The attraction in 2014 | |||||||||
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Statistics | |||||||||
Manufacturer | KMG | ||||||||
Product | Afterburner | ||||||||
Manufactured | 1998 | ||||||||
Serial number | KMG-1998-FRB-24-006-03 | ||||||||
Capacity | 24 riders per cycle | ||||||||
HELP |
Fireball was a frisbee built by Dutch manufacturer KMG previously owned and traveled by US carnival operator Amusements of America.
Incident
On July 26, 2017 while in operation at the Ohio State Fair, one of the ride's six arms snapped causing four seats and their riders to fall to the ground. An 18-year-old was thrown from the ride and was pronounced dead at the scene. An additional seven people were injured, some by flying debris. Following the incident, KMG instructed owners of other Afterburner rides to stop operating them while an investigation into the incident took place. Officials from KMG inspected the ride and stated that excessive corrosion had reduced the thickness of the arm which led to a catastrophic failure.[1]
The following year, Talley Amusements replaced Amusements of America as the midway provider at the Ohio State Fair, the first change in 26 years.[2]
In June 2019, the family of the 18-year-old who died and three others who were seriously injured launched a lawsuit against the manufacturer KMG, claiming that the company knew about the defect in 2012 that led to the incident.[1]
References
The image used in this article is © Mark Hunter. The original image may be found here. |