Roatan Zip Line Death (MERGED THREADS)

[BrainChemicals]

FYI: I was just informed of the death of a Houston woman two weeks ago in Roatan on the Pirates of the Caribbean Zip Line EXTREME ZIP. The author of the post is a dear friend of our family.

Sad news

One of our employees lost his wife in a freak accident yesterday while vacationing in Honduras. His wife and son went on a side trip to zip line over the rain forest and her harness broke. She fell hundreds of feet to her death as her son looked on. Her husband and their daughter were at a different location when it happened.

Please say a prayer for Glenn and his children as they go through this horrible time in their life.

Source: http://baytownsun.com/forums.lasso?e...daf9bb44d70387

[wrp96]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23730206/ A Texas woman on Roatan for vacation died when her harness snapped and she fell to the ground.

[Yoli=)]

All I have to say is WOW.....May god be with her....
It's a scary thing....

[Laoghaire]

OMG!! What a tragedy. Prayers are with her family. Wonder what the circumstances were--what zipline? DH and I are booked for one with Victor Bodden Tours in April, will be anxious to hear the particulars.

Helen

[USFcrew]

This accident happened on the one the Cruiseships uses called Gumbalimba park at Tabyanna beach. I heard the lady was pretty overweight not sure. This is a tragedy and goes to show that even with the ships tours tragedy can happen. As far as I know the only 2 of the 4 zip-lines that have 2 cables 1 for security and the other for the pulley would be the Gumbalimba one and the one my family did called South Shore. But as we see tragedy can happen sometimes. Hopefully it doesn't tarnish Roatans zip-line reputation because they're great. My sympathy for the families involved.

[USFcrew]

This incident happened on The Cruiseship's excursion at Gumbalimba PArk and Tabyana beach break. IT did not occur at Pirates extreme one. This is a tragedy my heart reaches out to the owners of the zip-line and also the woman involved.

[nasvhillecruise]

How HORRIBLE!!! We did the Jungle Canopy a couple of weeks ago & they had two cables as well. our guide made sure both cables were ALWAYS attached.

[TXMary]

My mom just sent me a link to this story. My DH and I just did the South Shore one in Roatan in January. I felt sick when I read the story though. How sad. My prayers for the woman and her family.

[Jeanne B]

Originally Posted by nasvhillecruise

How HORRIBLE!!! We did the Jungle Canopy a couple of weeks ago & they had two cables as well. our guide made sure both cables were ALWAYS attached.

We also did Jungle Canopy two weeks ago and our guide was excellent (and always making certain both cables were attached, I paid close attention to that!!). But I also commented to my DH as we were walking to the zipline beforehand that I was surprised they didn't make you sign a waiver.

My heart goes out to this family, how tragic.

I think it's only natural this this incident is going to put enough fear into some people that it will prevent them from doing the zipline, similar to Steve Irwin's death.

[Garn]

Not to be alarmist, but doesn't it say that her harness broke? Since it wasn't the cable that broke, I'm not sure if a second cable would have done much good, depending on where that cable would have been attached.

It certainly gives me a lot to think about, since I was planning on doing this in a week and a half.... the poor woman and her family...

[Jeanne B]

Originally Posted by Garn

Not to be alarmist, but doesn't it say that her harness broke? Since it wasn't the cable that broke, I'm not sure if a second cable would have done much good, depending on where that cable would have been attached.

You have a good point, it didn't register with me that it was the harness and not the cable that broke although it's probably too early to know whether or not the statements that are being made are factual. If she did in fact fall hundreds of feet that makes me think it WAS the extreme zipline since that one is over 300' at it's highest point (the others are 50-150 feet). But again, the "hundreds of feet" could be exaggerated. I thought I read somewhere that she was a heavy woman (and I saw a head shot of her and it did appear that she was heavy set) so I sure hope it wasn't a case where the zipline company let the weight limit be pushed. I read in posts prior to our cruise that someone can be slightly over the weight limit but as long as they can fit in the harness they'll let them go but it's not like they weigh you to determine whether or not you're over the limit.

[Aprille]

Originally Posted by BrainChemicals

FYI: I was just informed of the death of a Houston woman two weeks ago in Roatan on the Pirates of the Caribbean Zip Line EXTREME ZIP. The author of the post is a dear friend of our family.

Source: http://baytownsun.com/forums.lasso?e...daf9bb44d70387

Where did you get the information that it was the extreme course at PotC? I have not seen a course named on any of the sources I have seen including the one you provided.

Originally Posted by USFcrew

This incident happened on The Cruiseship's excursion at Gumbalimba PArk and Tabyana beach break. IT did not occur at Pirates extreme one. This is a tragedy my heart reaches out to the owners of the zip-line and also the woman involved.

