Spin Dragon (Wittingslow Amusements)

Spin Dragon

Wittingslow Amusements (Australia) Status In storage since September 2000
Wittingslow Amusements (Australia) Location Travelling, Australia Operated 1998 to 2 September 2000 unknown Name Top Spin Location Travelling, USA Operated 1995 to 1996
Statistics
Manufacturer	Fabbri
Product	Space Loop
Capacity	28 per cycle

Spin Dragon was a Space Loop built by Italian manufacturer Fabbri that is owned by Wittingslow Amusements.

Incident

On the 2nd of September 2000 at around 7:20 PM, Spin Dragon suffered a serious mechanical failure. As the gondola completed a loop, it made a loud grinding noise and broke off of the main arm, crushing the people who were in line for the ride. The power for the ride also went out during this, causing the restraints to fail, ejecting some riders from the gondola when it broke off. In total, 42 people were injured, with ten being treated at the scene, and 27 needing to be taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, with three of those needing to be on life support. Miraculously, no one was killed. The ride had been having problems in the hours leading up to the incident, and the operators weren't filling the ride to it's maximum capacity, and were running it slower than usual. One witness recounts seeing staff make adjustments to the ride shortly before the accident.

After the accident, the ride was impounded by the South-Australian government. An inspection carried out by state police later revealed that the gondola breaking loose was caused by 44 of the 48 bolts holding the gondola in place failing.

As part of a court case launched on the incident, Wittingslow Amusements were found guilty of 40 charges of failing to protect the public and its workers, those being made up of 33 counts of failing to take adequate steps to avoid risk to members of the public; four counts of failing to protect the safety of employees; two counts of failing to comply with the maintenance recommendations of the ride's manufacturer; and one count of failing to ensure that the ride was maintained in a safe condition. Court Magistrate Richard Hardy found the company liable to pay $20,000 to each victim and $147,500 in other penalties, however this would not end up happening, as Wittingslow was insolvent at the time. When the suit settled in 2006, the people who were injured by the ride were given between $2000 and $400,000 each in compensation, with the estimated total payout being ~$3,000,000.

Ever since the incident, the ride has been in storage.