What Really Happened on Demon at Six Flags Great America April 18th 1998?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ส.ค. 2024
- One of the less well known roller coaster incidents for sure, in fact it's so forgotten a lot of the information about it is gone, this video aims to piece together what information is out there and come to a reasonable conclusion on the circumstances surrounding this incident.
How Roller Coaster Wheels Work: • Can Roller Coasters Fl...
Can Roller Coasters Stop Upside Down? • Roller Coaster Gets ST...
incident footage: • USA: ILLINOIS: 23 STUC...
Submit a ride related injury to ARID: forms.gle/Aysk...
Sources:
Technical Bulletin Database:
inspectors.adi...
News article describing the wheel failure:
www.chicagotri...
News article describing the wheel failure:
apnews.com/dbc...
News article covering the lawsuit:
www.nwitimes.c...
The ride on RCDB:
rcdb.com/3.htm
Discord Users who provided Photos/videos:
SixFlags_Fan
Misty Viper
Join our discord: / discord
Music Used:
Sythwave used under license from Epidemic Sound
Demon Coaster Music: • The Demon Song - Six F...
Growing up in Chicago the story was that a kid snuck on without meeting height requirement and when it got stuck he slipped out of the harness and fell to his death.
So the truth is actually much tamer.
Honestly never heard that all i know is keep your head back its a headache giver/brain scrambler but still like the ride have to ride it once almost every time i visit sad its not opening this year possibly in dec or nov 27th
...it ALWAYS is..
Yoo I have been on this ride so many times and it was my very first upside-down coaster. I never knew about this story XD.
I still didn’t know you love roller coasters plus I love your horror story reading video
There was also Six Flags Great America in California that had/has the Demon ride. I rode that when the ride first opened.
Bruh that Demon song is a b o p
third best soundtrack behind hummel brummel and wilde hilde
Forgot about the song next time i go I'm staying to listen to it and ill post the song if i can from the park
You should check out the Tales from the Okeefenokee soundtrack
Swear to god bruhhh😂😂
it creeps me out-all i can think of is like final destination 3 like thats the type of song that'd play on that coaster when it completely fell apart hahahahaha and no i do not think that'd happen in real life its just what i envision lol
are you sure they weren't stuck upside-down for 3 days?
Michael Zickefoose haha
Good Reference
Oh god, it’s back
If someone doesn't get this reference then you don't watch Enough Gp to Enthusiast
That was such a stupid claim, if a car full of people got stuck upside down for three days they would all be dead.
4:19 "Earlier passengers had reported the ride was noticeably vibrating." Yellow train on Mindbender moment D:
Forgotten Indeed! I didn't even know this ride had an accident.
Me neither
Same
I think this was my dad‘s favorite coaster
@@catvoncrimson666 That's nice. Demon is a pretty decent ride, but Goliath is my #1 favorite roller coaster at the park.
Monster Flame I don’t think I rode that one yet
Tbh the only way they could tell them to cheak the wheels more is if they wrote "cheak the God's dammed wheels" on the side of the car.
Starlinyn yes
Or they just remembered to write "checked the wheels" and still forgot to check them.
Well they did have to sticker "DON'T STEP" in caution tape on the upper wheels fenders... The young people doing summer work need a bit of help.
Cheak? Some new language or brain dead Slang? Not a typo as you typed it twice like that lol.
I was working there that day right across from the Demon. Thank you for telling this story. People truly have forgotten this.
They really haven’t, it’s one of the more well known coaster incidents
Are you going to reply to all the people in the thread that stated they had never heard about this?
Lies
Thank you, that is what it’s called The Demon.
I was a ride operator working the Trailblazer right behind the Demon that day. One of the few days I remember from back then. I loved that job, but the pay was horrid for the amount of responsibility ride operators had.
This is my "local" Six Flags. I've been on that exact ride before. That just seems so weird to me. I never knew there was an incident, even though it seems to break down a lot nowadays.
I remember riding it in the early 80s, the mist you go through, red lights. The deaths occurred on the other coaster, the wizzer/ turn of the century.
@@janes.1559 Demon was "turn of the century" they came in later and added in more inversions and re-themed. "Whizzer" the shwarzkophf coaster "jumbo jet" design has no relation to demon/turn of the century, made by arrow.
