@@iluvyurbles but its sadly not only japan. Did you see that what really happen about the guy who welded a wire into a ride to go around the security system?
@@GlutzahnLP yep, but at least they quickly caught him and he is still working in the industry, hoping he learned and such I can't imagine how scary it is in china
If you aren't in a 3rd world country, nowadays you should be MUCH SAFER. Remember that the initial problem was to do with a slight flaw in the wheel design of this coaster, but the manufacturer knows of this and are adamant about proper upkeep. Sure you can go into the fact that they could design it better, but if there is something more the park could have done that they didn't, it is absolutely the park's fault. Too many of these accidents boil down to a ride operator fuck up or improper upkeep of roller coasters by their owners.
Better safe than sorry! At the time of the accident, no one knew what had happened yet, so taking everyone to hospital if they ask just in case is the most prudent idea. Perhaps one or more of those bystanders had been hit by debris from the accident, for instance, or the damage to the coaster car could have released toxic chemicals like hydraulic fluid or other substances that could harm folks. Of course, we know now that none of that happened, and it was due to the psychological trauma of witnessing such an event, but an overabundance of caution is a good idea in these cases. As awful a job at maintenance the park did, I do have to at least commend them for accounting for any possible injuries sustained that day, even the less obvious.
It is possible that witnessing the accident sent some bystanders into shock, which is a medical emergency in and of itself, as it can cause fainting (and therefore faint injuries like concussion etc.) on top of nausea and emotional distress. :(
Coaster accidents are never pretty, but the fact they had to get the bystanders to the hospital really says something. Still, it's kind of incredible to think this was the first wreck in all of Japan, and wasn't that long ago. The majority of the parks must have been doing a better maintenance job than the US, even if it wasn't perfect.
Bigger part does, but smaller park allegedly didn't went that much It's simply the fact that economic bubble did collapse the entire amusement park industry. And it only getting worse (at least nowadays only park closed, not the maintenance)
@@bocahdongo7769 I think the industry as a whole is struggling, too many parks have gotten used to easy profit only to have hit the wall of people no longer having the money or time to waste thanks to a lot of factors. The pandemic was the touchpoint that knocked over the first domino, but the whole industry was running just ahead of the catastrophe curve even before it hit.
Or, another factor you could be missing, is that the amusement park as an industry wasn't as big over in Japan. The Amusement Park as we know it began in 1894 in the US and a "modern" amusement park didn't become a thing in Japan until sometime in the middle of Emperor Showa's era (mid 1950s at some point). In 1950 the first kid's amusement park (vs one targeting all ages) was opened, Kiddieland. So while this is the first wreck, it's also the first of a much younger industry than we see in the US.
@@vectorwolf That thing may one of factor too I mention this because the economy stagnation after bubble burst did hit really hard. Especially if you look at those amusement park number growth before vs. After bubble. I think the only new amusement park exist after bubble are only Disney and Universal, but that's not Japan-based anyway
There are surely differences in scale. Such as length of operation of rides, number of people riding each ride in its lifetime, and overall number of amusement park rides in total US vs Japan. If accidents happen average 1 in 10million rides and the US has had a billion rides vs Japan having 100 million…diffeeence in scale accounts for difference in accidents more than maintenance record. (The numbers are made up for the purpose of the illustrative example and not intended to be accurate .)
I work in the aviation industry and just the mere idea that someone decided to go with general visual inspections in place of nondestructive testing is… beyond unbelievable.
As it should be in every industry where lives depend on proper functioning of any kind of machine. Thanks to all people out there doing their job properly so that we are as safe as possible! Unfortunately it wouldn't surprise me if there were parts of the world where similarly inadequate methods are used even in the aviation industry. Living in the EU, I am sure there is a very good reason why there are several airlines that are not allowed to operate in our airspace.😬
And the axles needed to be replaced probably every couple years or at least every 5 at the minimum. Maybe once they wore down below 1/2 way, whichever comes first.
I appreciate that you didn't go into detail about how gruesome the injuries were to the rider. In most other reports that I have read about this incident, they really sensationalize those details. I think this is the first time I could really focus on why it happened, instead of the horror of what happened.
I'm extrapolating the position of the headrest and railing. It's not nice. No wonder people were hospitalized by the shock of witnessing the accident 😐
I rode this ride in 1995 and had a very scary "incident". The seat locking mechanism that prevents the vertical adjustment for rider height failed on my seat after we left the station. Every time we experienced a negative force going over the top of a hill, my seat would fly up and slam into the stop (with my feet completely off the ground). When experiencing positive forces the seat would fully compress to the bottom stop. It was still a great ride, but I am not surprised that it had a major malfunction. Its scary to know how lax the amusement ride laws were back then.
Since I survived unhurt, it was. I was only like 14 at the time so I think I had a blast at the time. If I thought of all the accidents on coasters I've been on, id probably never ride one again. lol
It's funny that you mention that. I first rode Shockwave at Kings Dominion, the green coaster shown, in 1988. It was my first stand-up. My harness would crest and compress with the loop and bunny hills. I thought it was just how it was designed and rather enjoyed it. I rode a B & M stand-up in 2014 at Magic Mountain and it was rigid. Now SeaWorld is building their stand-up surf coaster and they are advertising how the harnesses move with the forces.
Accidents caused by negligence make me so mad. Thanks for breaking down the root of this accident. This was just tragic, ride safety and maintenance is so, so important.