Again, what is the source? I have read two separate articles stating the woman had been in the Honduras for a week which would indicate she and her family were on a land vacation and not a cruise ship.

Originally Posted by Laoghaire

OMG!! What a tragedy. Prayers are with her family. Wonder what the circumstances were--what zipline? DH and I are booked for one with Victor Bodden Tours in April, will be anxious to hear the particulars.

We hired a driver through Victor Bodden 3 weeks ago while in Roatan on Voyager. DH did the extreme course at Pirates. This is the usual course Victor Bodden drivers will take you too. (Pirates also has a regular course in addition to the extreme.) I believe you can request South Shore though and be taken there instead.

-------------------------------------------

Okay, I realize info at this point is sketchy at best but I’m just looking for some more definitive answers. Seems there is a lot of hear-say going on as is to be expected in a case like this. I guess it hits close to home since my DH just did the extreme course at PotC 3 weeks ago. :::shudder::: The car ride up to the first platform to take a picture of him was more than adventurous enough for me!

And, for anyone interested, at this particular course I did not see any scales in evidence. As a matter of fact, two separate guides attempted to get me to step into a harness before the car ride to the first platform and I am close enough to the weight limit that I would think I should be weighed.

Hopefully more facts will come out in the days to come. Very tragic indeed. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family.

ETA: I edited out one of my quotes and comments as I now realize the source of the that particular post.

[hapEcrzr]

My fiancee called me this morning to inform me of this horrible tragedy. We and another couple just returned from a cruise where we stopped in Roatan. Last Friday, March 14th we all did the Canopy, Gumbalimba Park and Tabyana Beach. I of course was curious as to where it exactly happened, I was directed to this site when searching. The news sites didn't mention any specifics. I am in shock. That poor woman and her family are in my prayers.
Someone mentioned that the woman fell hundreds of feet, I read that it was 65 ft.
God Bless
Tina

[ejmarf]

This is truly sad, and my prayers go out to the family. We just did the Victor Bodden tour a week ago Monday, and loved it. We felt very safe the whole time (well, maybe except for the van ride up to the first platform- that was very scary), and our guides helped us every step of the way. Part of our group did the extreme zip, and one member is a pretty big guy. They had no problem. It's sad to think of it this way, but now may actually be the safest time to zip line... I'll bet the crews are checking their gear way better now than they did in the past.

[july72807]

I just booked the Jungle zip line (the baby one of the 3) with bodden and I am scaredd now to do this!! Anyone else is the same boat!

[Aprille]

Originally Posted by ejmarf

We felt very safe the whole time (well, maybe except for the van ride up to the first platform- that was very scary)...

Thanks for the confirmation. I was beginning to think I was a wimp. As I stated in my previous reply, that car ride was adventurous enough for me and I just rode up there to take a picture of DH taking off from the first platform. Then I had to ride back down in the car. That wasn't any less scary.

july72807 - as ejmarf pointed out, this is probably the safest time to zip line (right after a fatal accident). They are probably being more diligent than ever. Still couldn't get me to do it. But I wouldn't do it before this either.

I really wish we knew which course it was. The only article I can find is the msnbc article. I found a story in a Seattle newspaper too but it was basically word for word the same. I'm off to Google some more...

[kcdancerkc]

A U.S. woman fell 65 feet to her death during a zip line ride through the jungle on the Caribbean island of Roatan, police said Thursday.
Barbara Sue Fojtasek, 44, was riding along a steel wire hung between trees in the jungle when a harness holding her apparently broke on Tuesday, Honduran police said in a news release.
Fojtasek was taken to a private clinic on the island, then transferred to a hospital in the mainland city of San Pedro Sula, where she died on Wednesday.

[cruisinsly]

Oh how sad. My heart goes out to her family. Prayers for them!

[VentureMan_2000]

A thread already going on this:


http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showt...php?p=13887982

[SunnyinMA]

Originally Posted by Jeanne B

You have a good point, it didn't register with me that it was the harness and not the cable that broke although it's probably too early to know whether or not the statements that are being made are factual. If she did in fact fall hundreds of feet that makes me think it WAS the extreme zipline since that one is over 300' at it's highest point (the others are 50-150 feet). But again, the "hundreds of feet" could be exaggerated. I thought I read somewhere that she was a heavy woman (and I saw a head shot of her and it did appear that she was heavy set) so I sure hope it wasn't a case where the zipline company let the weight limit be pushed. I read in posts prior to our cruise that someone can be slightly over the weight limit but as long as they can fit in the harness they'll let them go but it's not like they weigh you to determine whether or not you're over the limit.

The MSNBC articles says she fell from 65ft so it could have been any of them really...