Ohio State Fair accident

[drummermattk]

Just found the link to the video on twitter. Indeed it looks like it hit the floor.

https://twitter.com/coasterfan325/status/890409696066240512

That's just another version of the same video linked in the first post, isn't it?

Ah my bad indeed it is, I didn't see the video that was attatched to the first post in the thread as it wasn't there when I first pulled it up. (The link to the video was but the YouTube video wasn't). My apologies.

[coneyislandchris]

From what i've heard, though others have not shared the video that shows it with me, the floor came up and the car that came undone hit the floor,,, then fell off of its arm. Though that it is not confirmed, I can't say if its true or not.

Yeah, I keep hear about some other mystical video also. Where is it? Find it hard to believe that so many people have supposedly seen this video, but it's nowhere online? Seems suspect.

 

I haven't seen it and I think people are just confused at what they're looking at. There's a video someone took that's about 5ish minutes long of the aftermath and that's actually a thousand times worse than the 5 second clip of the accident itself.

Where is that one at?

The aftermath video can be found here, obviously not for the squeamish:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=7HtPmoqB3cY

[Apollo von Sol]

 

I haven't seen it and I think people are just confused at what they're looking at. There's a video someone took that's about 5ish minutes long of the aftermath and that's actually a thousand times worse than the 5 second clip of the accident itself.

Where is that one at?

 

Here it is, (starts at 0:19)

 

It isn't a 5 min video of the aftermath, it's really is more of a 2 min video of the aftermath and the rest of the news broadcast.

 

EDIT: Actually I just found the original 5 min video;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJJgRQjvO8c

[robbalvey]

The aftermath video can be found here, obviously not for the squeamish:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=7HtPmoqB3cY

That's a GREAT video. That could really help with things I'm sure. Tragic yes, but taking the human and emotional element out of it for a moment, actually is very interesting to see the ride in pieces like that. Still shocked over this. If it turns out that it was some ride operator error raising the floor or some crazy thing like that, that's almost even more scary (I think?) than metal fatigue and the inspector being a moron.

[Apollo von Sol]

That's a GREAT video. That could really help with things I'm sure. Tragic yes, but taking the human and emotional element out of it for a moment, actually is very interesting to see the ride in pieces like that. Still shocked over this. If it turns out that it was some ride operator error raising the floor or some crazy thing like that, that's almost even more scary (I think?) than metal fatigue and the inspector being a moron.

 

I would think the floor raising and/or other ride elements would be locked out by the ride's computer if it senses the ride is in motion, similar to roller coaster blocking. If the computer in fact allowed the floor to be raised while the ride was in motion then that would be a program error I would think. Also if the floor was raised, why didn't the other cars fall off as the ride looked like it was at it's full height swing, on the way back (after the first one broke off), the other cars would hit the floor as well, or people on the other cars feeling their legs hit the floor, so far we haven't heard about any injuries in the other 5 (?) cars and from the aftermath video, they all seem to be running off the ride with no injuries, so I would be more inclined to believe the metal fatigue story than the floors raising story.

[robbalvey]

I would think the floor raising and/or other ride elements would be locked out by the ride's computer if it senses the ride is in motion, similar to roller coaster blocking. If the computer in fact allowed the floor to be raised while the ride was in motion then that would be a program error I would think. Also if the floor was raised, why didn't the other cars fall off as the ride looked like it was at it's full height swing, on the way back (after the first one broke off), the other cars would hit the floor as well, or people on the other cars feeling their legs hit the floor, so far we haven't heard about any injuries in the other 5 (?) cars and from the aftermath video, they all seem to be running off the ride with no injuries, so I would be more inclined to believe the metal fatigue story than the floors raising story.

I know as much about operating traveling fair Frisbees as I do manufacturing refrigerators so I'm not going to make any detailed speculations or respond to any. I was more playing devil's advocate based on the different stories I've heard.

Edited July 27, 2017 by robbalvey

[paulthomas]

This is just the worse thing I have ever seen on any ride ever.