This accident confirms one of my top things for coaster-phobic people to avoid if they want to feel safe riding coasters: Never, ever ride a coaster whose trains have only 2 wheel assemblies per car. Aim for 4 wheel assemblies so that even if 1 fails, the other 3 will hold you in place until the train valleys.
one wheel assembly per car only held on with a single bolt is a recipe for disaster when inspections are neglected to such a degree. Even with proper maintenance an out of sight fatigue crack or manufactoring error could have led to the same outcome
i don't think that is the way of looking at this, many, many rollercoasters have only 2 wheels and operate safely the problem here is both the design and maintanence of the cars: Design: a saftey factor of less than 2 is very concerning and only being held by one bolt is really not good, a saftey factor of less than 2 would probably be used on things running close to the edge like a race car. only being held by one bolt is also not the best, look at a large amount of B&M coasters, they only have 2 wheel carrages, but when on a ride like the B&M dive coaster you can see there are a large amount of bolts holding the wheel assembly to the car, this dosn't mean one bolt is dangerous, it just has to be designed right. Maintanence: they literally glued parts back on to the ride, i don't think i can say much more. in conclusion i would go on the rides with manurfactures you trust, and parks that you trust, as even with 4 wheel assemblies per car things can go wrong.
@@Jibbsie-ru2iz I mean... yeah. No disagreement with any of that, improper maintenance is almost always the culprit. The engineers who design these rides don't do enough idiot-proofing. I've just found, in my experience, that coaster-phobic people respond more positively to being told what types of rides present the most risk which they can avoid, instead of being told that their chances of dying on any roller-coaster are 1 in 750 million. Personally, I don't worry about the number of wheel assemblies and bolts.
@@awesometwitchy I also don't worry about the number of bolts, and maintanence was definatly the larger issue (i was trying to tell them not to worry about all the other rides) but the maintanence staff should follow the manual set out by the manurfacture
That's not really true; Schwarzkopfs have had more derailing incidents than any other coaster manufacturer that I know of, and they have four wheel assemblies per car.
i love this channel, however i must admit that between all the theme park channels i watch, my mind distinguishes this one by going "this one's the guy who sounds like hiccup from how to train your dragon"
Wanna pointed out some interesting thing about this accident, most of newer Japanese rollercoaster doesn't use catwalk anymore, especially since this accident. Not only because European manufacture pushing the no-catwalk design (which both pointless at real earthquake scenario and some rollercoaster model), also allegedly because of this accident too. You can clearly see the legacy on Hakugei (those white RMC), despite still using catwalk, but the catwalk just cut-off when the train entering 90 degree turn, whereas some extreme wooden coaster outside Japan still use full catwalk on their 90 degree turn (Like Voyage) Also lack of those maintaining thing, it can be explain by those economic bubble crash that also collapse the entire amusement park industry. Not the sole reason, but definitely made the thing even worse
Thank you for not sensationalizing the death of the victim. I can't imagine the ungodly nightmares everyone on that train and around it must have. I hope the people responsible for this woman's death are haunted every night, though. Good god.
incredible how companies seemingly never realize, or ignore, the fact that peoples LIVES depend on them doing just a little more to make sure things dont break
i would disagree because after seeing people die in horrible ways for the first few times you get a sick feeling so it would make sense seeing as what happened to that rider.
Something worth pointing out is that leaving a small gap between the side friction wheels and upstop wheels and the track wasn't some glaring mistake Togo made, it was standard practice across manufacturers. That's just how roller coasters were built at the time, for the reasons you specified; this is well demonstrated by the fact you're using a clip of a non-Togo coaster to show it off in practice. Nowadays it's more common for coaster wheel assemblies to use springs to keep the side wheels in contact with the rails while having some give, but it didn't used to be.
The most remarkable fact is that it was the first fatality on an amusement ride in Japan. That speaks volumes about the state of amusement rides elsewhere, particularly America.
When I first found this channel I only knew of two roller coated accidents, the Mind Bender and this one, I didn’t think you’d ever cover this accident but I’m happy you did!
The design wasn't flawed at all, and it operated well for so long. With even one required maintenance during that entire timeframe, the accident could have been avoided. Shame on the park for cutting costs in an area that surely doesn't make sense.
I love your videos! I don't know if you'll see this but I was hoping you could do a video on The Himalayan ride. I know there's another one that's very similar called The Polar Express. Ive never forgotten hearing that a girl died when her car flipped in June of 1999 at Coney Island. There have also been a few other deaths on that ride that I'm aware of. The thing is that this was the ride I was least afraid to ride as a kid until I started hearing of the cases.
I was really surprised that the Japanese government didn't have stronger regulations around ride safety at the time. At least they proactively changed the laws.
It's interesting to see how other countries did maintenance on their rides. *The Shockwave at Kings Dominion is gone, but I loved the ride down memory lane with your video.*
When you own an amusement park of ANY size, SAFETY should be your FIRST priority. Prices, food, gift shops, etc. all that will fall into place. Your guests are paying for you to stay open, no guest, no park! It just boggles my mind how owners are so flippant about the safety of their rides. Larger fines need to be implemented when they don't pass inspections. Think about it, they don't fix the problem....SOMEONE is going to get hurt OR die. Would you rather pay a fine, fix the problem OR have the accident of one of your rides on your conscience the rest of your life?
I have recently been doing a lot of research into Japanese parks (mostly because it seems like a lot of them are closing recently, but that is besides the point) and this has to be the most gruesome roller coaster accidents I have ever heard of. Yes, the decapitation on Batman is bad too, but that wasn't the rides nor parks fault, this however, damn dude, this is fucked
I can't believe they never changed the wheels. Pretty sure they only have a maximum of 4 years wear, with most parks replacing them every 2ish years. To use the same wheels for 15 years, not have full inspections and using bloody GLUE to hold the coaster together... I am honestly surprised this accident didn't happen way sooner.
