Ken Martin works to inspect amusement attractions from a safety perspective and has been active in the industry for 30 years. He has studied several accident cases and believes that they often differ from each other. In the case of Jetline, however, there is a common denominator with previous cases.
The roller coaster “Jetline” is designed by the now defunct company Schwarzkopf. Two roller coasters by the same designer in other countries have suffered similar accidents, where people died.
– It is likely a structural fault, says Ken Martin.
The fatal accidents in Mexico and Canada
In Mexico, there was an accident in 2019, where the rear carriage of a roller coaster derailed and people fell to the ground, two of whom died. A similar accident also occurred in Canada in 1986, where a train partially derailed and three people lost their lives.
Apart from the fact that it is the same company that was behind the design of the roller coasters affected by the accident, there is the similarity that the wheels came off and that the train partially derailed.
– In this case, we have several accidents in different countries. This indicates that the problem lies with the construction itself, says Ken Martin.
Schwarzkopf has designed close to 150 roller coasters around the world. Jetline is built to Schwarzkopf’s design, and Schwarzkopf is credited as the roller coaster’s designer. It is, however, manufactured by the company Zierer.
Hasn’t happened overnight
Ken Martin emphasizes that there are several factors that contribute to most accidents that occur at amusement parks. It could be, for example, the actions of the staff, lack of controls on the attractions and the behavior of the person riding. He believes that a proper investigation must establish the causes, but does not believe that what happened is not due to a one-off event.
– I can safely say that this accident appears to have happened over time and not overnight, he says.