Even if it’s rare, we can’t help but anticipate an accident in an amusement park. The percentage is really small and exceptional but it happen. Your chances of death-by-roller-coaster hover around 1 in 750 million. Still, we all have been thinking about it. After wasting 1 hour or you time standing in line, you finally get a seat. Butterflies flutter in your stomach as you are getting all set and then the operator surprise you and press the green button. Your heart beats at its fastest time and your brain says: Is this thing safe?
No wonder, it’s too late to think about it.
Here are 10 crazy amusement park accidents that happened.
10. Ride of Steel
Darien Lake
Truly sad story for U.S. Army SGT. James Hackemer who wanted to try all the rides at Darien Lake theme park. After receiving assurances that he’d be fine. The double amputee suffered from a brutal tragic death when neither the lap bar nor the seatbelt restraints could secure him.
9. Action Park
This one should have closed its doors way before this happened. They had multiples unsafe rides, some drunken and belligerent and plenty of disinterested teenager’s employees. Six deaths were reported from a variety of causes that ranged from heart attacks to electrocution to drowning.
8. The Cyclone
Coney Island
This historic ride count two rider deaths in the ’80s. Both came as a result of reckless rider behavior.
7. Puff the Little Fire Dragon
Lagoon amusement park
This death was the first ever recorded as ride-related death in the long history of the lagoon amusement park. Be ready, it happened in a children’s ride. On May 1, 1989, six-year-old Ryan Beckstead managed to free himself from his ride. After falling out of the ride, he attempted to climb back onto the track just as another car was arriving.
6. Superman
Six Flags Kentucky
The very high vertical drop ride left no chances to a group of girls in July of 2007. A number of support cables broke, snapped back the passengers as they were dropped into a free fall. Fortunately, nobody died.
5. Flight Commander
King’s Island
This particular theme park is known to be haunted by a tragic, deadly two-incident day at the park on June 9. 1991. First, William Haithcoat and Darrel Robertson were fatally electrocuted while trying to save a guest who had fallen into a pond. An hour later, Candy Taylor was killed when she fell from the Flight Commander.
4. Batman the Ride
Six Flags Over Georgia
On June 28, 2008, this young guy climbed two fences to get his hat back. Standing too close to the ride, he was decapitated by the car.
3. Fujin Raijin 2
Expoland
Until 2007, this amusement park was very popular in Japan. The country’s worst amusement park disaster occurred when Fujin Raijin 2 roller coaster derailed because of a broken axle. This axle revealed that it hadn’t been replaced in 15 years. Killing one 19-year-old student and injuring 19 others.
2. Hydro
Oakwood Theme Park
The ride’s signature ended up killing a 16 year-old Halley Williams. She fell out 100 feet, sustaining internal injuries that led to her death. The park was fined $400,000 for negligence. Halley’s seatbelt was never verified by an employee.
1. BONUS! The Big Dipper
Battersea Fun Fair
This England’s fair was the home of the worst roller coaster tragedy in history in 1972. The big dipper structure was in wood and required a high maintenance demand. In May 1972, a rope that brought the cars to the top of the hill snapped and the anti rollback feature failed to leave a chain of speeding cars to smash into a wall. Five children were killed and thirteen more were injured. The park closed two years later on account of the negligence associated with the accident.
Sources
- howstuffworks.com
- The Richest