One theory that I have is that Togo was not able to supply spare parts since they went bankrupt prior to the disaster of Expoland after Knott’s Berry Farm sued them for the failure of Windjammer Surf Racers.
I'll be travelling to Japan in a few months and wanted to check out some roller coasters while I was there. It's good to hear that safety had become a top concern recently.
When I started watching the video, I was somewhat puzzled by seeing the animation of what is obviously a Schwarzkopf coaster here, as I was not aware of an accident on a Schwarzkopf coaster in Japan. But I guess the program used to create the animation (No Limits 2?) probably doesn't have models for a Togo stand-up?
Sad Fact: This was ONE day after tragedy happened in the United States as Greensburg Kansas was taken from Earth and was rated the worlds first EF5 tornado.
I was looking for this channel cuz I remember watching it like a year or 2 ago. Did you change your channel name?? Because I remember this channel having a different name but I could be wrong, glad that you're still doing TH-cam! :)
Might just be me, but if parks close because they can't afford the maintenance they were legally required to perform, they should not have been allowed to open in the first place. I believe if every nation implemented laws like this, for any company to provide proof that they are following basic safety laws, a lot of companies would crumble but the world would be a better place for it.
I’m shocked that they even reopened, let alone the same year. Nobody died in the smiler crash but that ride was closed for almost a year afterwards. What did they expect? Millions of guests, all excited to go on the rides mere months after a death at the park?
In 2012, a 14-year-old girl fell from a free-fall tower (la tour Eiffel, a second-generation Intamin tower) at Hopi Hari Park, one of the largest in Brazil, located near São Paulo. This happened due to human failure and neglect. because of that, the tower is still closed today, the popularity of the park dropped drastically and it went bankrupt in 2017, but with a judicial recovery and a new management the park is 99%, just missing the tower to return, which was scheduled for the last year, but delayed. I think it would be a cool story to tell on your channel, to be able to show how easy it would be to prevent this accident and show some parks from other countries too, even if it's not a good reason.
How could anyone ever think that GLUE would be a viable solution for a rollercoaster, I'd definitely lie awake at night knowing that I used glue to put a coaster vehicle back together...
Does anyone know why the coaster had so many maintenance catwalks? Is that required by code in Japan? I don't think most U.S. coasters have that many long catwalks along side them.
Japanese roller coasters were requested to have catwalks along the entire length because the country is prone to earthquakes, and the thought was the shifting ground could screw up the gauge of the track and cause it to jam or valley at any point along the ride. It also gives the impression that because the entire track is easy to walk along, the track is inspected regularly. With most tracks, to get at every part requires climbing gear and thus a lot more time and effort.
It's for evacuation during earthquake, and tsunami. But somehow, after this exact accident, there's almost no Japanese rollercoaster that had catwalk anymore. All because it proven to be pointless, European Manufacture pushing the no-catwalk design, and also this accident too. You can see the legacy of it on Hakugei. Still using catwalk, but literally cut-off when the train entering 90 degree turn.
What is the point of disassembling the roller coaster trains for inspection if they find in the inspection that the wheel axels are wearing out and then don’t replace them? 🙃 Like at that point why are you even inspecting? If the issues that you find upon inspection are not fixed?
crack checking is not that expensive it involvles taking said part out and spraying with come chemicals to detect cracks, magna flux is not much more expensive. they saved pennts and people got hurt no excuse
SkyRider at Canadas Wonderland was a Togo stand up coaster! (I see you used some footage from there). I went in that ride so many times... scary to think about.
wo to think one accident is enough to scare anyone for going to amusement parks but I have to say I don't blame them for it duo to shady tactics like that to maintain a roller coaster
Out of curiosity, why don't coasters have redundancy in critical parts like wheels? I'm coming from aviation, where redundency is key to safety-- in aviation, if a single bolt failure could result in a failure, that would be a critical design flaw (no matter how strong it is)-- likewise, most systems have at least 1 duplicate, if not several. Why aren't wheels/axles redundant? Ideally, for maximum safety, a safety-critical component should be able to handle at least one failure, no?
Didn't Togo also make at least the coaster trains that used to operate in Canada's Wonderland when the Sky Rider stand-up coaster still stood and operated? Every single Togo stand-up I've been on has been a rickety mess and really slammed you around.
Was it really a questionable design by the manufacturer? I mean, the axle lasted 15 years (and thousands of ride hours) before it failed. How often was the axle supposed to be replaced?
Axle is always checked and changed every rebuild (usually once every years). It indeed can last several years, but not this much because the standard. Except if you really that bad part, like 1986 Mindbender Accident. Like WTF it already killed people, it's not even a year of operation
I think it's a good study in human psychology. We spend so much money saving a couple lives in amusement parks, but ignore the hundreds of things that pose a greater danger to our lives.
This seems more like a move that would be made in America (to epoxy something) NEVER thought this type of behavior would be in Japan. Also to NOT have up stops as double carry is very questionable. Finally to NOT change out original parts in a decade in a half???!!!!!
Dang, this accident happened 10 days before I was born (may 15, 2007) I remember herring about this when I was younger and thinking it was shockwave at kings dominion that had the accident, and little me thinking roller coasters are deadly. Now I know expoland was being shady and cheeping out like crazy, and now I’m not scared of coasters, knowing there very safe.
I don’t know about anyone else, but if I knew that people were skipping government regulations, I’d anonymously put in a letter whistleblowing. I understand that some people don’t actually know that, ie, seasonal employees that aren’t taught properly, but I would personally do my own research if I was operating something that could kill someone if something went wrong.