Same here. Grew up in Northbrook and used to go every summer growing up in the early 2000's. Never heard this story. Raging Bull was awesome as I remember.
Yeah last two times I’ve been there it hasn’t been in operation… used to be one of my favorites
This was my first roller coaster! I never knew about this either!
My grandpa and sister were 2 of the riders on Demon when this happened! They were sitting more towards the back of the cars though so they were on their backs and not upside down. I was 10 at the time and my sister was was 9. They never showed up to the spot they were supposed to meet my grandma and I when we were going to get something to eat after we separated because my sister and I wanted to ride different things. We didn't think anything of it and figured they were either still in line for something or just doing their own thing. We didn't even know something happened on a ride until they found us hours later and told us what happened. We (my sister and I at least) thought it was the coolest thing ever that even though you can't tell from the videos which one's they are, they were kinda on the news.
Thats a smooth $60,000 for laying on your back for 2 hours lol
@@TheWaynester101 I mean...🤔🤔🤔 When you put it like that?🤣🤣🤣
@@valencia4253 hell, i lay on my back for some mcnuggets
@@TheWaynester101 Shoot, a smooth 32ct, with 10 sauces would have me leaning back the night before Pay-day. 🤣
crazy how this happens and the only reason I ever hear people not wanting to ride the demon (myself included) is because of how rough it feels
That’s an arrow!
Also, or so I’m told by those who have worked on it, one of the trains that were being used was for a different Arrow we once had (or just from a different arrow coaster) and it messed up the already bartered ride
I rode it in 2019 and didn't see what was supposed to be so bad, re-riding plenty since there was no line. However, just like American Eagle, there's no reason why they can't call in an existing company and clean it up. Heck, Demon has had the effects going just fine, the great america IL-six flags one. They could get new trains and an upgrade from vekoma (yes i know it's an arrow, they knocked them off so bad they are basically the same from that time) with vest restraint trains. Like Blue hawk at SFOG. American Eagle could get retracking, run both sides again, and either go with GCI or gravity group for brand new trains that'd make it comfortable and magnetic brakes. They should invest some in their current rides instead of building yet another "hip/modern" 30 second coaster.
Yeah maybe my least fav at ga.. it's always throws my head into the restraint and gives me a headache for the rest of the day
its a little bitch of a coaster but its rough in the corkscrew part which did knock my jaw off center a tiny bit first time i went on it. after that i held it to the right and it was fine.
Second to last seat on the drop is honestly?? Some of the best ejector airtime in that entire park. Seriously. That brief pop is some of the best ‘jector to be found @6FGAm. Which highlights the fact that that park is sorely lacking when it comes to pure ejector airtime. There’s the Bull drop, and obviously Goliath, and then the drop on Demon (but only toward the back). Pretty crazy how a Iame little Arrow from yesteryear has some of the best ejector airtime in a world class coaster park
Lol i was NOT expecting a video about the accident on Demon, i read the title and immediately thought about the "i was stuck upside down on a roller coaster for 3 days" video.
Edit: I found an even WORSE video by The Infographics Show that was uploaded like 2 days ago
Don't remind us of that stupid video
@@bloodraven7237 the worst part of it was that people actually believed it in the comments of the original video
@@juno4127 or that it is (was?) under the education category.
@@annalisahartmann5661 oh my was it really?
That happened on the Führery 325 Jigga coaster. Something similar happened on a dangling coaster once though.
Funny, the Demon was the first large roller coaster I ever rode. Granted it was the one in “California’s Great America”; learning that there is another Demon in another Great America that is owned by a different company is kinda amazing.
Both Great Americas were owned by Marriott when they opened in 1976, so a handful of identical rides exist at both parks. They were sold to different owners later on though.
@@oceanthresher6184 Yeah, it almost feels like a twins separated at birth situation.
Broooo I live near Californias Great America. Never thought I would find someone near me on a random video. I love this guy. His videos are always bomb!
