• Kansas Lawmaker's Son Killed on Worlds Largest Water Slide
    60 replies, posted
[QUOTE]The son of a Kansas state lawmaker died Sunday on a water slide that is billed as the world's largest, according to officials and the boy's family. Authorities did not immediately identify the child who died at Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas, but state Rep. Scott Schwab and his wife released a statement saying it was their son Caleb Thomas Schwab. "Since the day he was born, he brought abundant joy to our family and all those he came in contact with," said the statement, which asked for privacy as the family grieves. Schlitterbahn spokeswoman Winter Prosapio said the child died on one of the park's main attractions, Verruckt, a 168-foot-tall water slide that has 264 stairs leading to the top. The slide's name means "insane" in German. Officials haven't provided specific details about what led to Caleb's death. Kansas City, Kansas, police spokesman Officer Cameron Morgan said he did not have any information, and Prosapio declined comment, saying more details would be released later.[/QUOTE] [url]http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/boy-12-dies-kansas-water-park-41188189[/url] EDIT: Mistakenly put "Tallest" in the title instead of "Largest". Would any of you mod guys be willing to correct it?
I just heard about this water slide over the radio earlier this week. I wonder what led to his death.
I've seen that thing from a distance and I figured that somebody would get fatally injured from it.
Rumor is that he was decapitated. I've never ridden it, but I can see the slide from the office I work in and there is a metal cage w/ netting along the top. Riders go down on a raft, maybe it got some air under it.
He is never going to let this slide. [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Why reply" - Novangel))[/highlight]
[QUOTE=FlippR;50846643]Rumor is that he was decapitated. I've never ridden it, but I can see the slide from the office I work in and there is a metal cage w/ netting along the top. Riders go down on a raft, maybe it got some air under it.[/QUOTE] Ouch. Yeah I haven't seen this attraction yet, I don't really bother going to the kansas side of this city. but I would assume that there is weight requirements that should be assessed for the attraction. But this is pretty gruesome.
[QUOTE=Richard Simmons;50846668]Ouch. Yeah I haven't seen this attraction yet, I don't really bother going to the kansas side of this city. but I would assume that there is weight requirements that should be assessed for the attraction. But this is pretty gruesome.[/QUOTE] If I'm not mistaken, your combined weight (among multiple people) must be at least 300 lbs. But there is a safety net running over the entire thing, so I imagine something went horribly awry for a death to have occurred. Looking at that thing from a distance though, its an absolute monster. Kinda surprised it didn't happen sooner.
There's a pretty good discussion going on over at TPR about this: [URL="http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=72230&start=10"]http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1727096#p1727096[/URL] Also, here's a picture of the scene: [url]http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/files/img_20160807_210957.jpg[/url] Some think that the kid got air and wasn't strapped down in the raft correctly. After that, head got stuck in netting maybe?
[QUOTE=trainplane3;50846793]There's a pretty good discussion going on over at TPR about this: [URL="http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=72230&start=10"]http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1727096#p1727096[/URL] Also, here's a picture of the scene: [T]http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/files/img_20160807_210957.jpg[/T] Some think that the kid got air and wasn't strapped down in the raft correctly. After that, head got stuck in netting maybe?[/QUOTE] Is that pit at the bottom filled with blood? Holy fuck.
[QUOTE=GhillieBacca;50846824]Is that pit at the bottom filled with blood? Holy fuck.[/QUOTE] Some are convinced it is. Judging from Google Maps, there isn't any red there. But the red and yellow stripe could've been added later on. Also, they're removing fencing: [URL]https://twitter.com/BrianAbelTV/status/762446633577488384[/URL]
There's a Schlitterbahn in Kansas? I thought that was just a New Braunfels thing.
[QUOTE=trainplane3;50846855]Some are convinced it is. Judging from Google Maps, there isn't any red there. But the red and yellow stripe could've been added later on. Also, they're removing fencing: [URL]https://twitter.com/BrianAbelTV/status/762446633577488384[/URL][/QUOTE] The yellow is probably the raft.
[QUOTE=download;50847028]The yellow is probably the raft.[/QUOTE] The rafts are blue, you can see one off to the side. [IMG]http://www.schlitterbahn.com/getmedia/d0e05c00-b86b-4635-927e-d8ae16d2d909/Verruckt_4_1710x968.jpg.aspx?width=480&height=272[/IMG] I wonder if the raft overturned or something. Normally it would go much farther down the track on its own.
