Posted
Police are investigating what may have caused a piece from a 29-year-old amusement park ride to collapse Friday and send a 13-year-old to the hospital. Police said the center mast snapped and fell just before 9:15 p.m. Friday.
Read more from The Press of Atlantic City.
What a freak and unfortunate accident. I hope everything is OK with the teen and the injuries weren't too serious.
I've got to wonder if, inadvertently, a "decorative" piece of the ride may have been overlooked a bit, as the mast (to my knowledge) serves no structural purpose for the ride (similar to the Top Thrill Dragster tires a few years ago.) Couple that with possibly the seaside location and salt. Just speculation, however.
It probably wasn't really "overlooked"; those decorative elements do have inspection points, and in fact there exists a service bulletin for the Sea Dragon for cracking of the mast at the hinge plate.
This mast did not appear to break at the hinge plate. Instead, Morey's apparently found a new trouble spot, higher up on this particular decoration. It was not a known problem with this mast, and I imagine that the salt air environment probably accelerated deterioration at that point. Again, it's idle speculation. But from what little bit I know of Morey's, I'm guessing this decorative element was neither ignored nor neglected.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
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