Yeah I found out back and I want to say the early 2000s that there was another Park in Gurnee Illinois and the cool thing about it is that's a lot of the rides that we had here at California's Great America that we no longer have you can find them at Six Flags Great America but here at California's Great America we also have a few noticeable attractions Six Flags Great America no longer has and it's cool if you were to walk and either Park you would kind of know where everything was
The que layout is identical. I could of swore I was looking at footage from California.
In case you're wondering, I'm going to tell you why being upside down for extended periods of time is so dangerous. Keep in mind that all I know about these dangers came from a Danger Dolan video. However, I still consider it a reliable source for this. I can't remember which video it was discussed in, but hear me out.
Your body needs to get blood to your legs on a regular basis, which is not that hard to do when you're up right. However, when you're upside down, your body has to work a lot harder to get blood to your legs, which can result in your body pulling your vital organs upwards, which can have serious and sometimes fatal consequences.
Thank you for hearing me out.
Thanks for the education! :)
also blood rushing to your head due to gravity can cause light headiness and headaches.
The blood pooling in the head is a much bigger problem. Among other things it can cause brain aneurysms and blindness, and can even cause death in as little as ten minutes. It also causes disruption to normal breathing as the lungs are not meant to operate upside down.
@@tetrafy70 I would imagine the added stress on the heart would cause heart failure as well.
@@HarrisFam09 yes, that's another definite concern. Gravity is absolutely part of how your body's circulation works so I don't think it would be too used to fighting against the process trying to go in reverse!
As my home park I’m surprised I almost never hear any GP scared because they heard of the accident and thought it was unsafe. I am really surprised because it was one of the few times a coaster has gotten stuck upside down.
Home park too; I’ve heard of the accident when I was GP, but no one ever really talks about it:
No one was majorly injured
The ride didn’t physically break the ride so it’s be unusable
Most GP who do hear of it blame it on weight distribution
But it was unsafe for those riders.
TheRadioAteMyTV they were hospitalized, but it didn’t effect their mental or physical health on a long term scale, after the hospital, most were fine
@@Galarticuno Wow, "hospitalised" "long term scale" "MOST were fine", you will make a great NASA or flight inspector with that type of perspective. "What???? It was only seven astronauts, come on, there's plenty more." "Seriously, one engine falls off, don't be a wimp!" "So a bolt was loose on a wheel, big deal, there are hundreds of them on the train." Harsh man.
I’m not defending the fact that the ride wasn’t unsafe, I’m elaborating on why it seems unheard of
Edit: spelling
It’s true, This accident has been almost totally forgotten and it’s one of the most “tragic” out there, really great video as always. Any plans in making a video about the 2003 Disneyland big thunder mountain accident?
Since nobody died and there were no amputations involved, I'd hardly call this tragic.
@Connor Snyder I know nothing about Big Thunder Mountain. The OP calls the Demon "one of the most tragic out there," when all that happened is that some people were inconvenienced and hospitalized overnight.
@@TheWickedWizardOfOz1 It could have been tragic, had someone with a weaker circulatory system was stuck up there. Someone could’ve gone blind and even died from hanging upside down for two hours. Two hours is a very, very long time to hang upside down
This is a very well known & remembered accident. Hardly forgotten
the most "tragic" thing about this incident is that it took them so long to rescue the riders
I'm a simple girl I see a video about a roller-coaster accident which I know will be true and well resurched I click.
I'm going to spell research resurch from here on out. Thanks
Research*
Dr lucia M. Calder You need to “resurch” how to spell. 🤣
@@fastdude2002 😂😂😂
@@fastdude2002 she appears to be from the UK. Some words (alot, actually...) are spelled differently than in America. "The main difference is that British English keeps the spelling of words it has absorbed from other languages, mainly French and German. Whilst American English spellings are based mostly on how the word sounds when it is spoken."
I remember this accident since this is the Six Flags I go to. (In Chicago, we always called it Great America, and never Six Flags) The rescue team had to strap everyone in a car to the car because when they released the shoulder harness, all shoulder harnesses in the car would be freed. So, the rescue would have gone faster if they were able to release one harness at a time.
I remember that!
Oh wow!
nah chicagoans call six flags never heard someone call it great america
@@zuggalon You're probably just very young. Everyone I know who is over 30, calls it Great America for short. Actually, Mariott's Great America was the park's original name. :)
Agreed, we always called it Great America.
please do a video on the river rapids ride accident at dreamworld in aus !