Just goes to show you that catwalks everywhere on the ride don't necessarily help it.. Might not have been much different without that, but it might have slowed enough to not cause a fatality if they weren't there
And indeed, there's almost no Japanese coaster that use catwalk anymore after this accident Granted the European manufacture pushed the no-catwalk design, but you can clearly see it on Hakugei, the catwalk just cut off when entering 90 degree.
Perhaps if Expoland performed proper maintenance on the ride, they would still be open to this day, and there wouldn’t be too many empty amusement parks in Japan. And this ride would’ve already turned 30 years old by now, but that would be a big maybe. Plus that 19 year old girl would still be alive, and would’ve made a great family. But nope, Expoland just HAD to be totally incompetent with how they maintained their rides, especially Fujin Raijin II, er, no wait, I’m sorry GP, “Fudgin’ Ragin’ the 2nd”… The fact that they even used glue, friggin GLUE of all things to fix the fracturing wheel assembly that should’ve been replaced a decade and a half before only further proves how incompetent they truly were! Even Action Park didn’t maintain their water slides with glue… (I mean, not that I know of, but still…)
OMG using glue wtf that's so Dangerous, this park should either be inspected properly by the right people for all the rides or be shut down , It's so Disgusting that this park ignored all safety procedures to all the guests who rode unmaintained rides, this park is a death trap, it's an accident waiting to happen, RIP to the person who died instantly on this ride my 🙏s are with there family and friends it's so sad it could of all been avoided, if the roller coaster had regular inspections, all Parks in Japan should alway put Safety of guests 1st that should be there top priority, isn't it safer to have yearly safety checks on all the parks rides than putting Guests lives at risk it's Disgusting that this roller coaster had been inspected in 15yrs OMG this ride is definitely a death trap & should be Demolished permanently.
Thing is those parks were also negligent since the tests were already required by law just not enforced so those parks were also skipping their maintenance
Makes you wonder about amusement parks in those countries where safety laws are more relaxed and/or corruption is widespread. You'd have thought Japan would be pretty safe.... and it's kinda crazy that Japanese people won't go to parks because of 1 fatal accident that happened 15 years ago, that's a pretty high bar: by that logic, you'd be a nervous wreck.
I get goosebumps when you say they "glued it back in place". Sometimes I ask myself do they forget that there are human lives on the line?
Japan has a vast history of valuing the fastest and often cheapest standards
Look at how they overpack the trains
@@iluvyurbles but its sadly not only japan. Did you see that what really happen about the guy who welded a wire into a ride to go around the security system?
@@GlutzahnLP yep, but at least they quickly caught him and he is still working in the industry, hoping he learned and such
I can't imagine how scary it is in china
@@iluvyurbles Try INDIA
If you aren't in a 3rd world country, nowadays you should be MUCH SAFER. Remember that the initial problem was to do with a slight flaw in the wheel design of this coaster, but the manufacturer knows of this and are adamant about proper upkeep. Sure you can go into the fact that they could design it better, but if there is something more the park could have done that they didn't, it is absolutely the park's fault. Too many of these accidents boil down to a ride operator fuck up or improper upkeep of roller coasters by their owners.
15 bystanders taken to the hospital due to feeling unwell is a unique bit on these what really happened videos. Never thought I'd hear that
Better safe than sorry! At the time of the accident, no one knew what had happened yet, so taking everyone to hospital if they ask just in case is the most prudent idea. Perhaps one or more of those bystanders had been hit by debris from the accident, for instance, or the damage to the coaster car could have released toxic chemicals like hydraulic fluid or other substances that could harm folks. Of course, we know now that none of that happened, and it was due to the psychological trauma of witnessing such an event, but an overabundance of caution is a good idea in these cases. As awful a job at maintenance the park did, I do have to at least commend them for accounting for any possible injuries sustained that day, even the less obvious.
Well if you witness a head being cracked like a coconut, you'd be severely ill too.
i feel unwell just hearing about it, i can’t imagine actually being there!
It is possible that witnessing the accident sent some bystanders into shock, which is a medical emergency in and of itself, as it can cause fainting (and therefore faint injuries like concussion etc.) on top of nausea and emotional distress. :(
Coaster accidents are never pretty, but the fact they had to get the bystanders to the hospital really says something.
Still, it's kind of incredible to think this was the first wreck in all of Japan, and wasn't that long ago. The majority of the parks must have been doing a better maintenance job than the US, even if it wasn't perfect.
Bigger part does, but smaller park allegedly didn't went that much
It's simply the fact that economic bubble did collapse the entire amusement park industry. And it only getting worse (at least nowadays only park closed, not the maintenance)
@@bocahdongo7769 I think the industry as a whole is struggling, too many parks have gotten used to easy profit only to have hit the wall of people no longer having the money or time to waste thanks to a lot of factors. The pandemic was the touchpoint that knocked over the first domino, but the whole industry was running just ahead of the catastrophe curve even before it hit.
Or, another factor you could be missing, is that the amusement park as an industry wasn't as big over in Japan. The Amusement Park as we know it began in 1894 in the US and a "modern" amusement park didn't become a thing in Japan until sometime in the middle of Emperor Showa's era (mid 1950s at some point). In 1950 the first kid's amusement park (vs one targeting all ages) was opened, Kiddieland.
So while this is the first wreck, it's also the first of a much younger industry than we see in the US.
@@vectorwolf That thing may one of factor too
I mention this because the economy stagnation after bubble burst did hit really hard. Especially if you look at those amusement park number growth before vs. After bubble. I think the only new amusement park exist after bubble are only Disney and Universal, but that's not Japan-based anyway
There are surely differences in scale. Such as length of operation of rides, number of people riding each ride in its lifetime, and overall number of amusement park rides in total US vs Japan. If accidents happen average 1 in 10million rides and the US has had a billion rides vs Japan having 100 million…diffeeence in scale accounts for difference in accidents more than maintenance record.
