Loud boom near Maverick

A sound of a cable snapping sounds like a small bomb going off???

It does when it happens inside a hollow steel box and likely whipped up against that steel box.

I can't imagine a cable snapping on Skyhawk would cause injuries to riders, but maybe swinging for 15 min. before it stopped caused a few people to get sick.

0g said:
Millennium Force had it's lift cable snap in 2001, Dragster had it's launch cable fray in 2004, and both rides are still there and running.

Well the main difference between these incidents is the fact that MF and TTD are both $25 million world-class coasters. Of course they're still running. A flat ride like Skyhawk is a totally different story.

I didn't know that about MF or TTD, and actually wish that I was still oblivious to it. lol. Maybe I will give Skyhawk a chance again...someday.

Skyhawk is a major ride that is very popular, it doesn't have to be a major coaster to be important to the park. A cable snap is not a complicated mechanical problem, though I wonder if the delay in getting the ride running has to do with problems finding the correct cable. I'm sure they will sort it out though.

Have we established it was a cable or not another internal part related/attached to the cable? Being fresh cables, it can happen, but somewhat surprised. I'm more led to believe something internally failed more than a cable but if it's a cable, it's a cable. Poor thing for skyhawk, it's such a good ride to catch flak like this through the first half of the season, it's one of the best S&S Sansei ideas that have ever hit the market honestly.

It would be nice if the park would just release an official statement about what happened. I'm hearing so many different stories about what happened. I heard the loud boom personally, so I know it was some kind of malfunction. Usually, if there were injuries, there would be a news story about it. Cedar Point never hides stuff like that from the public.

It happened less than two days ago. Relax. I'm sure there will be a story with an official comment from the park eventually.

Also, they're not going to remove Skyhawk as a result of this incident, because that would be a terrible business decision.

Austin2003 said:
A sound of a cable snapping sounds like a small bomb going off???

Those are massive steel cables, and they're most likely under a very large amount of tension. The sound of one completely breaking would be very loud. Also as someone said, since it's enclosed, it likely slammed into the metal housing after breaking. So I wouldn't be surprised if it was an extremely loud noise.

djDaemon said:
It happened less than two days ago. Relax. I'm sure there will be a story with an official comment from the park eventually.

Also, they're not going to remove Skyhawk as a result of this incident, because that would be a terrible business decision.

And STR had an incident today and it's already in the news, because someone was injured. Nobody must have been hurt on Skyhawk, the medics and police were probably just there (as least according to some users here, I didn't see them myself as I was in line for Maverick) as a precaution. If somebody was injured, we would know it by now.

I've spent my entire career in the auto industry working around massive stamping presses. They utilize huge air cylinders (similar to the ones which drive Skyhawk) to counter balance the weight of the upper rams. I was present when one of those cylinder shafts broke. It definitely sounded like a bomb. So the sound at Skyhawk was probably the sound of the piston "bottoming out" under pressure, when the load was instantaneously removed when the cable broke.

How laughable is our society that every loud noise 'sounds like a bomb'?

Kinda like how everything 'tastes like chicken'?

I was looking at Skyhawk tonight (7/19) I did not see any of the cables hanging slack. Of course maintenance may have tidied-up since the incident.

Also noticed Shoot the Rapids roped off with many members of security and a few maintenance folks around as well as up on he ride.

Has anyone been near Skyhawk lately, was it open(doubt it) or were there people working on it?

Not running Sunday, and saw no work in the area. I didn't notice anything out of place though.

I'm dying to get any information on when it could possibly open again!!

Odds are there won't be an announcement of an impending opening. When it does open, it's a safe bet that someone will post in a relevant thread to make everyone aware.