I still really want to know what happened and the stuff I’ve read is hard to understand and I reckon it would be a very interesting video
I found most sources to be pretty clear on what happened, but I would still like a video on it myself.
What happened there?
Water pump failure which meant once the rafts on the conveyor collided one fell with people dropping then drowning into water
@@Coolsomeone234 they actually got crushed in the conveyer as it continued to move. It was reported that they received "injuries not compatible with life". Such a sad story.
I hate to suggest another channel on a video, but Fascinating Horror did a very respectful and clear video on this accident, if you're still curious.
Very nice explanation! I love how detailed it all was, excellent work as usual.
And of course the Demon soundtrack is an absolute bop
The fact that this is my home park and I didn't even hear about it really tells you something about how these incidents get covered up so that places like Six Flags can save face.
This was all over the news at the time. You can still look it up. There is no coverup.
@@christophmatthews4313 yeah it just becomes less relevant after quite some time
same, ive been going since i was little and ive never heard of it
Me too I go to Six Flags Gurnee a lot too nothing like that has ever happened to me.
My home park as well. I remember hearing about this a lot
I remember this accident when it happened because I lived in the region and Demon was my dad’s and my favorite. I forgot about it and didn’t know about the lawsuit and likely cause. Great video and research!
Good video! I’ve heard about this before, but never knew the real reason why. You’ve earned a sub!
Are you a musician or is it just a coincidence that your coaster is also a Treble Clef? I kind of love that cross over between a coaster and a Treble Clef.
TheRadioAteMyTV I just got this picture of Fury 325 for my profile picture, and never really thought about the treble clef in it, but I do play a lot of piano, and I even have a channel for it, Will’s Piano Music! Thanks for pointing that out, I never would have noticed it otherwise!
@@willsouthern8341 Where's the link to the music channel? I think you just accidentally invented a great new logo. You should find a way to refine it and make it into products like t-shirts, even two tone would look awessome, like red on black or dark blue on black or white.
GP2E: large nuts
No one:
Me: .....pft
Heheh... nuts.
you have to inspect these large nuts daily, do you hear me? hey? what are you laughing at!! listen!
I noticed that too
Had no idea this happened! Thanks for making a video on it!
This was a cliff hanger...or loop hanger
There was a ride there named cliffhanger as well and someone got their foot stuck in the bottom of the ride. Think it happened the year after this
Finally! Coverage of an event I was present to witness as a teen at Great America! It is a rather tame story now that it’s presented like this- but it was exciting and scary to witness firsthand. Didn’t stop most from getting on the same ride later that day.
Was that song at the end written for the coaster or just its own thing? I kinda love it.
It was written for the coaster, you can listen to the full song here: th-cam.com/video/U2JjanukFx0/w-d-xo.html
You will hear this song the entire time you're in queue.
Mike P That’s the question I asked elsewhere in the comments. So it’s still played?? I don’t remember hearing it at the park.
If you listen to all the lyrics, it really sounds as if someone is making them up as they’re singing. 😂
@@StamfordBridge it's still being played but the speakers aren't that loud anymore for some reason.
Mike P They probably don’t want people to hear the words! 😂. Thanks for the answer.
Broooo, I ride this ride ALL THE TIME when I go to Six Flags 🤣 I know this story, my dad was actually AT THE PARK when it happened, but I still ride it because I LOVE this ride.
and accidents are very rare and hardly ever happen.
shit ride ngl
@@elliotmueller8989 ngl
Watching the pov of the demon is super nostalgic for me, it was the first big coaster I ever went on. It's kinda funny to hear that the black train was the one that had the problem, because the consensus among my friend group was that the black train was the one you wanted to get on because that one gave you the best ride. Also, the demon song still slaps.
I love that song. It brings back such good memories of this park when I was a kid.
I dont know what was better,
That B O P deamon soundrack
Or the actual facts
Overall great video
Yeah, That song is killer
Have you ever seen the demon?
lmao i thought this was gonna be something about everybody dying from head injuries on the corkscrew
i had an injury from the corkscrew ,minor but yeah that part of the coaster is rough till you know how to hold your head.
