Ride Malfunction at Ohio State Fair - 1 dead, 2 critically injured (1 Viewer)

Scary, scary stuff.  I've ridden that ride at that fair (and other fairs).  Prayers to all.

WARNING: Video may be disturbing

http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/26/us/ohio-state-fair-ride-incident/index.html

(CNN)A chaotic scene unfolded at the Ohio State Fair after a ride malfunctioned during opening day -- killing one person and injuring several others.

A video posted online appears to show several people on the Fireball ride seconds before parts of the structure, including a full row of seats, split up and fell.

Tragedy struck around 7:20 pm (local time) Wednesday at the popular fair in Columbus. The Fireball, which consists of at least six rows of seats that spin around 40 feet above the ground as the entire structure moves like a pendulum, broke apart while it was in motion.

Ohio State Highway Patrol Superintendent Col. Paul A. Pride said one person was killed and seven others were injured, two of whom are in critical condition.

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Wow!

That's terrible.  :(

That is just terrible. 

Ugh.

absolutely horrific

Terrible. 

Im curious why rides like that at a fair are still a thing. Someone fell out of one when I was a kid and died. I don't think I'd be comfortable on anything past a merry go round considering they're put up and taken down each week. 

The video popped up on my timeline without warning last night before I knew about it. Wish I could unsee it. Horrible.

Awful. 

Good lord that video is horrifying. It just fell apart. 

I almost posted this last night, but thought the video was pretty disturbing.  I might suggest you put a warning on the video.  Some people don't wish to view that type of thing.

had the very great pleasure of being a carny for a couple days (court ordered rehab stint) ... we went all the way the hell out to the hinterlands of Jersey (Bound Brook, iirc), and were taxed with assisting in a full setup of rides. 

by noon i was working on mini-coaster with just one other chap.  my experience prior to that day with any of this was nil ... yet, there i was.

guy working with me was a grizzled old sod, who had been doing it for decades ... but, yeah - was not very comfortable operating that thing on my own come "opening". 

thankfully there were no incidents - but it was rather sobering seeing how these rides are so quickly assembled, and even more expedient on the tear down. 

never again in that type of setting, as far as trusting rides are concerned. 

Galileo said:

I almost posted this last night, but thought the video was pretty disturbing.  I might suggest you put a warning on the video.  Some people don't wish to view that type of thing.

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Done.  I almost did initially as well.  I didn't watch the video all the way through the first time so didn't see the aftermath.  Jesus :( .

Wow--my thoughts and prayers to everybody involved. That video was pretty horrifying.  I couldn't tell the first time I saw it (and I don't want to view it a second time)--but did the ride hit something before it came apart?   There seemed to be a noise as if it came into contact with the loading platform or maybe a guard rail-no?

I never ride on these portable rides.  Just don't trust that they get maintained like they should.

My daughter loves that ride at Hershey - that is one of my biggest fears on those things

Scoresman said:

I never ride on these portable rides.  Just don't trust that they get maintained like they should.

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Yeah... I have zero doubt that the rides, as designed, are quite safe off the assembly line. However after years (decades?) of being assembled, operated, disassembled, and transported by unqualified, if not downright unskilled people who are quite likely alcoholics/addicts. 

The nostalgia is strong but I'd rather not risk it .

First of all "Thanks Posty" for the video.   

Second..I would never get on a ride at a carnival or state fair nor did I ever let my kids get on any thing other than the merry go round at these events.

Very sad...but I am surprised this does not happen more often.  These carnies travel from town to town every week setting these rides up and breaking them down without any kind of regulation or inspections.  In the past I have seen at local community  fairs that I have volunteered for guys drinking beer while setting up and breaking down rides.

A missed pin here of there and it is disastrous.

Da Guru said:

First of all I would never get on a ride at a carnival or state fair nor did I ever let my kids get on any thing other than the merry go round at these events.

Very sad...but I am surprised this does not happen more often.  These carnies travel from town to town every week setting these rides up and breaking them down without any kind of regulation or inspections.  In the past I have seen at local community  fairs that I have volunteered for guys drinking beer while setting up and breaking down rides.

A missed pin here of there and it is disastrous.

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Completely agree.  I live near Kings Island and have known many people that have worked the rides there.  The level of safety and number of inspections those rides go through blew my mind.  I know we aren't talking 300 foot roller coasters at these fairs, but how can this likely huge difference in regulations/inspections/training exist?