(The numbers are made up for the purpose of the illustrative example and not intended to be accurate .)
I work in the aviation industry and just the mere idea that someone decided to go with general visual inspections in place of nondestructive testing is… beyond unbelievable.
As it should be in every industry where lives depend on proper functioning of any kind of machine. Thanks to all people out there doing their job properly so that we are as safe as possible!
Unfortunately it wouldn't surprise me if there were parts of the world where similarly inadequate methods are used even in the aviation industry. Living in the EU, I am sure there is a very good reason why there are several airlines that are not allowed to operate in our airspace.😬
Boeing would if they were allowed
Even worse. They noticed how worn down the axel was in the visual inspection, but still didn't replace the part.
And the axles needed to be replaced probably every couple years or at least every 5 at the minimum. Maybe once they wore down below 1/2 way, whichever comes first.
@@RobbedemAnd if they had parts in stock, it would only take a day or two to replace the axles probably.
I appreciate that you didn't go into detail about how gruesome the injuries were to the rider. In most other reports that I have read about this incident, they really sensationalize those details. I think this is the first time I could really focus on why it happened, instead of the horror of what happened.
That's something I always try to do with my videos. It's important to understand what happened and why, not how badly someone got hurt.
I'm extrapolating the position of the headrest and railing. It's not nice. No wonder people were hospitalized by the shock of witnessing the accident 😐
@L what do you mean by "other animals fail"? I'm honestly curious, because there are many animals MUCH more evolved than we are.
@@Arlothed1no evolution doesn't select for a specific kind of intelligence lol
Imagine thinking building Rollercoasters is the peak of evolution
@@Arlothed1no
I didn't say anything about animals.
GLUE!?!!? I understand why their park ended up shutting down, I would never have gone back after hearing that.
The axles should be replaced every other year probably. Maybe every year.
Accidents like this can be nasty, but this was downright gruesome. :(
You're right.
I rode this ride in 1995 and had a very scary "incident". The seat locking mechanism that prevents the vertical adjustment for rider height failed on my seat after we left the station. Every time we experienced a negative force going over the top of a hill, my seat would fly up and slam into the stop (with my feet completely off the ground). When experiencing positive forces the seat would fully compress to the bottom stop. It was still a great ride, but I am not surprised that it had a major malfunction. Its scary to know how lax the amusement ride laws were back then.
Being honest that seems like it would be fun like that. I love when my feet come off the ground on stand up coasters. But that is pretty scary.
Yeah that sounds fun. Lol
Since I survived unhurt, it was. I was only like 14 at the time so I think I had a blast at the time. If I thought of all the accidents on coasters I've been on, id probably never ride one again. lol
It's funny that you mention that. I first rode Shockwave at Kings Dominion, the green coaster shown, in 1988. It was my first stand-up. My harness would crest and compress with the loop and bunny hills. I thought it was just how it was designed and rather enjoyed it. I rode a B & M stand-up in 2014 at Magic Mountain and it was rigid. Now SeaWorld is building their stand-up surf coaster and they are advertising how the harnesses move with the forces.
@@RomanJockMCO Magic Mountains Riddler's Revenge is awesome!
they used glue. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? it's a wonder this didn't happen sooner. I hope the holidays have been good for you Brennan.
Accidents caused by negligence make me so mad. Thanks for breaking down the root of this accident. This was just tragic, ride safety and maintenance is so, so important.
Former ride Mechanic at Kings island here. As much as we all hated to do it, we were all very stringent on NDT
Yo Tri-state area
Good to hear, I'm renewing my gold pass for the 3rd year in a row and I always wondered but never wanted to ask an employee😂
@@caseking3656 they definitely do very through work there!!!!
@@meganlouise9007Yep, repping the 513 here.
@@easyenetwork2023 did you hear they're running out of phone numbers for the 513 area code 🤣
It sucks that they didnt just replace the axles, especially after 15 years! They probably made enough money to do so
They definitely made enough money to fix it. It was their greed to keep money for themselves and unironically led to their destroyed reputation.
They had an b&m invert a ride that very little small parks have so they probably did
I've heard bits and pieces about this accident and saw pictures, but I never knew about them gluing things together. My jaw dropped hearing that
This accident confirms one of my top things for coaster-phobic people to avoid if they want to feel safe riding coasters:
Never, ever ride a coaster whose trains have only 2 wheel assemblies per car. Aim for 4 wheel assemblies so that even if 1 fails, the other 3 will hold you in place until the train valleys.
one wheel assembly per car only held on with a single bolt is a recipe for disaster when inspections are neglected to such a degree.
Even with proper maintenance an out of sight fatigue crack or manufactoring error could have led to the same outcome
i don't think that is the way of looking at this, many, many rollercoasters have only 2 wheels and operate safely the problem here is both the design and maintanence of the cars:
Design: a saftey factor of less than 2 is very concerning and only being held by one bolt is really not good, a saftey factor of less than 2 would probably be used on things running close to the edge like a race car. only being held by one bolt is also not the best, look at a large amount of B&M coasters, they only have 2 wheel carrages, but when on a ride like the B&M dive coaster you can see there are a large amount of bolts holding the wheel assembly to the car, this dosn't mean one bolt is dangerous, it just has to be designed right.
Maintanence: they literally glued parts back on to the ride, i don't think i can say much more.
in conclusion i would go on the rides with manurfactures you trust, and parks that you trust, as even with 4 wheel assemblies per car things can go wrong.