 

I've been on this thing 100's of times at various fairs and I've always watched it go up and swing and visualized a "what if this happened" final destination type scenario and I never thought I'd see the day I'd actually see it happen.

 

I'm so sick over this, this kind of crap should never, ever happen. Especially since they engineer the shit out these rides with so many fail safes and redudancies.

 

So terribly sad for all who were injured the life lost. : ( : (

[WestCoasterKing]

The people on the ground at the end, the girl and man, they came off the ride, correct? They weren't on the part that fell off. It looks like they taken off after it stopped.

[BoulderDash]

Wow what a terrible accident, very sad and upsetting.

 

It appears that the people on the ground came off the ride after it stopped. The car appeared to slam into the opposite car which those people were probably in.

 

I'm not sure about what caused this. Doesn't seem like the floor had anything to do with it because even if it is fully raised, the cars would not hit it. Just seems like the car somehow detached from the ride.

 

Hopefully they can find the cause. I read somewhere that rain on Monday caused them to rush to get the rides open so maybe they overlooked something during an inspection.

[B&MIntaminGCI]

Looking at the aftermath video.

 

I think what happened was at the bottom of the swing, the one seat detached, and the hollow sound you hear is that car dropping and hitting the floor, which is then caught by the opposite seat and thrown into the air because the bottom of the detached car is scrapped and dented.

 

Crazy and now I'm gonna be nervous as hell to ride another Afterburner, that's for sure.

 

RIP to the victim that died, and hopefully the others have a fully & speedy recovery.

[DirkFunk]

For the record, when the ride is racked, the seat gondola/row/whatever you want to call it has the same point of attachment to where the point of failure is here, so it isn't like it's being reaffixed at that point or articulated there to put the ride up. More than likely that would be something which would be visually inspected by the inspector (in Ohio that's often something like a Sheriff or Fire Chief, though not always) and looked at annually by someone who does non-destructive testing per KMG's guidelines. It is pretty much no surprise at all that the other rides of this sort from KMG are getting shut down across the board and probably will stay down and off the road until at the very least a cause is determined.

Edited July 27, 2017 by DirkFunk

[paulthomas]

So, so messed up. Now go and watch the POV of the KMG Infinity and imagine the same thing happening on that ride.

 

: ( : ( : (

 

Paul

[tinaalsgirl]

There's another video on YouTube now that shows an even closer look at the ride immediately following the accident. This is... a bit more graphic than the other aftermath video already linked, if only because you get a more close up look, very briefly, of the poor person in the broken car whose legs were broken.

 

Please, please edit/delete this message if this video link is a bit too over the line for here:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwwxGUMA9Vc

[ABW]

No Mr Kassich ® Governor, State of Ohio, People go to the fair and expect a reasonable amount of safety, not, quote, " People have to use their judgement before boarding a ride " What a deflection, I just can't imagine how he justified that statement to, nor to the families of, and people on the ride. Truly Heartbroken and wish for the best for those affected.

 

Exactly! How dare any lawmaker, let alone governor, be so callous regarding such a horrific incident!?

[rolercstrluvr]

Going off of what the governor has said, We shouldn't have to worry about the ride, we trust that the company that built it and the company that maintains it keeps it in great shape. We shouldn't have to worry about any of that.

[Rill'o'beily]

People have to use their judgement before boarding a ride"

 

When you go on a plane you should expect it to maybe crash into a mountain range or get hijacked, you know the risks when you board! People have to use their judgement... why do i feel this guy has some personal vendetta against amusement rides or something

Edited July 27, 2017 by Rill'o'beily

[rolercstrluvr]

^ And if people constantly used their judgement and lived in fear over getting on a plane, train, bus or a roller coaster then a lot of these businesses would go out of business. Why do you think we're still here and how far we've come. We faced fears and took chances. We do that everyday, just by driving your car down the block or from SF to LA.

