Movie World Scheduled Maintenance 2024

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

On 29/11/2024 at 3:22 PM, Baconjack said:

Wonder if this is a manufacturer recommendation from Intamin or it is another insurance broker’s decision given there is no precedent on other installs throughout the world I am aware of

I know that, for MACK at least, the seatbelt thing is a manufacturer requirement - this is because if a seatbelt is done up prior to ops check, then their 'push-pull' check is only testing the seatbelt, not the hydraulic locking mechanism. Operations push-pull on the harness to ensure it is down and locked, and then do up the seatbelt as it is only the supplemental restraint. I don't think Intamin is about to revise their procedures this late in the accelerator game, and judging by other reports, it wasn't a requirement at other times. 

It is plausible that the operator who we're discussing here was having a busy day and accidentally spieled their Rivals spiel instead of their Superman spiel. it's easy to do. They possibly got ribbed for it by the other ops after dispatch.

On 29/11/2024 at 11:55 PM, TV15 said:

The seatbelts on SE are completely unnecessary, they can be undone at any point in the ride. Essentially a piece of mind feature. If they're not needed on a ride don't have it. It slows down ops. FSF was delayed due to the secondary restraint locking system (the seatbelt) it's a clever, completely custom design that doesn't allow for the seatbelt to be undone during the ride.

They aren't completely unnecessary, and I believe we've discussed the superman seatbelt previously - the receiver has wiring going to it. Presumably ops can tell if a seatbelt isn't done up. It may only be in the station, but it could also be at the launch track too

On 30/11/2024 at 6:27 AM, Levi said:

one thing i’ll never understand is not being able to do up our own seat belts, especially with rides such as Superman and Rivals. people have been doing up their own seatbelts on Superman for 18 years, and Rivals for 3 years before covid, atleast Steel Taipan and Flash actually opened with those rules (even if SurfRider didn’t have that rule.) i wonder if we’ll be able to do the seatbelt on fotww ourselves or not.

For Rivals at least, see above.

As for the view that "we did it for years, so why change now" - that sort of thinking leads to killing people. If you identify a risk or experience an incident which leads you to review your current processes and decide to change those processes to reduce or eliminate that risk, you should.

When you don't, you end up with a home-made ride built in house that relies on one operator to oversee massive amounts of moving parts, with failing infrastructure causing regular shutdowns, and a history of the exact same incident occurring in the past, without taking any actions to prevent possible fatalities that did unfortunately eventuate.

On 01/12/2024 at 12:51 AM, Baconjack said:

Legally speaking in most parts of the world rides of Superman's level of thrill are required to have fail safes in their restraint design which is what the seat belt is for. All accelerators are delivered with such to be compliant with regulations. No idea what the go is with australia standards but I'd assume they are very similar to what you see in America and Europe.

Putting it all very simply - All rides have to have a redundant restraint system. Many manufacturers ship their attractions with a dual hydraulic lock - essentially two separate cylinders that both lock, so if one fails, the other will hold. That qualifies as a redundant restraint system in most of the world.

Australia however considers that the secondary restraint has to be of a different type to the primary restraint - ie: they can't both be hydraulic locks. The reason why is because of a perception that the potential failure to one hydraulic cylinder could theoretically happen to both cylinders simultaneously given that the equipment is the same age, is put through the same forces, is maintained by the same people using the same replacement parts, etc etc. 

For example (and this is just a napkin hypothetical, i'm not a hydraulic expert), it is possible that contaminated hydraulic fluid could enter both systems and block a valve or develop a slow leak or similar. While extraordinarily rare for that to happen twice and at the same time, it's possible. Having an alternate locking method that can't fail in the same way as the primary restraint is technically safer as something that can cause one system to fail is unlikely to cause the other to fail.

 

[Spotty]

On 30/11/2024 at 12:55 AM, TV15 said:

The seatbelts on SE are completely unnecessary, they can be undone at any point in the ride. Essentially a piece of mind feature. If they're not needed on a ride don't have it. It slows down ops. FSF was delayed due to the secondary restraint locking system (the seatbelt) it's a clever, completely custom design that doesn't allow for the seatbelt to be undone during the ride.

