Photo by Vince Fedoroff
PIECE FALLS OFF – A piece from a carnival ride that fell Wednesday wasn't essential to the equipment's safety, A-1 Midway owner Michael Mills said today.
Pin falls from carnival attraction
A-1 Midway owner Michael Mills says a piece from a carnival ride that fell Wednesday at the midway in Shipyards Park was an not an essential piece to the Startrooper ride.
A-1 Midway owner Michael Mills says a piece from a carnival ride that fell Wednesday at the midway in Shipyards Park was an not an essential piece to the Startrooper ride.
"It was a just a little safety pin,” he said in an interview today.
Four midway-goers brought it to his attention.
The ride was briefly shut down while he repaired it, which took only a few minutes to ensure it was properly back in place.
While he wasn't there at the time the piece fell, he said the customers expressed no concern over how it fell, but were concerned that it be put back on the ride.
The ride has three such pins in it that aren't essential to it.
It came out sideways and fell to the ground, not causing any harm, Mills stressed.
This marks the fifth year the midway has come to the city, with Wednesday being opening day.
Mills said he was pleased to see a packed crowd there to take in the rides, games and treats that make up the midway.
It will be open today and Friday from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 11 p.m., opening at the same time Sunday. Its closing time will be dependent on the crowd.
The midway has travels throughout Alberta and the North during the summer.
In an interview this afternoon, Calli Bjork said her two children were on the ride when she heard a clunking sound and the piece – which she described as the size of a railway spike – fell nearby her sister and her two three-year-olds.
Bjork said she brought it to the attention of the operator, who immediately hit the emergency stop and ended the ride. She noted though the ride was operating again within 10 minutes after the piece was "shoved” back into place.
While Bjork has supported the carnival each year it's been in town, she said she won't be taking her kids to any carnival now until she knows its safety procedures and it's her hope that in bringing the situation to light, others will be aware and it will be made more safe.
She pointed out that it wasn't just those on the ride who could have been hurt had the piece fallen any other way.
"Even bystanders were affected,” she said.
After the incident, she and her kids immediately went home. While her kids won't be heading back to the carnival any time soon, Bjork said they understand why.
See related photo, p. 4, and tomorrow's Star for more on the carnival.
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Comments (7)
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Marcy on Aug 19, 2013 at 3:23 pm
Look at the low paid younger kids they hire to man these machines. Before the pin was "shoved" back into place, it should have been shut down while a qualified person had a good look at it. Scary
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Just Say'in on Aug 18, 2013 at 3:48 am
I had a Safety pin come out of the door on a Salt and Pepper shaker as it was called. The door was on my friends side and all of the G Force was trying to drag him out the door as I held onto him and the screen on my side with my other hand. When they finally stopped it (and it took about four more revolutions) we just got out and took off. Haven't rode any since and never encouraged my son to either. Permanent set-ups are likely safer however look at West Ed Mall and that was new and permanent. Why do people want to do that to themselves anyway? Go out and ride your bike or something where you can control the danger level yourself.
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Rebecca Fleshman on Aug 16, 2013 at 6:49 am
My friend was the one on the seat that this pin fell out of, I was sitting right across from him and hold him it fell out. So it didn't cause any harm. The worker put the pin back in after shutting the ride down. It doesn't mean the ride needs to be closed for long it simply needs to be put back. Making a big fuss about one small thing happening is going to back them not want to come back.
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Darlene Griffis on Aug 16, 2013 at 5:56 am
A "safety bolt" on a carnival ride that is revolving at a high speed does not fall off, it flies off. Thankfully, nobody was hurt. The carnival owner minimizing the incident is creating an issue. All he had to do was shut the ride down and investigate why it happened, and take measures to ensure it doesn't happen again. The route he chose to take reinforces my concern about safety of carnival rides that are repeatedly taken down and put back up, and then operated by young people who have no knowledge of how they work.
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hmmmmmm on Aug 15, 2013 at 7:31 pm
OK, so a safety pin is not essential??? Interesting, not seeing it I cannot describe it, but it sounds like a cotter pin or similar device that is essential as a safety measure to ensure that other structural pieces are locked in place and unable to vibrate loose... I would say that, and the fact that it is termed "safety" would indicate it's essential nature.
Does this indicate why Carny's have stereotypical reputation as untrustable/undesirable???
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Ashley Griffis on Aug 15, 2013 at 9:12 am
I'm so disappointed at how this story was written. I'm the sister who watched the "pin" fly off the ride. I thought someone lost a shoe and when I walked over to it I was shocked to see a huge metal bolt lying on the ground. It probably weighed 3-4 pounds. It did not "come out sideways and fall to the ground". It launched out of its place from the spinning force of the ride and landed well out of the range of the safety gates. Had this hit any of my kids I have no doubt they would have been killed. We're not looking to get the carnival shut down. But we don't think it's to much to demand proper safety procedures. It sickens me to think of the headline you could have been writing today. The owner of the carnival is not doing anyone any favors by minimizing what really happened. Hope there's no more incidents this weekend.
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Mike on Aug 15, 2013 at 7:54 am
A safety pin is considered a non-essential part? In what application is 2/3 safety pins not a concern? Those rides frighten me, the way they are designed to come apart and travel just seems to be a weak link in the chain to me. I would love to hear a sound byte of this guy calling a safety pin non-essential, ya non-essential to you making money maybe.