Waterparks scare me
Wonder if he was too small to be using the ride safely. Pretty sad that something fun like a trip to a water park could end up this way. Fun water park, I went a few years ago. I think there's been some other bad stuff that's happened there though recently - kinda remember there being a gang relates shooting or something too.
[QUOTE=laserpanda;50847104]The rafts are blue, you can see one off to the side. [IMG]http://www.schlitterbahn.com/getmedia/d0e05c00-b86b-4635-927e-d8ae16d2d909/Verruckt_4_1710x968.jpg.aspx?width=480&height=272[/IMG] I wonder if the raft overturned or something. Normally it would go much farther down the track on its own.[/QUOTE] I believe it is something like what trainplane said. Either the raft was not properly weighted, and the passenger wasn't strapped down resulting in them getting air on the hump. The caging seems to be a fabric mesh with tubular framing. It is likely that they caught it with enough force to decapitate. An investigation into the failure would yield the answers we actually need. These rides are very carefully engineered, and guidelines are in place to reduce or stop certain scenarios such as this one from occuring. So where was that single point of failure? Staff? Equipment? Engineering fault?
Such a horrid incident happening at a fun family park just makes this all the more sad to me. It also kinda creeps me out knowing how easy it can be to die in our laid-back, modernized, intelligent, and rapidly-progressing society... This stuff was designed for entertainment and fun, and it ends up killing a child.
When I read water slide, I expected there to be water all around it, at six flags water park here, even if you fell off a slide somehow you'd just fall 30-50 feet into water, jesus christ.
Jesus fucking Christ poor kid! I can't imagine what the family must be going through they take their kid to a water slide and the next minute he's dead.
On Youtube you can see the ride has a plunge, then a hump back up, then a plunge. i'd guess on the hump g forces forced him up into the bars that hold the net in place. There are straps to hang on to, so how did he 'float'? Only two real possibilities. One, he wasn't secured properly, whether it was due to incompetent workers or he was too small it amounts to him not being secured. Or he loosened things himself, to stand up or something. I've seen people do stupid things like that on rides, who knows what a 10 year old might do on what he considers a water slide and not an extremely dangerous ride?
[B]Slightly NSFW[/B] [url]http://i.imgur.com/6xlIRM4.jpg[/url] [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxc__GzeKcE&feature=youtu.be[/media] I'm going to guess the kid's head hit the bars and the raft flipped over.
[QUOTE=MaximLaHaxim;50847209]Such a horrid incident happening at a fun family park just makes this all the more sad to me. It also kinda creeps me out knowing how easy it can be to die in our laid-back, modernized, intelligent, and rapidly-progressing society... This stuff was designed for entertainment and fun, and it ends up killing a child.[/QUOTE] Its extremely unfortunate for what has occured. But with all the technology we have in the world that can take these close tolerances and develop this kind of stuff, nothing can save us from being human. Absolutely terrible that these things happen, but when people keep pushing the extremes failure is bound to happen.
[QUOTE=download;50847480][B]Slightly NSFW[/B] [url]http://i.imgur.com/6xlIRM4.jpg[/url][/QUOTE] I don't see the NSFW part?
[QUOTE=MrJazzy;50847544]I don't see the NSFW part?[/QUOTE] The blood perhaps? I've been banned for things I didn't think were very gory before so I'll be playing it safe.
I don't see the blood I mean
[QUOTE=MrJazzy;50847559]I don't see the blood I mean[/QUOTE] Top right on the slide. Note the blood red color on the slide.
[QUOTE=Maegord;50847568]Top right on the slide. Note the blood red color on the slide.[/QUOTE] Aaahh, difficult to tell, thanks
How would the harness work when it isn't malfunctioning? To me it seems like a net on a framework isn't a very good idea for stopping such a fast moving raft, so what was its purpose at all? I don't know much about amusement parks but honestly that slide just doesn't look safe to me, assuming there is any chance of the raft getting airborne after that bump.
[QUOTE=trainplane3;50846855]Some are convinced it is. Judging from Google Maps, there isn't any red there. But the red and yellow stripe could've been added later on. Also, they're removing fencing: [URL]https://twitter.com/BrianAbelTV/status/762446633577488384[/URL][/QUOTE] [quote]some early friends of "eyewitness" tweets said Velcro came loose, he popped up and hit the fence[/quote] [quote]Velcro[/quote] I hope he's mistaken and they didn't actually use velcro for the safety shit
[QUOTE=Araknid;50847746]I hope he's mistaken and they didn't actually use velcro for the safety shit[/QUOTE] The restraints on the raft look like thick velcro straps.
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