@@Jibbsie-ru2iz I mean... yeah. No disagreement with any of that, improper maintenance is almost always the culprit. The engineers who design these rides don't do enough idiot-proofing.
I've just found, in my experience, that coaster-phobic people respond more positively to being told what types of rides present the most risk which they can avoid, instead of being told that their chances of dying on any roller-coaster are 1 in 750 million. Personally, I don't worry about the number of wheel assemblies and bolts.
@@awesometwitchy I also don't worry about the number of bolts, and maintanence was definatly the larger issue (i was trying to tell them not to worry about all the other rides) but the maintanence staff should follow the manual set out by the manurfacture
That's not really true; Schwarzkopfs have had more derailing incidents than any other coaster manufacturer that I know of, and they have four wheel assemblies per car.
i love this channel, however i must admit that between all the theme park channels i watch, my mind distinguishes this one by going "this one's the guy who sounds like hiccup from how to train your dragon"
Lol
Wanna pointed out some interesting thing about this accident, most of newer Japanese rollercoaster doesn't use catwalk anymore, especially since this accident.
Not only because European manufacture pushing the no-catwalk design (which both pointless at real earthquake scenario and some rollercoaster model), also allegedly because of this accident too. You can clearly see the legacy on Hakugei (those white RMC), despite still using catwalk, but the catwalk just cut-off when the train entering 90 degree turn, whereas some extreme wooden coaster outside Japan still use full catwalk on their 90 degree turn (Like Voyage)
Also lack of those maintaining thing, it can be explain by those economic bubble crash that also collapse the entire amusement park industry. Not the sole reason, but definitely made the thing even worse
Thank you for not sensationalizing the death of the victim. I can't imagine the ungodly nightmares everyone on that train and around it must have. I hope the people responsible for this woman's death are haunted every night, though. Good god.
I always wondered how this was even possible, but you break it down honestly super simply. Much appreciated it. Rest in peace to the victim.
incredible how companies seemingly never realize, or ignore, the fact that peoples LIVES depend on them doing just a little more to make sure things dont break
I think bystanders were more likely in post-traumatic shock than "feeling sick"
Like the dreamworld accident
i would disagree because after seeing people die in horrible ways for the first few times you get a sick feeling so it would make sense seeing as what happened to that rider.
Something worth pointing out is that leaving a small gap between the side friction wheels and upstop wheels and the track wasn't some glaring mistake Togo made, it was standard practice across manufacturers. That's just how roller coasters were built at the time, for the reasons you specified; this is well demonstrated by the fact you're using a clip of a non-Togo coaster to show it off in practice. Nowadays it's more common for coaster wheel assemblies to use springs to keep the side wheels in contact with the rails while having some give, but it didn't used to be.
I am well aware that many different company's have used that design. The problem is the ride was not designed with the added stress this would cause.
It’s a very beautiful ride. Such a shame that the park was so careless in its treatment.
The most remarkable fact is that it was the first fatality on an amusement ride in Japan. That speaks volumes about the state of amusement rides elsewhere, particularly America.
Why can’t people on the internet watch a video without bringing up America lmao
@emmajones5347 this is TH-cam. Most users are American. That should be obvious.
When I first found this channel I only knew of two roller coated accidents, the Mind Bender and this one, I didn’t think you’d ever cover this accident but I’m happy you did!
It's always, a lovely thing to know how much better new coasts are much saver then 90s to 2000s Also, way better safty checks
Safer than
The design wasn't flawed at all, and it operated well for so long. With even one required maintenance during that entire timeframe, the accident could have been avoided. Shame on the park for cutting costs in an area that surely doesn't make sense.
When I first saw the picture of the wheels and how there were chunks missing my jaw dropped.
I love your videos! I don't know if you'll see this but I was hoping you could do a video on The Himalayan ride. I know there's another one that's very similar called The Polar Express. Ive never forgotten hearing that a girl died when her car flipped in June of 1999 at Coney Island. There have also been a few other deaths on that ride that I'm aware of. The thing is that this was the ride I was least afraid to ride as a kid until I started hearing of the cases.
I'll look into it!
@@CoasterCollege thank you!!!
Annual inspection = annual glue down.
pretty much
it’s shocking how long the glue lasted
I always go into stories about amusement park accidents curious about why it happened, and the answer is unfortunately almost always negligence
there's actually 4 Togo standup coasters still operational. Not just 1.
This was a good video Brennan, good job!
That moment when you screw up so badly that you cripple your entire industry.
I was really surprised that the Japanese government didn't have stronger regulations around ride safety at the time. At least they proactively changed the laws.
It's interesting to see how other countries did maintenance on their rides.
*The Shockwave at Kings Dominion is gone, but I loved the ride down memory lane with your video.*
When you own an amusement park of ANY size, SAFETY should be your FIRST priority. Prices, food, gift shops, etc. all that will fall into place. Your guests are paying for you to stay open, no guest, no park! It just boggles my mind how owners are so flippant about the safety of their rides. Larger fines need to be implemented when they don't pass inspections. Think about it, they don't fix the problem....SOMEONE is going to get hurt OR die. Would you rather pay a fine, fix the problem OR have the accident of one of your rides on your conscience the rest of your life?
When I heard they used glue I got actually mad. Like how could they even do that!
I have recently been doing a lot of research into Japanese parks (mostly because it seems like a lot of them are closing recently, but that is besides the point) and this has to be the most gruesome roller coaster accidents I have ever heard of. Yes, the decapitation on Batman is bad too, but that wasn't the rides nor parks fault, this however, damn dude, this is fucked
Thanks for the Skyrider at CW flashback! Ride it many many times! Love all your content! ❤️
What did they think would the outcome be when they glued the thing back together? There was only one way this blatant neglect was going to end...