This was my first looping roller coaster, and it will always have a special place in my heart 🖤
I’ve been binging this series for a little bit now and I’ve learned that six flags ride ops can be very negligent
They tried to kick me out of the park (along with my whole family) after we'd each paid admission, because I had brought my own food (I have overlapping autoimmune conditions that severely limit my diet). They said we couldn't enter the park because outside food was not allowed. I couldn't eat any food for sale in the park. I ended up throwing out my food in order to get in. I was thirteen and spent the whole day, from open to close, without anything to eat.
Never went again
That song at the end would fit in wonderfully on Scooby-Doo, lol.
Fun fact: The ride was originally called the turn of the century when the park opened, it only had 2 corkscrew loops. The ride was modified a few years later adding 2 vertical loops and was renamed "the demon"
You have to be a bit older to remember this! People younger than me and even some my age don't recall this. It was painted red too, as I recall. I was too young/short to ride it when it was the Turn of the Century.
i had like no interest in rollercoasters and especially not accidents or function but these videos are SO well done with better research than I've ever seen on a YT channel (and you actually cite your sources! I also want to thank you for all the consistent detailed trigger warnings AND the timestamps to skip them it's rare on YT
I grew up near one of the larger Six Flags parks and basically every high school kid had worked there at some point and of course rumors about accidents were constantly talked about (particularly decapitation?? thats a theme amongst the wildest rumors lol) and I do believe some of them were true? There's one ride that has a bunch of complaints that has a huge drop and then an insanely deep helix that just pushes a shit ton of Gs down on you that everyone (from the time you're a kid and go on it for the first time) knows is the part where you WILL black out for a second but we've always considered it one of the most exciting parts. Is this bad??????
My cousin was one of the people that had to be evacuated from that train as it was stuck upside down!!! Let me see if I can get her to contact you!
What injuries did she suffer
I love learning more as an coaster Enthusiast.
I'm new to this channel -- and love it! Great work. As a former employee of Kings Island, in Ohio (and as someone who was working on one of the darkest days in KI's history, when three people died in the park, in June 1991), stuff like this is truly interesting to me.
I was looking for this, thank you! I was there that day, and had actually ridden the car that got stuck. My friends and I got off, and the very next time around is when it stopped upside down. We watched it happen. We watched the rescue, too.
This was my first coaster. I remember standing in line with my Dad, and hearing the Demon Theme Song. That brought back memories. “The De-mon!” It was an incredible first coaster.
Shoutout to my friend who tried to tell me this happened on Demon's sister coaster here at my home park CGA. ✌️ Great video!
I’ve ridden this ride numerous times and the fact that there was such a negligent accident makes me rethink the entire park
You're videos are always top notch! filled with facts not scare tactic BS. Love it! please keep these vids coming!
I remember this accident, and strangely, it is the accident I think about the most because The Demon was my favorite coaster as a child. I remember the live coverage as they tried to get the people off the loop, and I remember hoping the accident wasn't going to get the coaster permanently shut down.
When I worked at Six Flags Great America (for two seasons, early 2000's) You'd see maintenance walking the tracks of the huge coasters every morning, checking them.
I would get dizzy just watching them up there. Screw the rides, THAT JOB is a real adrenaline rush.
Please keep doing the what really happened series. I like those best. I had a scary experience at six flags in jersey when I was a kid.
I didn’t really forget about this accident, though I hadn’t realized you didn’t make a what really happened about it yet, I’ve been curious about this one. Thank you
i was at six flags today and went on the demon twice my mom told me about this i have never been on an upside down roller coaster b4 and i thought i died for 25 mins after
Do you know how the people got rescued? Oh, and by the way, congratulations for reaching 46K subscribers. I appreciate how you will make great educational content about a lesser-known topic.
I was wondering the same thing. Like if they took off their restraints wouldn't they have a very high risk of just free falling?
@@lubnarofiq7019 probably secured them with a harness before opening the restraints.
@@j5300 More or less, yeah. They had to individually strap each person to the car so that they could release the shoulder harnesses. And then they took down one person at a time. This is the main reason it took so long to get everyone down. (source: I lived in the area and remember the news talking about it)
Your videos are extremely helpful for people who want to know more about coasters and they're history. Most underated youtube channel ever. I show my GP friends you're videos and they ain't scared of coasters any more.