 

*end rant*

[gerstlaueringvar]

Had a bit of time at lunch break so I did some very rough calculation. I found this drawing online and it is the 13.5mx9.8mx22m model of the Afterburner. Since there are no cabin dimensions available online, I used my ruler and computer screen to get to a very rough result that the maximum radius of the cabin is about 3.7m. And given that the maximum swing height is 20m at 120°, subtract 1.5m for the platform and clearance between cabin and loading platform height, the total height of the pendulum is around 10.2m. Use the radius and the height for calculation, the absolute lowest point of the pendulum when it's in motion would be around 0.62m (24in) lower than the lowest point when it is stationary. From what I remember, while KMG seats are high off the loading platform, the extra space needed for the structure of the seats definitely makes me feel like 24 inches is way longer than the actual clearance height.

 

Yes, after all these sketchy calculation and inaccuracy, I do think that if the loading platform was raised during the swinging motion, there is a possibility that one of the arms can hit the loading platform. But if you look very closely at the short video when the accident happened, the middle (main) loading platform was lowered. So I'm thinking two possibilities: metal fatigue in the detached arm or the loading platform malfunctioned and was going up as the ride is in motion, and at that moment, the main loading platform reached into the clearance envelope of the pendulum and caused the arm to break off.

 

Edit: Just to clarify, I am still thinking metal fatigue is the more likely cause, I just did the calculation to see if the floor is able to cause a problem.

Source: http://home.wxs.nl/~souil002/ab.htm

Edited July 27, 2017 by gerstlaueringvar

[sdcfan88]

In that extended video with the slo-mo edit you can see the silver floor paneling shift as the arm swings by. I think we got our likely culprit. The gondola struck it as the arm swung by.

Edited July 27, 2017 by sdcfan88

[viking86]

Holy crap that is scary! I have no desire to watch any of the videos, my imagination is more than enough. It will be very interesting to read the accident report when the investigation is done. From what I know KMG has a very good safety record.

[Midgetman82]

In that extended video with the slo-mo edit you can see the silver floor paneling shift as the arm swings by. I think we got our likely culprit. The gondola struck it as the arm swung by.

Though that's a fixed portion of the floor, which never raises or lowers. You can see that in this separate video of an operating Afterburner ride. I still believe the seat came off when the ride was on its downward swing from g-forces, then hit the floor as a result.

 

It is pretty much no surprise at all that the other rides of this sort from KMG are getting shut down across the board and probably will stay down and off the road until at the very least a cause is determined.

Gonna be looking out for this during this year's Kentucky State Fair if North American midway Entertainments come to town with their Afterburner again (called Feuerball). I loved these rides, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them hold back on bringing it this year. If they bring it... I'm likely to consider skipping.

 

This is incredibly tragic, especially for it being the first day of the fair. I'd really like to know who or what's at fault in this when/if a report comes out of it, since this ride can be found in so many other places in the U.S.

[julioot]

I just found these pictures on a dutch forum, I have no idea what the original source is:

 

 

Looks like it did not hit the floor.

Edited July 27, 2017 by robbalvey

[flaffstar]

The fact that this is an original KMG ride and not a knock-off this time scares the crap out of me..

But since this is a travelling ride and it was the opening day it was probably a failure when constructing it on the new location.

[Morgan]

Looking at those pictures it doesn't appear to be a fault in the construction of the ride, as you can see the section where the seats are bolted to the arm is still intact, so to me that would suggest that the seats either did hit something with enough force to rip it off the arm, or that it was metal fatigue and it broke on its own under the pressure of the downswing.

[SharkTums]

I am not ok with this accident in any way. This is not something that should ever happen in a developed country to a real manufacturer ride. I only watched the original video twice and can't bring myself to watch any of the others. This sort of accident is bad for the whole industry and makes even me, a knowledgeable informed rider, question riding or putting KT on real rides. I hope we get a good, full inspection (by someone NOT from the Ohio inspectors obviously!!!) and get to the bottom of this. Wishing the injured the best recovery they can have.