If a seatbelt is undone at any point during the dark ride section of Superman, the ride will automatically e-stop. The seatbelts have sensors to tell if they are buckled or not, if not buckled the ride will not dispatch. Also if the unloader accidentally leaves a seatbelt buckled when coming into the load station, that seat can not be used for the next cycle as the system will basically have a panic attack and not allow it to be unlocked until it comes back to unload. (That part of the system honestly is so stupid but it is what it is).

[wikiverse]

Here are some useful resources for anyone wanting to dig deeper:

For those who want to spend $263 - AS 3533.1-2009 is the Australian Standard for amusement devices, Page 30 for info about containment and restraint.  This is for design and manufacturing of amusement devices.

https://www.intertekinform.com/en-au/standards/as-3533-1-2009-123064_saig_as_as_274721/

 

Worksafe Qld code of conduct (for operators, not manufacturers):

https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/118501/amusement-devices-cop-2023.pdf

 

Safework Aus guide for amusement devices (federal version of the above):

https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-10/amusement-devices-general-guide_-_updated_september_2022_1.pdf

[mba2012]

1 hour ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Putting it all very simply - All rides have to have a redundant restraint system. Many manufacturers ship their attractions with a dual hydraulic lock - essentially two separate cylinders that both lock, so if one fails, the other will hold. That qualifies as a redundant restraint system in most of the world.

Australia however considers that the secondary restraint has to be of a different type to the primary restraint - ie: they can't both be hydraulic locks. The reason why is because of a perception that the potential failure to one hydraulic cylinder could theoretically happen to both cylinders simultaneously given that the equipment is the same age, is put through the same forces, is maintained by the same people using the same replacement parts, etc etc. 

For example (and this is just a napkin hypothetical, i'm not a hydraulic expert), it is possible that contaminated hydraulic fluid could enter both systems and block a valve or develop a slow leak or similar. While extraordinarily rare for that to happen twice and at the same time, it's possible. Having an alternate locking method that can't fail in the same way as the primary restraint is technically safer as something that can cause one system to fail is unlikely to cause the other to fail.

It appears that the requirement for a tertiary locking system isn't restricted just to Australia. Notably both Mack extreme spinners as well as Voltron both have a mechanical locking system, as well as the hydraulic system (which I imagine is still dual-redundant). This gets activated after the push pull (which is done automatically on the extreme spinner trains), and also prevents the harness from further closing during the ride. I'm not sure how these work exactly, but I've wondered if it's a system that could be adopted to satisfy the requirements in Australia.

[Levram__]

On 29/11/2024 at 7:34 PM, Naazon said:

I work in the insurance industry. Brokers, or more specifically the underwriters don't have the final say, but they do set the premiums based on perceived "risk" and VRTP is money first. I've heard some crazy specific rules imposed by insurance, not specifically for theme parks but Aus Zoo in the past, and car dealerships more recently.

Agree, this is a more accurate depiction of an insurers influence. You will often find that the "suggestion" or sometimes influence can come from the risk assessors for the particular underwriter. I've dealt with these particular roles within my role in the industry on a number of occasions. 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

2 hours ago, mba2012 said:

It appears that the requirement for a tertiary locking system isn't restricted just to Australia. Notably both Mack extreme spinners as well as Voltron both have a mechanical locking system, as well as the hydraulic system (which I imagine is still dual-redundant). This gets activated after the push pull (which is done automatically on the extreme spinner trains), and also prevents the harness from further closing during the ride. I'm not sure how these work exactly, but I've wondered if it's a system that could be adopted to satisfy the requirements in Australia.

Now that you mention it, I seem to recall Flying Dinosaur had this type of mechanical secondary restraint whereby a pin locked into the restraint after the restraint was checked. 

 

[Brad2912]

2 minutes ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Now that you mention it, I seem to recall Flying Dinosaur had this type of mechanical secondary restraint whereby a pin locked into the restraint after the restraint was checked. 

 

recall something similar, there was some magnetic function involved 

[Ash]

If anyone was wanting to go today, don’t bother every major ride is shut. Was terrible 

[Brad2912]

15 minutes ago, Ash said:

If anyone was wanting to go today, don’t bother every major ride is shut. Was terrible 

According to the page only SE, GL and SDSC is closed 

which other rides are closed