Have such fond memories of the Demon and Great America. The last time I went to Great America (many years ago) the Demon had been surpassed by several newer rides which meant no lines at all. My brother and I would ride it, run back to the beginning and immediately ride it again. I guess it's my favorite rollercoaster, if I had to pick.
There's another obscure accident that's actually from my home park, June 30 1995 incident on Timber Wolf at Worlds of Fun! theres very little out there about it that I can find, but its interesting nonetheless!
I love this series cedar point opens soon!
The Europapark is already open :)
This was really well done. Can you please investigate the California Marriott's Great America accident (and death) on Willard's Whizzer.
Thanks for making this video. I grew up with this coaster, and I remember the incident.
I've ridden this ride, it was a lot smoother and fun than I expected!
I love this coaster!
@@CoasterCollege It may not be as crazy it exotic as newer designs, but it's an absolute classic. I often recommend it to people who are looking to do their "first looping coaster" because it's not too over the top. (no pun intended)
Was literally just watching one of your past debunked videos on this and then this popped up on my feed! 😂
The ride that's similar to this at my local theme park breaks down ALL THE TIME. I've gotten stuck in it so many times because the harnesses wouldn't come up and the breaks haven't gone out at least a dozen times since I've been going there in the early 2000s. Crazy. This channel makes me think twice about everything lol
I actually got stuck on the Demon once around June, 1987, on a high school physics-class field trip (we were tasked with calculating various characteristics of the coasters - we had a really cool Physics teacher - shout out to our then-23-year old and recently-engaged Mr. Brian Wills, of Elk Grove High School, in Elk Grove Village, IL). A friend and I were fitting in one last ride before were due back on the school bus, and wouldn't it be our luck that we'd get stuck. We weren't upside-down, but were on a level part of a slow-moving area on a higher part of the ride - in fact I believe it was the stretch of track seen here between 3:09 and 3:11, right near the stairway, luckily. We were up there for maybe 30 minutes, until the staff finally decided they would let us climb down while supervised, since we were so close to the stairs. I do remember being glad the experience was also had by a few classmates who could back up my story, or I'd have been in big trouble for holding up the bus' departure schedule. I actually kind of forgot about that until seeing this video.
Hey! I was there!!! Bahahahahaha!!! Literally live 4 minutes away and was so excited on that day! Lines were nothing, and it felt like we owned the place! Till that happened..
Arrow Dynamics' roller coasters are all very reliable. I mean when was the last time you've seen an Arrow coaster go down, unless it's raining really hard? Probably very rare. I've never seen Vortex and Dragon Fire at Canada's Wonderland go down unless there's a thunderstorm. So I can definitely see this being Six Flags' fault for not doing proper maintenance.
I remember this happening on a boomerang coster in Denmark in the 80's. I was opposed with accident and had a ton of newspaper clippings of this accident.
Can you share images of your clippings here?
@@clamsclams if I can find them I will, they would be at my parents house.
Ah that sucks, maybe one day if you ever go back to their house, you can share the clippings here.
Rode this for the first time in like 20+ years yesterday, it is a really ROUGH ride now, so much so my daughter was in pain afterward and we both agreed to never ride it again. After seeing this, I'm glad I got a nostalgia ride in, but happy to not ride ever again.
This is my home park and i never heard of this accident! This is also my least favorite coaster here. But that theme song though! 😂
At least noone got hurt :)
I have been scared to the point of terror exactly twice while riding this ride. The first time was because it was the first time I ever went upside down on a roller coaster. The second time was almost exactly a month after this incident, as we exited the first loop and headed for the second. "It'll be fine," I had told my friends. "They wouldn't have re-opened it unless they had fixed it!" I had blithely stated while waving my arm. Well. My own self preservation instincts couldn't help but kick up a bit once I was actually locked into the train and hurtling down the track, controlled by nothing but gravity and however many wheel bolts hadn't worked loose that day.
Certainly made for a memorable ride, though!
You do such a spectacular job covering these incidences, love it!
