Three children fall from Ferris wheel at Greene County Fair in Tennessee

The photo is crazy... how does a gondola get stuck in line with the frame of the wheel like that?

This is purely speculation, but if the cars were swinging back and forth when they were right side up at the top of the ride, maybe they got stuck together somehow. Then when the ride started moving, they remained locked in that position.

That being said, most tubs have pretty smooth bottoms, so I don't know how they'd interlock.

I'm guessing against them being physically stuck at the pivot point just because there are two of them next to eachother.

Same question.
That wheel looks familiar, but it's not of major manufacture. I don't know who owns it, probably a small show, but it or something similar booked on to the state fair a couple of years ago.
I jumped when I saw that pic, it looks like one tub stuck and caused another to knock into it. The frame may have been loose and compressed or turned slightly so that the cars wouldn't pass. Yikes.

And what's up with these accidents, especially with the kids? Jeez. It's that time of the season I guess.

The photo: https://twitter.com/GSunDarrenReese/status/762789102576103424/photo/1

It kind of looks like an Eli 16 wheel that has had the seats replaced with gondolas This is the show http://www.familyattractionsamusements.com/index.html

I read or heard somewhere that it happened on the way up, but looking at the photo, that makes no sense.

Local news reports here in TN say the girls were swinging the gondola, when it got stuck. As the Ferris wheel spun, it tipped them over and out "like a pitcher of water."

My understanding is that it was a quick rotating wheel, so it all happened very quickly.

Unfortunately, this along with the Schlitterbahn accident have rattled the "OMG there's no federal oversight" bandwagon.

Absolutely. They daisy chained into that accident and argument pretty hard after reporting this.

I'm still not 1000% convinced that both accidents didn't have rider misconduct yet.

State level should be enough oversight. If these states don't have any then they should get some and leave the rest of us out of it.

I saw that this morning and wondered how the gondola could get "stuck" in that position.

The orange gondola is hung up on something. The green gondola is hung up on the orange gondola. As you look at the Twitter picture visualize the wheel rotating in a counter-clockwise direction.

When this has happened before, the issue was something to do with the gondola doors. That doesn't appear to be the case here.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

They are saying the problem was worn out rivet fasteners.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/report-ferris-wheel-dropped-girl...s-41350073

So a piece of trim on the tub came loose and caught on the frame. The real telling point is the inspection report on the ride prior to the incident stating that it was not OK to operate. I would be surprised if this outfit is still in business at the end of the year.