Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure was the world's tallest rollercoaster for 19 years
Intamin Amusement Rides is a design and manufacturing company inSchaan,Liechtenstein, best-known for designing and constructingthrill rides androller coasters at dozens of internationaltheme parks,amusement parks and other establishments. The Intamin brand name is asyllabic abbreviation for "international amusement installations". The company has corporate offices across the world, including three in Europe, three in Asia, and two in the United States.
Intamin created the firsthydraulic launch system (known as theAccelerator Coaster), which catapults roller coaster trains from standstill to speeds upwards of 240 kilometres per hour (150 mph) in a few seconds before climbing to immense heights.Kingda Ka atSix Flags Great Adventure, for instance, was North America's tallest and fastest coaster, launching riders from 0–128 mph (206 km/h) in 3.5 seconds.[2]
Intamin uses computerized and industrialized engineering and manufacturing methods for its wooden coasters, rather than traditional on-site fabrication.[3] Coasters such asColossos atHeide Park,Balder atLiseberg andEl Toro atSix Flags Great Adventure utilized this manufacturing technique. Unlike other traditional wood coasters, these rides use prefabricated track sections made of a high-strength wooden laminate that can be secured on-site when the superstructure is completed. This design enables the coaster to reach speeds and navigate course elements smoothly, like a steel roller coaster, while retaining the look and some of the traditional feel of common wooden coasters.[3]
Sky Whirl, the world's first triple Ferris wheel, which debuted at both Marriott's Great America parks (nowSix Flags Great America,Gurnee, Illinois, andCalifornia's Great America,Santa Clara) in 1976, was also manufactured by Waagner-Biro and brokered by Intamin. Also known as a triple Ferris wheel,[4] Triple Giant Wheel,[5] or Triple Tree Wheel, it was 33 metres (108 ft) in height.[6] The Santa Clara ride, renamed Triple Wheel in post-Marriott years, closed on 1 September 1997. The Gurnee ride closed in 2000.[7]
TheOrlando Eye, which opened in April 2015, was designed and built by Intamin.[8]
Outside the amusement realm, Intamin suppliesmonorailtransportation systems which are used in both public transport networks and at tourist attractions across the world. Intamin was responsible for the design and building of theMoscow Monorail (Russian:Московская Монорельсовая Транспортная Система (ММТС)), which is 4.7 kilometres (2.9 mi) long and is located in theNorth-Eastern Administrative Okrug ofMoscow,Russia, running from theTimiryazevskaya metro station to Sergeya Eisensteina street. Planning of the monorail started in 1998. It has six stations.
Intamin has been in the news for a number of safety-related incidents, though given the company’s long history, virtually all of the rides in this section have already been removed or modified to run incident-free.
In 1984, three passengers ridingThe Edge atSix Flags Great America were injured and briefly hospitalized. The ride experienced a malfunction that caused it to fall backward down the wrong shaft.[12]
On June 9, 1991, 32-year-old Candy Taylor ofToledo, Ohio, fell to her death from Flight Commander, an Intamin Flight Trainer, located atKings Island. Investigators determined that a design flaw in the seat divider could allow a rider to slide into an unoccupied seat and become free from the restraint. A coroner's report later revealed that the victim had a blood-alcohol level of 0.30 which may have also contributed. Speculation suggests the rider lost consciousness during the ride and slid out from the restraints.[13][14]
On May 16, 1999, a 365 lb (166 kg) guest was unable to close his lap bar onRide of Steel atSix Flags Darien Lake. As a result, he was ejected, fell approximately 9 feet as the ride went over a camel hump hill, and suffered serious injuries. He sued the park and the ride manufacturer for negligence and was awarded US$3.95 million.[15]
In August 1999, a 12-year-old mentally disabled boy fell from the 207-foot (63 m) highDrop Tower: Scream Zone, atCalifornia's Great America, and died. The victim's family claimed his harness was not locked properly. An investigation was inconclusive and no charges were filed.[16][17]
In September 2001, a 40-year-old woman fell fromPerilous Plunge (Knott's Berry Farm) into the water, was hit by the boat, and died. An investigation showed that the 300 lb (140 kg) woman had loosened the safety restraints, so she could fit more comfortably into the ride.[18]
On April 16, 2004, a 16-year-old girl fromPontypool was killed after falling approximately 30 m (100 ft) into shallow water from the top of Hydro (now called Drenched) atOakwood Leisure Park,Narberth, Pembrokeshire,United Kingdom.[19] During a lawsuit brought by the victim's family against Oakwood, a jury returned a narrative verdict stating that the victim had fallen out due to being improperly restrained.[20]
The second incident of 2004 was on one of Intamin's mega coasters,Superman: Ride of Steel, atSix Flags New England inMassachusetts. The ride, again with lap bar restraints, was dispatched with a rider who hadcerebral palsy in the front seat; this passenger subsequently died after being ejected from his seat. According to an investigation,[21] the ride operators were primarily to blame, for not ensuring the rider was properly secured. Intamin was also partially blamed, as the ride's safety system allowed the train to be dispatched without all of the restraints properly secured.
