A woman fell to her death from a 14-story roller coaster in Six Flags Over Texas last Friday.
The Texas Giant is the world’s highest steel-hybrid roller coaster. It made its debut in 1990 at the Arlington amusement park as a purely wooden ride before a $10 million renovation in 2011 added steel to its rails.
The woman was identified as 52-year-old Rosy Esparza of Dallas. She was reportedly making her first visit to the park.
Carmen Brown of Arlington was waiting in line when Rosy was being secured in the ride. Brown told The Dallas Morning News that the woman had expressed concern to one of the ride’s operators that she was not secured tightly enough.
The ride then made a sudden jolt and Rosy fell out.
“The lady basically tumbled over,” she said. “We heard her screaming. We were, like, ‘Did she just fall?’”
The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions said in a statement Sunday that the likelihood of being seriously injured on a ride at a major amusement park in the U.S. is 1 in 24 million.
“In addition to the annual safety inspection, amusement ride operators are required to inspect each of their rides every day and keep a log of those inspections. They don’t submit (it) to us, but there’s a log on premises and can be supplied to law enforcement upon request,” said Jerry Hagins, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Insurance.
Hagins said the coaster had passed an annual safety inspection.
Six Flags spokeswoman Sharon Parker said in an email on Sunday “we are committed to determining the cause of this tragic accident and will utilize every resource throughout this process. It would be a disservice to the family to speculate regarding what transpired. When we have new information to provide, we will do so.”
The ride will remain closed until another inspection determines what caused the accident. According to The Dallas Morning News, Germany’s Gerstlauer Amusement Rides will head this investigation, as the Texas Department of Insurance doesn’t handle accidents.
Hagins said he expects the investigation to be quick.
“It is the highest priority for the operator and for the regulator,” he said. “It’s going to be very quick that this is inspected and determined what caused this tragic accident.”
Via: USA Today, Photo Courtesy: Tumblr
