10 hurt in crash on Knott's Berry Farm roller coaster
An accident at Knott's Berry Farm that injured 10 people Thursday night occurred when a roller coaster car failed to make it up an incline and rolled back, slamming into another car waiting in the station, a park spokeswoman said.
The 10 people, ranging in age from 12 to 60, received minor back and neck injures and were transported in six ambulances to local hospitals, the Orange County Fire Authority said.
The park remained open for its Halloween Haunt and was scheduled to close at its normal time of 1 a.m., spokeswoman Jennifer Blazey said.
She said accident occurred shortly before 8 p.m. on the Pony Express ride. The ride "opened in 2008 and has never had any problems," Blazey said.
She said it was unclear what caused the ride to malfunction. "We'll be investigating that," she said.
-- Robert J. Lopez and Andrew Blankstein
Video: KTLA
EDITOR'S PICKS:
That ride, even if its not running properly, will still give you back problems. That Pony ride is worse then GhostRider's bulky movement. I say get rid of that lame 30sec ride, 56min wait, ride. It replaced an awsome ride, and they put in this crap. BRING the spinning ride back, or adapt big foot rapids!
Posted by: Andrew Sandoval | October 07, 2010 at 10:18 PM
too many overweight Americans?
Posted by: Jason | October 07, 2010 at 10:20 PM
GLORIA ALLRED where are you when we need you
Posted by: ambulance chaser | October 07, 2010 at 10:53 PM
so much for knotts berry farm , that's one heck of a lawsuit
Posted by: KING UNTOUCHABLE | October 07, 2010 at 10:53 PM
I second Andrew. Wilderness Scrambler was better. ACTUALLY, It was better when it was indoors on the boardwalk. I was so, so young back then....
Posted by: Meggo | October 08, 2010 at 12:30 AM
My friends and I went on that ride last night, everything was fun!!! Too bad we missed out on lots of money and life long pain! BTW Andy, the ride is pretty smooth.
Posted by: aNTONY pdUH | October 08, 2010 at 12:35 AM
Dang! Wish I could have been on that one. That would have been early retirement for me!
Posted by: LA DOC00 | October 08, 2010 at 06:40 AM
Knotts Berry Farm is a weak amusement park anyway! The best thing they have is Jelly!
Posted by: Gary K | October 08, 2010 at 07:15 AM
Knott's Berry Farm still open, how'd that happen?
Posted by: J. Christ | October 08, 2010 at 07:28 AM
ever since they changed from family owned to corporate knotts berry farm has been on decline make sure to always check restraints yourself and pay attention to the launch attendant cause they are seriously overworked and seriously underpaid. (minimum and under 9 for most)
Posted by: guest | October 08, 2010 at 07:41 AM
Can you say lawsuit?
Posted by: D.GALLO | October 08, 2010 at 09:58 AM
For an accident with no fatalities just neck and back injuries the news stations certainly wanted to stay on top of the non existant story by keeping 5 helicopters in the air disturbing residents who live around the park. Even heard more helicopters this morning for the 5 o'clock news! There was an accident, no one died - move on news media! Hope the injured sue for some $$, though!
Posted by: Megan | October 08, 2010 at 12:55 PM
There is not chain on this roller coaster, it uses a hydraulic launch system to propel the coaster train.
Posted by: Hank | October 08, 2010 at 03:51 PM
I hate to hear of stuff like this at an old "haunt." How I miss the fried chicken dinners, can't be beat.
Posted by: Victor Nawrocki | October 08, 2010 at 04:13 PM
How Scary;
Poor People
Posted by: Nancy | October 08, 2010 at 04:33 PM
@Meggo "It was better when it was indoors on the boardwalk." YES!! That cool ocean theme and the Art of Noise music really added to the experience.
Knott's is still a great park but I do miss a lot of the old stuff I loved as a kid: Knott's Beary Tales, the parachute ride, the California Missions along the sidewalk to Fiesta Village, the Soap Box Racers, and of course the little devil operating the volcano (Walter Knott's own idea to hide a drain pipe) which went away when Ghost Rider was built.
One "living antique" which I am grateful to them for preserving: Montezooma's Revenge. Still a great ride, and the only one of its kind still operating.
Posted by: BerdooDougie | October 08, 2010 at 05:48 PM
Hank: No, it's not hydraulic. You are thinking of Xcelerator. Pony Express is flywheel launched, much like Montezooma's Revenge. That said, all launched coasters with multiple trains are built with anti-rollback mechanisms. (If you watch Xcelerator launch, you will see the rollback device drop before launch, then immediately pop back up after.) Why Pony Express's mechanism didn't work in this case is the big question.
Posted by: BerdooDougie | October 08, 2010 at 05:55 PM
horrible ride to begin with.you feel like you are riding on lance armstrongs bicycle, the way you have to lean way over.its extremely short too but not safe enough for little kids but too small for adults. very unsafe ride.very little protection.
Posted by: Surfergirl26 | October 08, 2010 at 09:29 PM
Sad people, but it will be a big lawsuit on there hands.
Posted by: Kike | October 08, 2010 at 10:31 PM
Unfortunately for them, they, like most, probably don't look at their "entry ticket reciept' which on the back is a disclaimer freeing/limiting them from lawsuits due to this exact type of problem. Essentially, "by purchasing this ticket and entering our park you agree not to limited liability." Or something to that effect. Most parks have that now.
Posted by: Ouch! Not. | October 09, 2010 at 06:38 AM
I cant believe what happened its too hard to believe since its a very popular theme park but am still going to go and have fun but what i would like is that they can make sure all the rides are saved so there wont be any other accidents.
Posted by: cintia rios | October 15, 2010 at 10:36 AM