re: Teen falls 400ft off drop tower ride to his death in Orlando theme park

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I deal with expensive engineered equipment on a daily basis constantly maintained by teams of trained technicians supervised by engineers.

And that shite breaks all the time, now imagine putting your life into the hands of something maintained by carnies.......

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It doesn't look like the ride malfunctioned. It was a lack of attention to detail by the lazy workers. His restraint wasn't pulled down far enough.. because he couldn't pull it down because of his size.

That's a big kid. He was destined to be playing college football in 5 years. Damn.

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I highly suggest people not to watch it.

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i typically don’t get squirmish watching nsfw/gore videos but this one i can’t get out of my mind. i watched it once and have no desire to see it again

i can’t imagine witnessing something like that in person

Did you see the crew running this ride? it's pretty obvious the kid was to big to sit in this rides seat and have the mechanism lock safely into place. Crew can be blamed but if im a big guy and im leaking out the seat before the ride starts then I'm saying something. Pretty obvious when the brakes hit going down is when the kid shot right out of the undersized seat.

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The real question is why does the operator have to verify a light (which can be burned out).

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Weren’t they saying “the light was ON” as if it were an indication that he was properly strapped in? That sounds like the light being referenced is supposed to illuminate when the harness locks, meaning a burned out bulb would cause them to think the restraints weren’t secure.

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The machine should have an interlock that prevents operation unless the proper state of the shoulder harness is "seen" by the electronics. It should be a normally closed circuit so any failed component prevents operation.

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I think you mean normally open? That’s typically how these types of safety systems would work - you have some sort of electrical circuit that has to be forced closed for the equipment to operate. The circuit is normally open, but is closed whenever some sort of safety mechanism is activated such as a seat switch on a lawnmower/tractor. Thats how most dead man’s switches operate.

If it’s normally closed (i.e. the switch on the seat/harness/whatever opens the circuit when engaged) then any little wiring failure could fool the system into thinking it’s safe and defeat the interlock.

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His restraint wasn't pulled down far enough.. because he couldn't pull it down because of his size.

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I recall a similar catastrophe on a roller coaster at Six Flags/Dallas. A lady was too big for the harness to engage properly and she flew out.

If you look at this picture you can see that the chairs are designed so they don't need a lap belt or a crotch strap. When the over the shoulder harness is in its proper position there is essentially zero gap between it and the seat.

Fat Albert obviously was physically too large for the harness to come down sufficiently which left a large gap. It also changed the direction of force on the harness so that even if it was latched in that position the massive force applied to it caused it to flex, allowing the rider to slide through the now opened gap.

I've never ridden a ride like this, but as the chairs leaned back at the end of the ride I assume they lean forward before dropping. Basically they would have to as if they stayed in the upright position they are in in this pic he would not have come out.

Yeah that shite doesn't look all the way seated there. But then again he is a pretty big dude. It's possible it couldn't latch all the way due to his size. I don't think they should have let him ride on it.

Looks like his ride was a lot more exciting than what the others got. Do you have to pay extra for that?

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i typically don’t get squirmish watching nsfw/gore videos but this one i can’t get out of my mind. i watched it once and have no desire to see it again

i can’t imagine witnessing something like that in person

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The sound was the worst part