Great video as usual!
I can't believe they never changed the wheels. Pretty sure they only have a maximum of 4 years wear, with most parks replacing them every 2ish years. To use the same wheels for 15 years, not have full inspections and using bloody GLUE to hold the coaster together... I am honestly surprised this accident didn't happen way sooner.
The incident that slowed down pretty much EVERY Operation in Japan.
With the exception of Disney universal Fuji q highlands and nagashima spaland
One theory that I have is that Togo was not able to supply spare parts since they went bankrupt prior to the disaster of Expoland after Knott’s Berry Farm sued them for the failure of Windjammer Surf Racers.
Great video as always
I'll be travelling to Japan in a few months and wanted to check out some roller coasters while I was there. It's good to hear that safety had become a top concern recently.
When I started watching the video, I was somewhat puzzled by seeing the animation of what is obviously a Schwarzkopf coaster here, as I was not aware of an accident on a Schwarzkopf coaster in Japan. But I guess the program used to create the animation (No Limits 2?) probably doesn't have models for a Togo stand-up?
That's correct
I don't think my mouth has ever stayed open from shock for so long. What the everlasting heck? Glue?!?!
7:41 Aren't there still like four or five operating around the world though, not one?
Edit: Yes, 4 to be exact. rcdb.com/r.htm?order=29&ot=2&mo=8389
Sad Fact:
This was ONE day after tragedy happened in the United States as Greensburg Kansas was taken from Earth and was rated the worlds first EF5 tornado.
That's not a very fun fact
remember folks; don't take shortcuts when other people's safety is in your hands. That's how you get in big trouble.
I was looking for this channel cuz I remember watching it like a year or 2 ago. Did you change your channel name?? Because I remember this channel having a different name but I could be wrong, glad that you're still doing TH-cam! :)
Yes, it was GP to Enthusiast, it changed about 2 years ago.
Might just be me, but if parks close because they can't afford the maintenance they were legally required to perform, they should not have been allowed to open in the first place.
I believe if every nation implemented laws like this, for any company to provide proof that they are following basic safety laws, a lot of companies would crumble but the world would be a better place for it.
It's a damn shame all those little parks had to close.
Not if they were operating at the expense of rider safety lol
I’m shocked that they even reopened, let alone the same year. Nobody died in the smiler crash but that ride was closed for almost a year afterwards. What did they expect? Millions of guests, all excited to go on the rides mere months after a death at the park?
This was some final destination shit...
In 2012, a 14-year-old girl fell from a free-fall tower (la tour Eiffel, a second-generation Intamin tower) at Hopi Hari Park, one of the largest in Brazil, located near São Paulo. This happened due to human failure and neglect. because of that, the tower is still closed today, the popularity of the park dropped drastically and it went bankrupt in 2017, but with a judicial recovery and a new management the park is 99%, just missing the tower to return, which was scheduled for the last year, but delayed. I think it would be a cool story to tell on your channel, to be able to show how easy it would be to prevent this accident and show some parks from other countries too, even if it's not a good reason.
How could anyone ever think that GLUE would be a viable solution for a rollercoaster, I'd definitely lie awake at night knowing that I used glue to put a coaster vehicle back together...
I remember riding King Cobra at Kings Island. Those TOGO bicycle seats were not very comfortable, to say the very least.
Kinda amazing that the public response had such a big impact. In general, I think that a lot of us have forgotten that ‘people power’ can be a thang.
Does anyone know why the coaster had so many maintenance catwalks? Is that required by code in Japan? I don't think most U.S. coasters have that many long catwalks along side them.
Japanese roller coasters were requested to have catwalks along the entire length because the country is prone to earthquakes, and the thought was the shifting ground could screw up the gauge of the track and cause it to jam or valley at any point along the ride. It also gives the impression that because the entire track is easy to walk along, the track is inspected regularly. With most tracks, to get at every part requires climbing gear and thus a lot more time and effort.
It's for evacuation during earthquake, and tsunami.
But somehow, after this exact accident, there's almost no Japanese rollercoaster that had catwalk anymore. All because it proven to be pointless, European Manufacture pushing the no-catwalk design, and also this accident too.
You can see the legacy of it on Hakugei. Still using catwalk, but literally cut-off when the train entering 90 degree turn.
What is the point of disassembling the roller coaster trains for inspection if they find in the inspection that the wheel axels are wearing out and then don’t replace them? 🙃 Like at that point why are you even inspecting? If the issues that you find upon inspection are not fixed?
crack checking is not that expensive it involvles taking said part out and spraying with come chemicals to detect cracks, magna flux is not much more expensive. they saved pennts and people got hurt no excuse
SkyRider at Canadas Wonderland was a Togo stand up coaster! (I see you used some footage from there).
I went in that ride so many times... scary to think about.
Definitely was a lot better maintained
What happened to the ride itself? I'm assuming it got scrapped for parts, but still curious.
It was scrapped.
I remember this happening when I was a kid living near Osaka.
wo to think one accident is enough to scare anyone for going to amusement parks but I have to say I don't blame them for it duo to shady tactics like that to maintain a roller coaster
Out of curiosity, why don't coasters have redundancy in critical parts like wheels? I'm coming from aviation, where redundency is key to safety-- in aviation, if a single bolt failure could result in a failure, that would be a critical design flaw (no matter how strong it is)-- likewise, most systems have at least 1 duplicate, if not several. Why aren't wheels/axles redundant? Ideally, for maximum safety, a safety-critical component should be able to handle at least one failure, no?
