64: Verrückt Waterslide

About this episode

Spurred on to build the tallest and fastest Waterslide in the world by a Travel Channel show about Waterparks, the owners of the Kansas City Schlitterbahn Waterpark designed and built the Verrückt Waterslide in record time. A net enclosed the ride and on its third Summer Season a 10 Year Old boy died on impact with that netting mid-ride. We look at how design decisions, subsequent modifications and assumptions made this incident inevitable...but also how it could have easily been prevented. With John Chidgey. News Articles: • Water slide that decapitated 10-year-old boy • Kansas water slide death: 10yo son of Scott Schwab killed • Women with boy in ill-fated waterslide raft speak out • Trial of Schlitterbahn maintenance workers opens | Kansas City Star • World’s tallest waterslide • Court Grants Permission To Destroy World’s Tallest Waterslide • Designer of Schlitterbahn slide that decapitated boy arrested at DFW • Kansas lawmakers approve amusement ride law following child’s death • Kansas water slides remain closed after new law • Verrückt water slide timeline of events • Charges laid over tragic death of Caleb Schwab on world’s tallest waterslide Commentary Articl