I live in Columbus where the fair is held. A family we are acquaintances with through school functions were there yesterday. Their two teenage kids rode that ride about 3 hours earlier. Wasn't like the rider before or up next but still pretty surreal. The mom said she has been pretty sick thinking about it.

Scoresman said:

I never ride on these portable rides.  Just don't trust that they get maintained like they should.

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I don't even stand close to them let alone ride one.

The ride is named "Fire Ball"?

My kids hated it when they were younger and I wouldn't let them ride carnival state fair rides.  When something is put together and taken down each week with bread ties, and duct tape it is not worth the risk.    I worked for 1 weekend at 14 years old helping take down some carnival rides.   I saw one of the carny guys get his femur broken when a part of a ride fell on him.  The other guy that was working with him was so high he just let go and let it fall.   I don't think I even stayed to get paid, I just left after the accident.    

We had a ride at our state fair a few years ago that was a bungee type ride that was like 45 bucks a turn.  It would sling shot you up real high, and after you tossed your intestines out of  your mouth it jerked you back down again.    Well anyway one of the bungees broke!  I #### you not!   So this guy is dangling from one bungee on his right side for over an hour while waiting on the local fire department to bring a truck with a mechanical extension ladder long enough to get him down.   Just ####### swining in the wind.     

Oh, and these #### nuts that check off the rides before letting kids ride them are they all high as well?  What credentials do you have to have to certify the rides.  I swear at least one accident happens each state fair here, but it helps thin the herd.

This happened here as well  http://www.tulsaworld.com/archives/bell-s-accident-kills-injures-wildcat-car-rolls-into-another/article_5b38d255-a39f-5c57-ba6d-d6e89e30fce5.html  and the kicker is the ride was sold to another park!

WOOHOO  WANNA GO FASTER????!!!????  80's hairband music playing on the Himalaya  as the carney slaps his forearm looking for a vein to shoot up some more meth 

eh, NO!

SHIZNITTTT said:

I swear at least one accident happens each state fair here, but it helps thin the herd.

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I don't think thinning the herd means what you think it means. 

I live just outside of Columbus, so I've been reading and watching stories on this all day.

The guy who took the video that went viral did an interview. He said he was in line to ride it and had his phone out snap chatting with his buddies. He said people on the ride were yelling "slow it down... slow it down" to the operators, and he said it looked like someone was falling off the ride. He said that's when he started videoing the ride, and said the operator had hit the emergency stop. Then it swung down and fell apart. 

Two other girls who were in line were also interviewed and said the same thing. That they were screaming "slow it down", someone was falling off, the operator hit the emergency stop and it swung down and fell apart. 

Another person who was on the ride but didn't suffer any physical injuries said a woman in the gondola that broke off kept saying her seat was "shaking" over and over again. However, she couldn't say much more, such as confirming that someone was falling off before the ride broke apart, because she broke down into tears recalling the woman's leg being cut off before she was then sent flying through the air. It was reported that later that night she went to the emergency room for emotional trauma.

Keep in mind, NONE of the media is reporting that something was going wrong before it fell apart, or that the operator hit the emergency stop before it fell apart, other than letting these people being interviewed say it in their testimonies. They are sticking to the facts, and none of these interviews are considered facts. 

However, the manufacture of the ride after seeing the video did issue a statement saying it had to be operator error. 

For those that above asked about the ride hitting something that it shouldn't have, thus making the crashing noise. The ride doesn't appear to hit anything. But the gondola that broke off collided with the gondola on the other side of the circle of six gondolas as the arm continued to swing. This is likely the source of the metal crashing sound, and is why it produced 8 victims instead of just the 4 on the gondola that broke off. 

What the hell was that e-stop wired up to?

Wow. Huge fan of state fairs. Mostly for the food but I also love the rides. Guess I'm sticking to theme parks. I have no desire to watch that video - just the descriptions are horrific.

Just read that the ride was 18 years old and had complete failure because of excessive corrosion to the metal over the years. Seems to me that inspections should be able to spot corrosion of any kind.

It is amazing at how careful we are in our day to day lives yet we freely get on rides that travel from town to town and are assembled and broken down by meth addicts with no teeth.