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Designer of Kansas water slide arrested after it decapitated 10-year-old boy

Caleb Schwab died on the 17-story water slide in 2016 after his raft went airborne and hit an overhead loop.

Water Park Fatality Charge A waterslide in the water park where the 10-year-old boy died Charlie Riedel Charlie Riedel

FEDERAL AUTHORITIES IN Dallas, Texas have arrested one of the designers of a Kansas water park slide that decapitated a 10-year-old boy.

72-year-old John Timothy Schooley was met by agents at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport late last night, according to Trent Touchstone, chief deputy with the US Marshals Service in Dallas.

Schooley will be held in Dallas pending his arraignment and extradition to Kansas on charges that include second-degree murder.

A Kansas grand jury last week indicted Schooley and Jeffrey Henry, a co-owner of Texas-based Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts.

The indictment alleges Schooley lacked technical or engineering expertise in amusement park rides.

Caleb Schwab died on the 17-story Verruckt ride in 2016 when the raft he was riding went airborne and hit an overhead loop.

Audit

The state Department of Labor has said it plans to conduct a full audit of the water park’s inspection records before it reopens this Spring.

It said it will review daily inspections of rides by park staff at the Schlitterbahn park, before it is scheduled to reopen on 25 May for its annual season.

State law allows parks to have their own staff do daily inspections and to have private inspectors do the annual inspections, rather than state inspectors.

The inspectors doing the annual reviews must be either licensed engineers with two years’ experience with amusement rides, have five years’ experience in inspecting rides or have been certified by one of three industry groups.

The department said the audit will show whether the park has been conducting the required inspections and maintaining proper records on them as it prepares to reopen for the season.

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    Mute Shane McGrath
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    Apr 3rd 2018, 2:23 PM

    This is a nightmare…

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    Mute Ths Fer
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    Apr 3rd 2018, 2:58 PM

    They’re preparing to reopen for the season??!

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    Mute Karl Charlie O'Reilly
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    Apr 3rd 2018, 3:21 PM

    dont arrest the guy who designed it arrest the guy who hired an unskilled person to design it

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    Mute Pat Bateman
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    Apr 3rd 2018, 3:24 PM

    @Karl Charlie O’Reilly: no arrest the guy who hired the guy who hired the unskilled person to design it

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    Mute Jay Coleman
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    Apr 3rd 2018, 3:35 PM

    @Pat Bateman: it wasn’t an unskilled person. This ride was designed by a guy with no previous experience of it. At one particular point people have fallen out of their seats and hit the safety nets as it was going so fast. In the states the ride must be tested on a daily basis and no staff would ever volunteer to do it, they had to be picked. Both head guys were warned time and time again how dangerous it was and chose to ignore it choosing the infamy of having the fastest and most dangerous ride in the world. Read up on it.

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    Mute Jay Coleman
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    Apr 3rd 2018, 3:37 PM
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    Mute Johnny Bellew
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    Apr 3rd 2018, 3:47 PM

    @Jay Coleman: The age limit to use the slide was originally set at 14 years old. There was also a minimum weight limit. There are test runs available online which show the raft flying several metres into the air even though it was weighed down with a ballast.

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    Mute I'm not wavy gravy
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    Apr 3rd 2018, 2:27 PM

    Jesus that’s horrific the poor lad

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    Mute Daniel Donovan
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    Apr 3rd 2018, 2:43 PM

    That’s fxcking horrible. Poor lad and family.

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    Mute Catherine Sims
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    Apr 3rd 2018, 2:19 PM

    Wtf

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    Mute Michael Kelly
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    Apr 3rd 2018, 3:44 PM

    That netting that you can see in ‘a Waterslide in the same park’, Could it not have been used on ALL those type of slides..? Or some type of undercasters to hold the ‘Carriages’ in place where there would be high speed & height..?
    Ffs, why does a fatality always bring these matters to light, when they could of easily have been predicted.? You know like, crash test dummies & that sort of thing….? GOD REST to the Child & Prayers & Blessings to his Parents & Family…Horrific.

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    Mute Carina Clarke
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    Apr 3rd 2018, 3:26 PM

    Its like Ireland. Plenty of time to get the paperwork in order so, the inspection has been well notified.

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    Mute Permo Dermo
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    Apr 3rd 2018, 5:24 PM

    What kind of parents allow their 10 year old child to ride such a dangerous waterslide in the first place?

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    Mute hyippy
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    Apr 3rd 2018, 5:33 PM

    @Permo Dermo: thats hardly the takeaway here. Did you not go to playgrounds or anything as a child? It’s not the parents fault. There is an expectation of safety.

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    Mute John Cassidy
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    Apr 4th 2018, 4:48 AM

    @Permo Dermo: His parents are as bad as Kate and Gerry McCann.

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    Mute Missyb211
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    Apr 4th 2018, 7:43 AM

    @Permo Dermo: what kind of amusement park lets parents think their 10 year olds will be safe on a water slide?

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    Mute Bobby Byrne
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    Apr 3rd 2018, 3:07 PM

    Horrible. Poor child. RIP

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    Mute Thosj Carroll
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    Apr 3rd 2018, 10:52 PM

    Good……it was all down to a bad workmanship!

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