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10 injured in Pony Express rollback at Knotts Berry Farm

ECG

ECG

East Coast(er) General
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Two roller coaster cars collided Thursday night on the Pony Express ride at Knott's Berry Farm, sending 10 riders to the hospital.

According to KTLA-TV, a ride car leaving the boarding station "rolled back," slamming a second car car inside the station that was boarding other guests.

The crash happened during Knott's "Halloween Haunt" event about 8:15 p.m. on Thursday. Authorities said the injuries were minor.

The Pony Express was built at Knott's Berry Farm in 2008. It launches from zero to 38 miles per hour in 3 seconds and reaches a top speed of 40 miles per hour, relatively tame by today's roller coaster standards.

Rollbacks, while not common, are a regular occurrence on roller coasters. They happen when a ride car is not launched fast enough to make it to the top of the first lift. This can be caused by a number of factors, including wind gusts, cold weather and ride cars that don't have enough passengers and therefore they don't have enough momentum.

Most coasters have a chain lift or other device to prevent rollbacks, as well as a braking system to stop a car if it does roll back.

There's no word yet as to the cause of the Pony Express roller coaster rollback.
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http://www.gadling.com/2010/10/08/roller-coaster-crash-injures-10-people-at-knotts-berry-farm/

Video link:
http://www.ktla.com/videobeta/?watchId=11fa5fc3-0fcd-4ece-b038-da59900937a5
The first POV footage is from the CoasterForce YouTube channel.
 
I hope all of the passengers are okay. Now both of the launch driven coasters at Knott's have had accidents within a year of each other, I am sure OSHA is going to be really looking hard into this one.

Without having too much info on this at the moment, I still believe it is safe to say that in some way, shape, or form the rollback brakes failed to engage.
 
God hope they all recover fast.

Not having much luck there are they.

Seems like a big coaster design fault that cannot happen on an Intamin due to the roll back fins. Its stupid that this coaster does not have them.
 
Uncle Arly said:
Bloody hell! That video footage makes it seem like there were some serious injuries.
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How many times did that video say "no serious injuries"?

With any suspected back/neck problem they're bound to bring out the stretchers just to be on the safe side. Of course, seeing people strapped down and wheeled into ambulances looks bad, but it's just being cautious.

The first thing I would do if I was involved in a minor incident at an American park would be to cry back/neck pain...
 
East Coast(er) General said:
Video link:
http://www.ktla.com/videobeta/?watchId=11fa5fc3-0fcd-4ece-b038-da59900937a5
The first POV footage is from the CoasterForce YouTube channel.
Click to expand...

I sincerely hope, in the time hono(u)red American fashion, that you'll be opening legal proceedings for not crediting you with the footage of the credit! :p

Oh, and I suppose... "insert feigned care for the people who are injured here, yada yada yada"... seeing as that's seems to be the done thing :lol:
 
As a former Knott's employee, I can tell you the lady they interviewed had no right to answer those questions, as she was just a security person, and not a manager in any form. Green name badge is minor, red is adult, and blue/purple is supervisor, that is unless they changed it. They probably just asked the first person they saw.

Needless to say its a bad deal that it happened, yada yada, it will probably be closed for a good 3-6 months as its California. Oh well, its not liking anything good is closing.
 
"Did the chain break?" classic noob statement :lol:

Something must have went wrong with the brakes. Time to update the computer system, methinks...
 
I haven't ridden it but the various Youtube videos make it look as if the launch system is similar to an Intamin Accelerator but uses friction brakes instead of magnetic? Like Premier Rides?

Not good news anyway, especially since Xcelerator hasn't been open too long since its own incident.
 
Xpress said:
Something must have went wrong with the brakes. Time to update the computer system, methinks...
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damn windows 98.

Also I think slam is a strong word to use, a better word is "bump"
 
Oh my God I hate the news, and American news seems worse. Just repeat the same things over and over again and make this sound 1000 times worse than what it actually is why don't you?

It's a great shame that people were injured and obviously it's not a nice thing, but if it wasn't fast enough to get over the first hill, which isn't exactly tall, it can't have been rolling back that fast. There's no serious injuries, I'm sure everyone will be fine.

Obviously, it would be better if it didn't happen, and it's not a nice thing to happen, but as far as roller coaster incidents go, this one seems quite a fortunate one to be in.
 
^It's how you get views. Stupid, yes, but thats how it is.

As far as the ride.. it's fine. Accidents happen. Lets hope the people recover.
 
rickydoodle said:
I haven't ridden it but the various Youtube videos make it look as if the launch system is similar to an Intamin Accelerator but uses friction brakes instead of magnetic? Like Premier Rides?
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It uses almost exactly the same launching system as Swarzkopf electronic (not the weight drop) shuttle loops use. Infact, reshape a couple parts here and there and you have yourself one....
 
The train really couldn't have been going faster than 30-35, I mean the "hill" and launch track is not a big height difference, I imagine the amount of force the trains hit at to be a little more than not slowing down fast enough in your car and bu,ping the person in front of you, but no paint transfer or anything.
 
tomahawKSU said:
The train really couldn't have been going faster than 30-35, I mean the "hill" and launch track is not a big height difference, I imagine the amount of force the trains hit at to be a little more than not slowing down fast enough in your car and bu,ping the person in front of you, but no paint transfer or anything.
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Getting a hurt neck or back is a really easy thing to do though. When I was in a car accident when I was 13 I slipped a disk in my neck and the car that hit us was doing no more than 5mph and we were not moving.

These trains have no head supports so the persons back and neck would have taken quite a jar.
 
I know about back injuries as well and how easy they are, granted I tore a disk maxing out on squats with something like 400 pounds, but like you said, they can be the simplest things. I honestly doubt it was nothing more than a little neck or back pain, nothing a quick visit to the chiropractor can't fix (hopefully).
 
tomahawKSU said:
The train really couldn't have been going faster than 30-35, I mean the "hill" and launch track is not a big height difference, I imagine the amount of force the trains hit at to be a little more than not slowing down fast enough in your car and bu,ping the person in front of you, but no paint transfer or anything.
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There have been accidents in the past where trains have collided at 6/7mph and caused serious whiplash, fractures and other injuries - look at PMBO etc.

30-35 could be fatal...I doubt it was going that fast.

Also, it's beside the point how fast it was going, it shouldn't have happened.
 
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