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Honored Contributor
Posts: 37,847
Registered: ‎06-11-2011

Re: 1 dead, 7 injured after incident at Ohio State Fair

From the witness reports I have seen or listened to, they are saying one person fell out of his seat and then the operator pressed the emergency stop button and then the ride broke apart - as if using the emergency stop while the ride was traveling so fast is what broke it apart, after initially one person fell out.

 

It will be interesting to see what a final report ends up finding as the cause of why this happened.  But as I say, it sounds like first one person fell out, the rider stopped the ride, and then the one part of the ride broke apart.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,882
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: 1 dead, 7 injured after incident at Ohio State Fair

  • I have never allowed my son or my grandchildren on these pop-up rides.  It used  to make me mad that the local schools used to send home carnival discount flyers (if you went on a specific School Night!!!).  I also live in AZ and am appalled that there is no mandated inspection of these in our state.  
Honored Contributor
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Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: 1 dead, 7 injured after incident at Ohio State Fair


@Laura14 wrote:

The young man who supposedly took the video claimed on GMA that the ride was sped up by the operator and the crowd was yelling to slow it down because the people were having trouble dealing with the rough ride.  If that's true, no amount of inspection is going to help improper operation.

 

And just a personal observation/issue, that video I could not even watch on ABC.  Kudos to CNN for stopping it in a more appropriate place.       


I don't know if that is true or not but that brings up another point.  I've always been a little suspect of the employees that work as these carnivals, fairs and festivals as well.  I wonder how trained they are.  

Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,018
Registered: ‎06-09-2014

Re: 1 dead, 7 injured after incident at Ohio State Fair

@Pearlee  Sounds like maybe those yelling to slow the ride that the young man heard were doing so because they saw someone was in trouble.  Brake was thrown and caused exactly what you said happen.  Such a horrible accident.        

Honored Contributor
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Registered: ‎06-09-2014

Re: 1 dead, 7 injured after incident at Ohio State Fair


@Lipstickdiva wrote:

@Laura14 wrote:

The young man who supposedly took the video claimed on GMA that the ride was sped up by the operator and the crowd was yelling to slow it down because the people were having trouble dealing with the rough ride.  If that's true, no amount of inspection is going to help improper operation.

 

And just a personal observation/issue, that video I could not even watch on ABC.  Kudos to CNN for stopping it in a more appropriate place.       


I don't know if that is true or not but that brings up another point.  I've always been a little suspect of the employees that work as these carnivals, fairs and festivals as well.  I wonder how trained they are.  


@Lipstickdiva  My thoughts exactly.  Anything can be inspected but you're relying on the quality and attention to detail of the person doing it.  

Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,324
Registered: ‎04-28-2010

Re: 1 dead, 7 injured after incident at Ohio State Fair

Very tragic. The older I become, the less adventurous I am.   Sending heartfelt thoughts to the victims and their families.

'More or less', 'Right or wrong', 'In general', and 'Just thinking out loud ' (as usual).
Honored Contributor
Posts: 37,847
Registered: ‎06-11-2011

Re: 1 dead, 7 injured after incident at Ohio State Fair

And another thought regarding my post above, can inspectors inspect what happens when the emergency stop is pushed?   Maybe to some extent, but maybe not to the extent to know if something is going fast and the brake is put on suddenly, it won't crack off.

Honored Contributor
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Registered: ‎06-09-2014

Re: 1 dead, 7 injured after incident at Ohio State Fair


@Pearlee wrote:

And another thought regarding my post above, can inspectors inspect what happens when the emergency stop is pushed?   Maybe to some extent, but maybe not to the extent to know if something is going fast and the brake is put on suddenly, it won't crack off.


@Pearlee  Mechanical engineers could calculate that.  They do it all the time in testing for G-forces I'm sure.  

Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,018
Registered: ‎06-09-2014

Re: 1 dead, 7 injured after incident at Ohio State Fair

[ Edited ]

Actually @Pearlee, I worked for a welding school once and they did a test for tensile strength.  They pulled apart a steel rod to see at what point it broke apart.  Not sure this would be relevant to this but it's fascinating to watch steel stretch and finally break apart with enough stress on it.  

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Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: 1 dead, 7 injured after incident at Ohio State Fair

I'm amazed that my friends and I survived our outings at the local small amusement park back in the dinosaur age.

 

Fast forward and, no, we never let our little one go on pop-up rides.

 

Just last week here in our little SoCal beach town we had the annual AVP beach vollyey ball tournament. It's a very big deal that brings out the crowds. As part of this year's exhibition, they had one of those deal where you can jump off a very high platform to land on some kind of bouncy thing.

 

I noticed it first when I was walking and saw what seemed to be a person randomly flying from a very high point. As as I got closer, I saw what it was and that children were doing it. I couldn't believe it.

 

A few days later, a friend told me that a woman broke her leg jumping during the weekend. Couldn't see that coming...jeez.

 

My heart goes out to all who were killed or injured.


~Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle~ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland