September 2022 Ride Report Recap (Interim)

This is an interim post for September 2022.

03 September 2022, a swing tower carousel at a fair in the Czech Republic malfunctioned injuring 17 riders. The tower continued to rotate, but the structure suspending the swings descended 40m in an uncontrolled fashion. Link

04 September 2022, a tower carousel at a fair in northern India malfunctioned and the carousel platform dropped 50m injuring 18 riders seated on the platform. Rides intended to include free-fall drops typically have magnetic brakes using inherently magnetic materials so that the brakes will function even if the ride loses power. The video in the news report clearly shows no sign of deceleration during the descent of the platform. The operators reportedly “fled the scene”. Link | Link

06 September 2022, at Water World in Colorado, a 14 year old boy was rescued and resuscitated after nearly drowning. Reporting was unclear where in the water park this occurred. Link | Link

06 September 2022 at an unspecified amusement park in Brazil, a roller coaster derailed, injuring 10 and sending some to hospital. Link | Link

07 September 2022, at Allou Fun Park in Greece, four riders were ejected from a flume ride in motion, two of whom were injured seriously. There were allegations that the riders were raising into a standing position, but no reporting on surveillance of the ride path. Link | Link

10 September 2022, at OK Corral in France, two adults and two children separated from a boat on a flume ride, with the children ending up in the water. Link

11 September 2022, at Diego’s Park in Brazil, a ride appearing to be a drop ride themed to NASA space shuttles reportedly dropped uncontrolled, injuring three riders, including one child sustaining serious spinal injuries. Link

17 September 2022, at Santiago Acutzilapan employers’ fair in Mexico, a malfunction of a ferris wheel resulted in the ejection and fatal head injury of a rider. Link

17 September 2022, at a fair in Coahuilam, Mexico, a kiddie carousel came off its foundation and tipped over, with suspicion of a fault of construction. Despite the obvious hazard, no injuries were reported. Link

25 September 2022, at the Royal Melbourne Show in Australia, a patron reportedly encroached within the restricted area of a roller coaster, and was struck, being lifted in the air and thrown. Link | Link | Link

28 September 2022, a patron queuing for a ride at the Oklahoma State Fair was struck by a phone dropped by a rider on the Street Fighter, spinning pendulum. Like many carnival rides, the operator had posted signs prohibiting phones, and relied on patrons to comply. Link

Reports of injury in previous periods

Events occurring in prior periods receive media coverage for various reasons, often because of litigation milestones (claims filed, decision reached), anniversaries of notable events, and references arising from recent similar events.

The report of the malfunction at El Toro was updated.

A roller coaster accident, with three fatalities and one serious injury, from 1986 at West Edmonton Mall was recapped, as the survivor continues to pursue a memorial. Link

Excluded reports

Some media reports are outside the scope of the database. Riders stuck on stopped rides are popular topics for human-interest stories. Also excluded are media reports that cover multiple cases without specifics of each case. Employee injuries are also excluded, but can attract media interest. Excluded devices may also be mentioned here. We also do not log single reports that cover multiple different injury cases, unless each is separately describe, so news coverage that refers to multiple different injury events may be reported here.

On 04 September 2022, a roller coaster at Movie World in Australia stopped along its path when clothing removed by a rider caught in the ride apparatus. Four riders waited in place for 90 minutes for an assisted evacuation by cherry picker. Some of the other ride vehicles were unloaded at alternate unload locations. Link

17 September 2022, power to a propeller style thrill ride tripped and the ride halted in fail-safe condition. The stoppage reportedly stranded one load of thrill seekers for about a half hour. Link | Link

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About Kathryn Woodcock

Dr. Kathryn Woodcock is Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, teaching, researching, and consulting in the area of human factors engineering / ergonomics particularly applied to amusement rides and attractions (https://thrilllab.blog.ryerson.ca), and to broader occupational and public safety issues of performance, error, investigation and inspection, and to disability and accessibility.