[Xtatic]

All of this brings back memories I have going back to my childhood, when me and two cousins went to Six Flags Astroworld (Houston, TX) somewhere in the mid 80’s. A ride called The Looping Starship had just opened that season, and my cousins wanted that to be our first ride of the day. I reluctantly agreed. I don’t mind rides that go upside down, as long as it’s fairly quick. But to be sitting upside down for 5 or more seconds (as that ride was known to do sometimes) was just more than I cared for.

So we waited in line and finally our turn was up to board the ship. This ride had three (3) safety restraints. There was a regular old seatbelt that went across your lap like in cars, there was a padded bar that moved into place and stopped over your knees, and then the padded chest and shoulder restraint much like the one on the ride this kid fell from.

The ship started moving rocking back & forth until it gained enough momentum to start making the full 360 degree loops. At first everything was fine. But just as the ride rocked enough to have my seat looking straight down to the ground, the bar that stopped just over my knees reset all the way out to the position it’s in to let passengers be seated or get up and leave when the ride’s over, and it locked into place as far out as it would go. I frantically reached out to try and pull it back and it would not move. So the ship swings back through the boarding area passing by the control booth. I yelled out “help!” as loud as I could, but with all the other passengers screaming in excitement, the booth operator had no way to hear me. Now the ride had enough momentum to make a full circle. The only two restraints holding me to my seat were the shoulder harness and the lap belt. You’re thinking that’s still enough to keep you from falling out, and you’re probably right. But as a kid (I guess I might have been 11 or 12), I was scared shitless. But try to picture the two restraints left holding me in my seat. The lap belt was pulled as tight as I could get it, but thanks to gravity, when the ride was upside down I could still feel my butt come off the seat. So that left the shoulder/chest harness to do all the work. The padded harness moved down over your shoulders and came to rest right under your chest and above your stomach. When we were upside down, all of the pressure of that restraint was on my shoulders and ribs and it hurt like hell. There was nothing I could do but just ride it out and hold onto whatever I could.

Not only that, but to add insult to injury, directly across from me on the opposite side of the ride, some dude had a can of shoal in his shirt pocket. As we were in one of our upside down positions, that can fell out of his shirt. You’ll see in the picture and video of the ride, there’s a screen type thing about 2-5’ above our heads, I guess as an added safety measure to momentarily catch all the kids that fell out of their seats and keep them from falling all the way to the ground before finally letting you fall the rest of the way when the ship starts making its turn back to it’s upright position. Anyway, when the vessel did swing back around that can fell from the above screen and cracked right on to of the head. :

When the ride was over, I remember my ribs hurting so bad from where the shoulder restraint met in the middle of my chest that it hurt to breathe for several hours. Looking back on the whole thing now, I might have enjoyed the experience more if I had known I was going to live another day, but as an 11 or 12 year old kid, it really had me scared. To this day I refuse to get on another ride that leaves you upside down for more than a second or two.

[Jerdipski]

I’m not sure if this photo has been posted. I found it on a news website along with this >>
Other images show T with two friends on the ride before it begins. The other two appear to have their harnesses pulled down lower and buckled into their seats.
The footage then shows T — who was visiting from Missouri with a friend’s family — fall from his seat when the ride was about halfway down its 122-metre descent.

[Jerdipski]

Forgot to add the image >>

[SimoneFlen']

Originally Posted by Jerdipski ↗

Forgot to add the image >>

Yep, it's here: https://www.documentingreality.com/f...ml#post7396653

[DocuRealMoose]

Originally Posted by Simone ↗

Attachment 1062387

The boy's father has spoken of the incident:


A few more images of the boy:

Attachment 1062361
Attachment 1062362
Attachment 1062388

Far left, #40:
Attachment 1062366

340#???

Lemme update that previous estimate. He hit the ground with 155 pounds of force. Wow.

[ocrage]

Originally Posted by chris ↗

Here is a picture of him on the ride. His sheer size is probably the issue here. Normally these locking arms need to fasten down three "clicks", I have a hard time imagining this was locked in the third position just looking at this angle.

sucks to say cause it is a tragedy, but buddy needed to be more self aware. if you're so big that the restraint clearly isnt fitting on you as intended then you need to just take the L and not ride.

if you look at his friends, the bottom of the restraint is basically on their thighs, while for him its not even getting pass his belly.

i feel sorry for the ride operators, they are basically minimum wage workers with no skills and are taught "if this light is green its good if its red its bad" and thats basically it. they now have to life with this the rest of their lives.

[TommyJarvisx3]

One of the articles I read said that this was the only ride he had been allowed to get on at the park because of his height/weight (6’5”/340). I was a little perplexed that the ride attendant let him ride because right away you can see his restraint is too far out. It’s not tight against him. He must have been fighting to hold on the whole way down. I’m assuming the restraint flew up once they began freefall. Once the ride stopped he fell forward and ride down to the ground.

I’ve seen hundreds of gore videos but it’s stuff like this that creeps me out. Just watching it lurch up to the top knowing what’s about to happen. I was a fat kid, I’m still a fat adult, I feel bad for him because he’s a just a fat kid who wanted to ride like his friends. I read a comment on an article and someone said “he should have known better.” Kids are stupid, kids think they’re invincible. I don’t think many kids truly think they could die in an accident like this. The friend riding with him said that he said, “something didn’t feel right.”

[cardsharksam]

Originally Posted by Awake47 ↗

I just don't like how some peoples reaction is to pull their phone out and start recording. Disgusting

Well if they didn't we would not be watching it here

[jbrook1]

They were recording before you stupid fuck.

Originally Posted by Awake47 ↗

I just don't like how some peoples reaction is to pull their phone out and start recording. Disgusting

[BiothDaSloth]

The comments claiming "he should have known better" are so fucking dumb. Blaming a victim does not make you appear intelligent at all; if you blame a kid for someone else's fuck-up then we perceive you as the total opposite of intelligent.