Caleb Schwab Autopsy — Report ^new^
Neither Henry nor Schooley possessed formal engineering degrees or credentials in physics and dynamics. The ride was designed largely through trial-and-error rather than rigorous mathematical modeling.
However, in 2019, a judge dismissed all charges, ruling that the prosecution presented insufficient evidence for a criminal trial. While criminal accountability failed, a civil settlement reached in 2017 awarded nearly to the Schwab family. Two companies associated with Schlitterbahn paid $14 million, the general contractor paid $5 million, and other parties contributed over $700,000.
The official autopsy findings for Caleb Schwab confirmed that the 10-year-old died of a fatal neck injury
Court documents revealed that park management concealed multiple prior incidents where rafts went airborne, including injuries to other guests that occurred in the weeks leading up to Caleb’s death.
Following the release of the autopsy and physical evidence, a grand jury investigation revealed that Verrückt was plagued by fundamental engineering failures from its inception. caleb schwab autopsy report
Caleb was at the park with his parents and three brothers on "Elected Officials Day." After a brief conversation where his father told him "brothers stick together," Caleb and his 12-year-old brother Nathan headed to the top of the Verruckt slide. Nathan rode first, while Caleb was joined in a three-person raft by two adult women unrelated to him. Witnesses described a scene of immediate horror: the raft went airborne after cresting a second hill and collided with a metal pole supporting the safety netting. Emergency responders arriving around 2:30 p.m. found Caleb dead in the pool at the end of the ride. The two women with him sustained only minor facial injuries.
This public link is valid for 7 days and shares a thread, including any personal information you added. This link or copies made by others cannot be deleted. If you share with third parties, their policies apply. Can’t copy the link right now. Try again later.
Following the investigation, the Verrückt slide was permanently closed and was eventually . The Schlitterbahn Kansas City park itself closed in 2018 and has since been demolished.
The name "Verrückt" is German for "insane," a fitting yet haunting title for a water slide that stood 168 feet tall—higher than the Statue of Liberty. On August 7, 2016, this record-breaking attraction became the site of a fatal accident that claimed the life of Caleb Schwab, the son of then-Kansas State Representative Scott Schwab. The Autopsy and Cause of Death Following the release of the autopsy and physical
Initial statements released by the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department on the day following the accident abstractly noted that Caleb Schwab died of a .
The raft frequently went airborne during testing, a known risk that was not adequately resolved.
The 2016 death of 10-year-old Caleb Schwab on the Verrückt waterslide at Schlitterbahn Waterpark remains one of the most harrowing incidents in amusement park history. The subsequent autopsy and investigative reports revealed a series of catastrophic engineering failures and safety oversights that led to a gruesome and preventable tragedy. The Incident on Verrückt
During early testing, rafts frequently flew completely off the slide structure. To prevent rafts from flying into the open air, designers installed a heavy-duty metal netting system supported by semicircular steel hoops directly over the second hill. Instead of fixing the underlying aerodynamic issue that caused the airborne trajectory, the netting was used as a physical barrier to keep rafts contained. The Events of August 7, 2016 The tragedy sparked a massive investigation
As the three-person raft crested the second hill of the slide, it became airborne. Caleb, seated in the front, collided with a metal hoop and netting designed to keep riders on the slide. The impact with these safety structures caused the fatal injury.
The official cause of death was a "fatal neck injury".
The tragedy sparked a massive investigation, revealing that the problems with the Verruckt slide were not new. An examination of the ride after Caleb's death uncovered "physical evidence that indicated that other rafts had gone airborne and collided with the overhead hoops and netting before the fatality". The ride’s designers, co-owner Jeff Henry and designer John Schooley, had based their calculations on roller coasters rather than waterslide engineering, and early tests had already shown that rafts carrying sandbags would fly off the track.