Skyhawk Cable Snap - July 26, 2014

One arm

e x i t english said:
My guess is it will be running in Def Leppard mode for a while.

Nice! Twisted....but nice!

I assumed it meant one arm - but I don't get the reference to Def Leppard. I know jokes get less funny when you have to explain them - but please do.

Def Leppard's drummer only has one arm.

Thanks - sorry for being a dolt

State inspectors on site now on lift examining side that snapped cable.

I thought the state wasn't inspecting it because nobody was admitted to the hospital overnight.

They have to re-certify the ride before it can open.

Maybe not state, but someone is all over it right now.

Thanks guys! I'm here all week. :-P

But Def Leppard has 9 arms and sucks.

The state is not investigating the accident, as they have stated in the media. However, they still need to inspect and re-certify the ride before Cedar Point can legally reopen Skyhawk to the public.

The state still has to inspect and certify the ride before it reopens.

The state will not do a formal investigation of CP or Cedar Point because none of the injuries required hospitalization.

topthrilldragster4lyf said:
The state is not investigating the accident, as they have stated in the media. However, they still need to inspect and re-certify the ride before Cedar Point can legally reopen Skyhawk to the public.

What triggers an inspect/recertify? Is it simply because something broke while the ride was open to the public? If something breaks during pre-park opening testing is a recertification needed?

I would think that any major modification or repair would trigger it. Repairing a cable could possibly be major?

Another fansite posted that SkyHawk is running with one side open.

Yes - Skyhawk is open now with only one side running.

That's quicker than I expected it to reopen.

That's less than a week. I would have thought it would have taken longer but if they know exactly what went wrong then I guess it's just a matter of confirming that the problem doesn't exist on the other side.

Jeff said:
I don't think anyone should assume the wire broke and not some component of the fastener at the top.

And we'll never hear why it failed.

I think you are correct on all points here.

First, when I visited the site on the day after the incident, there was no manlift at the ride. Is this meaningful? I have no idea. But it seems that while working on the ride they have tended to leave the lift on site. In my photos, you can see that the rope is completely gone from the ride. If the rope had failed, I would have expected the threaded rod to have remained in the upper bracket, with a bit of frayed rope still attached. They would not have dragged out the manlift, removed the threaded rod, then put the manlift away.

Second, as big as that rope is, I am not certain it could have done the damage it did alone, because wire rope is somewhat flexible. Threaded rod, on the other hand, is not. I suspect the threaded rod formed the 'head' of an effective rope hammer.

Third, if the rope did not fail, there are few points of possible failure. The rope is clamped to a threaded rod, which is attached to the bracket by a double nut. Presumably the threaded rod is used as the adjustment means for the rope, much like a turnbuckle, but with fewer points of failure. My guess is that either the nuts came off (unlikely) or the threaded rod broke at the base of the middle nut.

Finally, while I do know people who know stuff at Cedar Point, I also know that the odds of having my theory officially or unofficially confirmed or denied are pretty much 0. And even if I do get unofficial confirmation, the odds of me being able to share that information are also pretty much 0. Our best chance of getting the real story is for S&S to issue a maintenance bulletin describing a vaguely similar sort of incident.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.