Theme Park Ride Malfunction Allegedly Injures Multiple Children

An incident occurred at a popular theme park over the weekend, with multiple riders allegedly slamming into railings at high speed.

While theme parks and their attractions are generally built to stringent safety codes, accidents can still happen—as proven by the multiple scary headlines that have emerged from theme parks, amusement parks, and fairgrounds worldwide over the years.

In the past few months alone, we’ve seen multiple guests injured on Bounce, a drop tower at Welsh theme park Oakwood, when the ride suddenly plummeted towards the ground. Earlier in the year, a 38-year-old man sadly passed away after being struck by Kings Island roller coaster Banshee while trying to retrieve his lost keys from a restricted area, while four people were hospitalized after the Froggit Jump n Smile attraction malfunctioned at a fair in London.

This week, another incident occurred at a theme park in Pennsylvania, where a freak mechanical accident reportedly left at least five people injured.

Guests were riding Waldameer Park & Water World’s Flying Swings attraction at approximately 7 p.m. on Saturday when a ride operator brought the attraction to a stop. However, while the ride’s seats and passengers were brought down to ground level, the ride itself did not stop spinning or slow down.

As per a report shared via Reddit, the incident was “severe” and terrifying to experience firsthand. An unknown guest’s account claims that the incident occurred because a child was lifting their lap bar up during the ride and didn’t stop, despite being told multiple times by the ride operator, who decided to stop the ride.

Severe accident on [Flying Swings] at [Waldameer], injuries to several guests reported
byu/msuts inrollercoasters

“The ride went down but it kept spinning at full speed,” they wrote. “As soon as swings started hitting the umbrella at the operator’s stations, we knew we were in trouble. The ride didn’t even [slow] down until swings started hitting the railing. Multiple children mostly children were [injured]. You could tell three of them had broken bones and one had a gash on his foot as well.”

A statement from Steve Gorman, President of Waldameer Park & Water World’s President, says: “To my knowledge, there were five people who were injured with foot or leg injuries,” Gorman said (via Erie Times-News). “Everyone except one person was able to walk.”

The theme park posted a separate statement about the incident on Facebook, revealing that the ride would remain closed pending an investigation.

On Saturday evening of August 17th 2024, there was an incident at our Flying Swings attraction. Our medical staff and local first responders immediately assisted guests involved. We are investigating the incident which includes a thorough inspection of the attraction. Flying Swings will remain closed until all investigations are completed and we can ensure safe operation.

Safety is our top priority, and our primary concern at this time is for those affected by this incident.

As seen in a POV video of Waldameer Park & Water World’s Flying Swings, the ride is encircled by a railing. When operating at its full height and speed, seats fan out to a width that reaches beyond the railing’s perimeter.