The third incident of 2004 happened on July 14, onCedar Point'sTop Thrill Dragster. During the initial launch, in which the train accelerates from 0 to 120 miles per hour (190 km/h) in 4 seconds, the riders were struck by metal debris that sheared off from the coaster's launch cable. The majority of guests waiting in the queue line would be standing no more than 10 to 15 feet from the track, at closest range. They were treated at the park's first aid station. Two were further treated at Firelands Regional Medical Center.[22]
In June 2007, a 13-year-old girl lost both feet at the ankles on Superman: Tower of Power, atSix Flags Kentucky Kingdom, when a ride malfunction and improper maintenance caused a cable to snap.[23] She was brought to the hospital in critical condition,[24] but survived, with doctors being able to re-attach her right foot. The park was later fined $1,000 for not properly maintaining the ride; an undisclosed settlement was later reached with Six Flags, which will provide for her for the remainder of her life.[25]
On September 16, 2009, two guests were injured when the launch cable snapped onXcelerator atKnott's Berry Farm. The train launches riders from 0 to 80 miles per hour in a matter of seconds, ascends a vertical top-hat, and descends down the other side. The 12-year-old victim hadlacerations on his leg, while the adult victim complained of back injuries.[26]
On April 29, 2010, a ride train onExpedition GeForce partially derailed from the track, fully occupied with passengers. Riders were stranded 20m in the air, with eight of them complaining of nausea and bruising.[27]
On July 8, 2011, a 29-year-old guest was killed when he was ejected fromSuperman: Ride of Steel. The rider, an Iraq War veteran whose legs had been amputated, was on the front row of the roller coaster when he was thrown from the train during the course of the ride. Park officials stated that the ride was in proper mechanical order and that the various safety restraints were also working normally at the time of the incident, but that the attraction would remain closed pending an investigation. It was determined that ride operators at the time should not have permitted the man to get on the ride, due to his status as a double amputee.[28]
On February 24, 2012, a 14-year-old girl died in an accident atHopi Hari,Vinhedo,São Paulo State,Brazil. She fell from theLa Tour Eiffeldrop tower ride, suffered cranial trauma, and died on the way to hospital. Initial investigations suggested the possibility of mechanical failure in a restraint latch.[29]
On July 24, 2012, the launch cable of the accelerator coasterRita at Alton Towers, Staffordshire, UK, snapped during a morning test run. There were no passengers aboard at the time and no injuries occurred.[30]
On July 19, 2013, a boat on theShoot the Rapidslog flume (atCedar Point) rolled back down the ride's lift hill and flipped over, injuring seven, and was said to leave them stranded under water for a few minutes before guests and park employees could get them out. Six were cleared by park medical staff, and one was examined at a local hospital before being released. The ride closed during the investigation. Cedar Point reopened the ride in May 2014 but it would close in 2015.[31]
On May 9, 2017, an 11-year-old girl, Evha Jannath, died from her injuries after she fell from the Splash Canyon ride and into the water atDrayton Manor Theme Park inEngland. The water ride remained closed between 2017 and 2021 following the HSE safety examination. It reopened as River Rapids in 2021, rethemed and refurbished into a tamer ride with gated boats.[33][34]
On July 3, 2021, an 11-year-old boy died and five others were injured on the Raging River at Adventureland Park in Altoona, Iowa when their raft flipped over. The raft was found to be under inflated by the park staff, and the ride's emergency drainage system failed due to lack of maintenance.[35][36]
On August 15, 2021, a female guest was seriously injured while standing in line at Cedar Point when a metal object dislodged fromTop Thrill Dragster and struck her in the head.[37] The ride was shut down following the incident, and remained standing but not operating until Cedar Point announced its retirement in 2022.[38] In 2024, the ride would reopen asTop Thrill 2, following significant modifications.
On April 7, 2023, two female guests were injured atFuturoscope, a French theme park, when a lithium battery on a train car caught fire. The guests suffered burns and were hospitalized. Park employees exposed to lithium fumes were treated on premises. The ride has reopened in June without the spinning feature.[39]
^abPan, Phil (2003). "Colossos: Can a coaster be too good for itself".RollerCoaster! Magazine. Vol. 24, no. 3. Mission, Kansas: American Coaster Enthusiasts. p. 24.ISSN0896-7261.