Didn't Togo also make at least the coaster trains that used to operate in Canada's Wonderland when the Sky Rider stand-up coaster still stood and operated? Every single Togo stand-up I've been on has been a rickety mess and really slammed you around.
Yes, they made that whole coaster
Hi from Toronto Canada 🇨🇦. I see Skyrider. There were never any problems with Skyrider, no accidents. What a travesty, poor girl. That's terrible.
May 5th is a holiday in Japan, makes this even more tragic
The incompetence of Expoland has always baffled me.
Am I seeing the former "Shockwave" footage from Kings Dominion?
That’s what it looks like to me.
Yes!
My prayers to her family
I am guessing there are sensors now around axles in case this happens.
Disgusting that a human life was cost just over pure laziness
Glad this never happened on king Cobra at King's Island... It was Togo's prototype. King's Island has a fantastic safety record though.
Was it really a questionable design by the manufacturer? I mean, the axle lasted 15 years (and thousands of ride hours) before it failed. How often was the axle supposed to be replaced?
My statements come directly from the accident report. I believe considering the sub par margin of safety the reports statements are reasonable.
Axle is always checked and changed every rebuild (usually once every years). It indeed can last several years, but not this much because the standard.
Except if you really that bad part, like 1986 Mindbender Accident. Like WTF it already killed people, it's not even a year of operation
I remember a gp talking about this accident
How much maintenance money is worth risking death of passengers and being liable for damages? I don't understand greedy ass companies.
I think it's a good study in human psychology. We spend so much money saving a couple lives in amusement parks, but ignore the hundreds of things that pose a greater danger to our lives.
This seems more like a move that would be made in America (to epoxy something) NEVER thought this type of behavior would be in Japan. Also to NOT have up stops as double carry is very questionable. Finally to NOT change out original parts in a decade in a half???!!!!!
Love from Osaka!
So the few remaining TOGO stand up cosaters ate still using nickel-cromium alloy for their wheel axels?
This is really sad and irresponsible. Why not just maintenance rides and be safe?! It’s a win for your customers and the parks!
Motivating factor for lack of maintenance = Money, the root of all evil.
Dang, this accident happened 10 days before I was born (may 15, 2007)
I remember herring about this when I was younger and thinking it was shockwave at kings dominion that had the accident, and little me thinking roller coasters are deadly.
Now I know expoland was being shady and cheeping out like crazy, and now I’m not scared of coasters, knowing there very safe.
I rode this twice. That double helix gives it away. It was called Shockwave at 6 Flags n at Kings dominion.
This never operated at any other parks, and always called Fujin Raijin II
I don’t know about anyone else, but if I knew that people were skipping government regulations, I’d anonymously put in a letter whistleblowing. I understand that some people don’t actually know that, ie, seasonal employees that aren’t taught properly, but I would personally do my own research if I was operating something that could kill someone if something went wrong.
15 years without replacing wheel or regular maintenance, and found not guilty... wtf?!?!?!?
nice vid
Just goes to show you that catwalks everywhere on the ride don't necessarily help it.. Might not have been much different without that, but it might have slowed enough to not cause a fatality if they weren't there
And indeed, there's almost no Japanese coaster that use catwalk anymore after this accident
Granted the European manufacture pushed the no-catwalk design, but you can clearly see it on Hakugei, the catwalk just cut off when entering 90 degree.
This ride had fallen into a state of decay.
Perhaps if Expoland performed proper maintenance on the ride, they would still be open to this day, and there wouldn’t be too many empty amusement parks in Japan. And this ride would’ve already turned 30 years old by now, but that would be a big maybe.
Plus that 19 year old girl would still be alive, and would’ve made a great family. But nope, Expoland just HAD to be totally incompetent with how they maintained their rides, especially Fujin Raijin II, er, no wait, I’m sorry GP, “Fudgin’ Ragin’ the 2nd”…
The fact that they even used glue, friggin GLUE of all things to fix the fracturing wheel assembly that should’ve been replaced a decade and a half before only further proves how incompetent they truly were! Even Action Park didn’t maintain their water slides with glue… (I mean, not that I know of, but still…)
Isn't it amazing how almost every serious ride accident can be traced back to laissez faire governments?
this is why the goverment should always have safety first and same for parks
Idea: What Really Happened on Space Journey
OMG using glue wtf that's so Dangerous, this park should either be inspected properly by the right people for all the rides or be shut down , It's so Disgusting that this park ignored all safety procedures to all the guests who rode unmaintained rides, this park is a death trap, it's an accident waiting to happen, RIP to the person who died instantly on this ride my 🙏s are with there family and friends it's so sad it could of all been avoided, if the roller coaster had regular inspections, all Parks in Japan should alway put Safety of guests 1st that should be there top priority, isn't it safer to have yearly safety checks on all the parks rides than putting Guests lives at risk it's Disgusting that this roller coaster had been inspected in 15yrs OMG this ride is definitely a death trap & should be Demolished permanently.
It's a shame that so many parks were punished by the criminal negligence of a single park.
Thing is those parks were also negligent since the tests were already required by law just not enforced so those parks were also skipping their maintenance
@@tylersmith12345 In the end, preventative maintenance is always cheaper than a crash.
Makes you wonder about amusement parks in those countries where safety laws are more relaxed and/or corruption is widespread. You'd have thought Japan would be pretty safe.... and it's kinda crazy that Japanese people won't go to parks because of 1 fatal accident that happened 15 years ago, that's a pretty high bar: by that logic, you'd be a nervous wreck.
Goof: Due to the lack of a TOGO standup in NoLimits, the coaster is portrayed as a sitdown coaster