Tragedy at Ohio state fair, 1 dead, 5 critical on fire ball ride, 26 July 2017

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NewMama said:
I also wondered if the ride hit the ground before breaking apart after watching the video.
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It certainly sounded like something was hitting something with strong force, a metallic sound. That clash apparently knocked the row of seats loose enough (and a couple of people out of their seats entirely) that it fell down on the next upward swing.
 
I wonder if someone has video of this or similar ride operating normally to compare. Just from the clip posted, it seemed to me that it was going very fast, and some of the witnesses described people yelling for it slow down. Another witness said something about the operator didn't seem to know what he was doing. Certainly if the ride was going too fast, it would put undue stress on the structure. I was just at a carnival last night and will be tomorrow as well. I don't know who actually assembles the rides at travelling carnivals, but certainly the people operating them don't look qualified to do anything!
 
Betty P said:
BBM

Not an expert by any means, but this description seems relevant. After watching the video a few times it seemed the car/bench didn't suddenly break off or detach from the ride. There just wasn't enough room for it to clear the barrier on the ground around the ride on the last swing down. I wondered why it was hanging down so low. From what this person is saying, it was gradually bending down or sinking as it moved.

In the old days, the federal government oversaw investigation of these accidents, but that probably won't happen here. It will all be swept under the rug and a vague report issued a year later. Sad. We can't have nice things anymore.
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In that same article, the rider said that he'd looked at the operater and he was pushing all the buttons and then he took off running afterward? It sounds like the operator didn't know what he was doing. Everyone was yelling for him to slow down the ride...maybe he was pushing the wrong controls and was lowering it down instead?
 
PrairieWind said:
I wonder if someone has video of this or similar ride operating normally to compare. Just from the clip posted, it seemed to me that it was going very fast, and some of the witnesses described people yelling for it slow down. Another witness said something about the operator didn't seem to know what he was doing. Certainly if the ride was going too fast, it would put undue stress on the structure. I was just at a carnival last night and will be tomorrow as well. I don't know who actually assembles the rides at travelling carnivals, but certainly the people operating them don't look qualified to do anything!
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This was opening day at the fair also. Maybe he was a new hire and hadn't been properly trained on how to operate the ride correctly?
 
loveisthemovement said:
I just can't bring myself to watch the video but I have to ask: the still photo of the two people on the ground, still strapped to their seats...the person's right leg is at a terrible angle. I am not sure how it's possible to survive that.... I am not a medical professional of any kind but it just looks so horrific...I can't even imagine.
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My Dad broke his femur a few months ago. It was at a 90 degree angle between the knee and hip joints. My 13 year old daughter had to straighten it for him to get him hauled off the mountain. He wasn't in pain since the break was so close to breaking the skin, no bones were grinding on each other. Plus he was in shock.

The human body can endure some amazing things.
 
So the piece that came off has 4 seats. I assume the two people who fell out from a great height were in that section and then 2 landed on the ground in their seats still, correct?
 
PrairieWind said:
I wonder if someone has video of this or similar ride operating normally to compare. Just from the clip posted, it seemed to me that it was going very fast, and some of the witnesses described people yelling for it slow down. Another witness said something about the operator didn't seem to know what he was doing. Certainly if the ride was going too fast, it would put undue stress on the structure. I was just at a carnival last night and will be tomorrow as well. I don't know who actually assembles the rides at travelling carnivals, but certainly the people operating them don't look qualified to do anything!
Click to expand...

I had my husband watch the video and he thinks what happened was the ride went to high (passed a 90 degree angle) which caused it to go too fast which caused too much pressure on the part that kept the ride up off the ground casing it to stretch or sag and end up close to the ground. I wish he were here to give me his exact words, because I am sure I made a wreck out of the description and this is just how I heard it in my nonmechanical mind.
 
AmyPond said:
So the piece that came off has 4 seats. I assume the two people who fell out from a great height were in that section and then 2 landed on the ground in their seats still, correct?
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From the video it does look some people fell who were not in the seats. Paramedics were working on victims lying on the ground immediately after the tragedy. I don't think Tyler, the young man who died, was in a seat.
 
After the basket or pod of seats falls off, it looks like the two other people we see falling to the ground came from somewhere other than that group of seats that fell off. Not sure though. The boy that died was with his gf who was also badly injured, so maybe he had been in the group of seats and somehow was just thrown out. But I think those baskets hold only 4 riders, so people were hurt from other seats.
 
gregjrichards said:
From the video it does look some people fell who were not in the seats. Paramedics were working on victims lying on the ground immediately after the tragedy. I don't think Tyler, the young man who died, was in a seat.
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Right. I saw at least two who were flying through the air without seats. :( So what happened there? Did their belts/harness (or whatever is there) become unbuckled? And if so, why?
 
Elainera said:
Right. I saw at least two who were flying through the air without seats. :( So what happened there? Did their belts/harness (or whatever is there) become unbuckled? And if so, why?
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Good question Elainera. It looks like the yellow electronic harness completely failed and the passengers were thrown out of their seats.
 
I have heard different accounts ranging from people saying it was too fast, and hearing people yelling to slow it down, passengers who have said they were concerned because with each pass the cars were getting closer to the ground, and some saying the ride was shaking badly on the last swing. Its hard to know how accurate those accounts are, but it sounds like it wasn't just metal fatigue or a weld that gave out suddenly, but rather more like a developing situation.
 
So we have from witness accounts:

- ride was going too fast
- ride was going too low
- seats were shaking
- operator was fiddling with the controls, apparently unsuccessful to remedy whatever was going wrong

which led to

- two people (at least) being thrown out of their seats and harnesses (were these old harnesses that had not been replaced, similar to the water slide accident a while ago?)
- a row of four seats completely breaking out of the ride

It looks to me that possibly there were several factors coming together (as often is the case with such tragedies):

- the ride was not operating correctly, going too fast
- the operator was not able to do anything about it in time (possibly human error)
- the equipment (seat and harnesses) came apart due to either improper installation or fatigue, plus the stress of the increased speed.
 
As the two people fell, they did hit passengers in other seats. So I'm sure that accounts for some of the injuries.
 
The video starts as ride sweeping up to the right. As it sweeps back towards the left there is already a problem and it looks like it hits the low barrier hard. You can see the impact. As it continues up after the hit, is when the row breaks off. I think the impact may have caused some restraints possibly not in the row impacted to open also, thus riders came free. Perhaps the operator in his panic pressed buttons that unlocked the restraints?

I think the whole idea of letting young people work these rides and slides at amusement parks and carnivals needs to be reexamined. Disclaimer: I am NOT blaming the operator (yet), just feel all around uncomfortable with the idea.
Jmo, moo.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
 
i hope the ride operator who allegedly ran off was running to check on the folks who fell. I have to believe that...
 
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