop towers over the coasters.

;)
 
LOL, KBF released their Knotts Scary Farm TV commercial, which features a scene of Xcelerator launching.

Currently, Xcelerator is expected to be closed through the end of october.
 
^Yeah, the LA Times had an article saying it'd most likely be down until early next year while they figure out what the hell went wrong.
 
I think the question is how to prevent it from happening again. As they operate now, it's only a matter of time before more people get hurt.
 
Xpress said:
Well, we all know what went wrong, it doesn't take a rocket scientist..
Click to expand...

Well would you like to provide us with an in depth analysis of timeline of events, whether it was metal fatigue, poor inspection on the parks behalf, under what conditions the cable broke, could this have been avoided, are the safety measures around the cable adequate, (clearly not if people are getting sprayed in the face with metal), and other such information about this incident.

I suspect not.
 
^Well said.

When we went last year it did not look like it was the best maintained ride in the world thats for sure.
 
tks said:
Xpress said:
Well, we all know what went wrong, it doesn't take a rocket scientist..
Click to expand...

Well would you like to provide us with an in depth analysis of timeline of events, whether it was metal fatigue, poor inspection on the parks behalf, under what conditions the cable broke, could this have been avoided, are the safety measures around the cable adequate, (clearly not if people are getting sprayed in the face with metal), and other such information about this incident.

I suspect not.
Click to expand...

WHAT went wrong, not HOW it went wrong. We ALL know the cable snapped, and that's WHAT went wrong. Now it does take quite a genius to figure out HOW it went wrong.
 
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