I’m a little late to the comments but I remember when this happened! I live in Chicago and we would go multiple times every summer. I was terrified to go on the demon after this happened but eventually did after a couple of years.
Side note I feel like rides broke down there all the time like the giant drop and deja vu. Those we’re always getting shut down for the day.
Does anyone from Illinois remember shock wave?!
It was a terrible ride which left its riders with neck and head aches but as a kid I still went in it because it had 7 loops.
I remember shockwave, that thing got stuck all the time too but I loved it
I’m in Kenosha but I remember it
I totally remember Shock Wave. I learned the hard way not to wear earrings with posts when I rode that ride with all the head slamming against the restraints. Later I think they actually had a sign made up saying not to wear earrings. Haha, they knew. But head slamming aside, I really liked that coaster too. All those different kinds of loops were so much fun!
I was scared to death just watching Shockwave as we pulled into the park!
oh wow im early
Oh man I went to six flags every summer, I grew up in the town where this six flags is located. This happened when I was 6 years old and it became one of those stories in the playground where the details got a little fuzzy. Thank you for making this video I finally understand what happened! 😮
You’re sure that a “close visual inspection of chassis parts” would reveal a loose bolt?! Ok Mr. Super-Vision, you’re the expert.
This my park 🥺
I love roller coasters, thanks for all the videos you posted. I now know roller coasters are completely safe and nothing to worry about. It’s not the roller coaster, it’s mostly ride operators or maintenance crew not caring or sometimes it’s the riders error. There is a lot of misleading videos, and that’s why I like your videos, you are the real deal.
I remember when this happened. It was breaking news on TV in Chicagoland.
What I never understood is why they didn’t just push/pull the roller coaster through the loop and then evacuate the people when the train came to a stop.
hmmm good question. Maybe it was because at that time they didn't know why it stopped and didn't want to make things worse. I mean what if they tried that and it derailed? But it is still a good question.
1997: Walibi Belgium (Six Flags Belgium) happened the same with Sirocco (Now Psyké underground) where people were stuck in the loop for hours with lap bars. It was a Shwarzkopf shuttle loop. It was because of the lapbars, that it was a horrible and dangerous incident to be stuck in a loop.
My uncle was the owner of Martin's Fantasy Island on Grand Island, NY (not far from Buffalo, NY), and let me tell you something about cotter pins... THEY LOOK AS UNASSUMING AS ALL HELL, BUT COULD NOT BE MORE IMPORTANT!!! Often, these pins act as a second or even third safety check against bolts getting backed out or coming lose and falling off/out. Having helped out with rides and ride maintenance, I'm VERY familiar with how IMPORTANT these things are. If the safety/maintenance team missed this on inspection or were too lazy to do inspection properly, this is totally on the park's head for this disaster.
Geez, in Summer of 1985, I went on this ride several times - A year earlier, there was an accident with The Edge - I remember there were no lights on at that part of the park, but I could see its silhouette - It was creepy looking and I have never forgotten this after 36 years -
I live only some counties away from this park and the hilarious thing is that only 1 or 2 years prior to this, my parents had taken myself and my younger sister on the ride, at very young ages. It turned me off to going upside down ever (though I am thankfully, finally warming up to the idea). I know many consider Demon extremely tame, but for what was a 6-7 year old, it was incredibly frightening, idk why it hit me worse than many of my friends, but there something about that experience that was just terrifying. The only non-kid rollercoaster I was willing to ride for many years was Wizzer until finally, in 2009 at the age of 20, I was with my then gf and we rode several bigger rides, such as the American Eagle, Viper, and nearly rode (but the line was like 2 hours long) the Raging Bull.
Watching videos of roller coasters and getting into Planet Coaster a bit lately has got me really wanting to try to face this fear, so many years, ahem, DECADES later. I want to go this summer, ride Demon, Raging Bull, perhaps the Batman and others, too. We'll see! I remember this story and I remember feeling some sense of justice as a kid seeing the ride that terrified the ever-living shit out of me having a problem. Was like omg SEE?!?!?!? haha. Glad to know for sure that no one died, though! I remember seeing this on the news. What a wild thing! Thanks for the video!
Welcome to the coaster community!
