The roller coaster at the Asakusa Hanayashiki amusement park in Taito-ku, Tokyo.Seven roller coasters examined in emergency inspections following a fatal accident at an amusement park in Osaka Prefecture had problems such as worn wheels and cracked axles, it has emerged.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Wednesday announced the results of its emergency inspection of roller coasters around the nation. A total of 306 roller coasters were to be subject to the inspections, and problems were found with seven of the 256 roller coasters whose inspections have already finished.

Ministry officials said that failing to deal with the problems could lead to an accident.

The inspection also found that operators of 119 roller coasters, nearly 40 percent of the total number, had not carried out annual flaw inspections as required by Japanese Industrial Standards. A total of 72 of the 306 roller coasters, or about 24 percent of the total number, had never once been inspected for flaws, the ministry investigation found.

The seven problem roller coasters were the roller coaster at the Asakusa Hanayashiki amusement park in Tokyo; the Dendenmushi and Garion rides at Tama Tech; the Highway Coaster and Monkey Coaster at Japan Monkey Park in Aichi Prefecture; the roller coaster at Senkoji Park Greenland in Hiroshima Prefecture; and the roller coaster at Wonder Rakutenchi in Oita Prefecture.

Of the seven problem roller coasters, only the one at Senkoji Park Greenland had undergone yearly flaw inspections. The operators of these roller coasters had not announced any problems in regular inspections.

Senkoji Park Greenland is in the process of replacing parts on its roller coaster. Operators of the other six rides have already reportedly corrected the problems.

Inspections of 50 rides had not been completed by the time the ministry announced the results of its investigation. These facilities reportedly gave reasons such as not being able to make bookings with the companies that performed the inspections.

Following the fatal accident, which occurred at the Expoland amusement park in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, on May 5, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry launched an emergency inspection of all roller coasters and elevated rides on rails that had slopes of 5 degrees or more.

The results of the inspections are listed on the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry's Web site. (Mainichi)

May 23, 2007

Source: Mainichi Daily News on msn

Gruß
Marcel
Aus Liebe zum Spiel wird alles super.

Grüße, Stefan