I clearly remember this happening. Many years later, I found out I had a coworker who was on the ride when this happened. He says once they were all down.Six flags gave them all a pass for a free ice cream.
demon theme song SLAPS!! also!! as a former great america ride operator TY for making this video!!!
Have you ever seen the demon?
I was working and training someone in the controls when this happened. It was scary.
Classic incident. Used to spend a LOT of time at sfgam around 96-98, and this was a relatively big story in the news at the time. Interesting to hear more than the "shock" details
Love how deep you research for your videos.
The train being stuck upside-down reminds me of Sirocco at Walibi Belgium.
The causes of the accident are not the same, though.
Sirocco is a Schwarzkopf Shuttle-Loop, where a flywheel pulls on a set on cables attached to a pusher car that catapults the train into a vertical loop.
On August 27 1997 at around 5PM, as the train was being launched, that system failed (iirc some of the cables snapped, but i'm not entirely sure and can't seem to find much info about it), leading to the train having not enough speed.
It still manages to complete the loop, but when it comes back, it gets stuck right in the middle of it.
It took around 80 minutes to recover the 26 stuck riders.
That accident was very unlikely to happen, as usually the train would have rolled back.
Nobody was hurt, 9 people went to the hospital for observation but left after an hour.
The park was afraid that their reputation would be destroyed and they would have to close down, but actually it gave them a pretty nice popularity boost!
The ride is still in operation to this day under the name "Psyké Underground", but the flywheel was removed to be replaced with a magnetic launch in 2013.
This was actually a semi-regular occurrence. I was there twice when this thing locked up inside a loop.
Osha regulations specifically require visual inspection of all rollercoaster trains every day before the ride is operational
That means you get up and you take flashlight in you go over in scrutinise every single part of the train and make sure everything's working and make sure every piece is tight and nothing is allowed to be loose so whoever was supposed to inspect the train that day didn't
So here’s my story, I have seasoned gold passes at California’s Great America and I have to say, the red train which operated solo for the first part of the summer was SERIOUSLY under maintained. As you went through the 3rd inversion, (the first barrel roll) your head would practically slam against the over the shoulder restraints. Not to mention, every cycle was full from 11am to 7pm. Ever since they replaced red with yellow and orange, the ride has gone way smoother and I don’t feel like I’m going to die every time I hit that roll.
My first upside-down rollercoaster was the Demon at Paramount Great America in CA. Loved it! My dad was SO excited that I could go on coasters with him finally!
The amount of accidents that happen at 6 Flags as a whole is outrageous.
It's not really since they're one of the biggest theme park chains of course they're gonna have more accidents than a stand alone theme park since they have more rides that accidents can happen on
Yes, yes, the perfect video to watch while planning to go to Fright Fest at Great America this year.
The likelyhood of being stuck upside down on a coaster is so small that I honestly never thought it'd ever actually happened until now.
There was an accident at Knotts Berry Farm years ago where a woman fell out of the ride due to her restraints coming loose or something. The ride was called Perilous Plunge and they took out the ride years ago as well. When I was younger, the ride was operating with 1 cart and always took almost an ENTIRE HOUR to operate. Really annoying on hot summer days. I havent seen anyone talk about it on youtube and was pretty surprised.
I've never even been to this park but I've watched so many coaster videos I already know the Demon theme song. 😂 Thanks for the episode!
Thank you for doing my home park i saw this while at a Milwaukee Brewer Baseball Game they put it up on the big video board during the game
The Demon known for these "stuck" moments. I didn't experience this tragedy, but about 10 years ago we got stuck going up the lift hill. We were stuck for maybe 30-35 mins. This story was a known story in Illinois so it just felt like being stuck came with the territory
I find it interesting how just a few years later they had wheel issues with shockwave, yet another arrow. I don't know if it was the same issues that caused the wheel assembly on shockwave to fail, but it's an interesting coincidence regardless. That happened in the MCBR I believe though as opposed to the loop, so less interesting.
I am so glad you finally went over this!!!!!
Whenever I see "The Demon" I think of the Boomerang-style coaster from Wonderland Australia. I miss that place :(
I lived near six flags GA when I was a kid, also been there and rode on the demon. I remember this being on the news when it happened. It didn't deter me from riding coasters.