Posted on 08/06/2017 1:34:43 PM PDT by BenLurkin
The amusement ride that broke apart at the Ohio State Fair late last month, killing a man, was due to its “excessive corrosion,” investigators concluded on Sunday.
The Fireball, an 18-year-old fairground ride created by Dutch manufacturer KMG, broke mid-ride at the Ohio State Fair in Columbus on July 26. In addition to the death of a Marine recruit, seven other people were hurt.
In a response letter from the company, Product Manager Albert Kroon said the investigation into the incident determined that the ride malfunctioned from “excessive corrosion on the interior of the gondola support beam,” which “dangerously reduced the beam’s wall thickness over the years. This finally led to the catastrophic failure of the ride during operation.”
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Somebody’s gettin’ sued.
This why I avoid amusment park rides, fair rides, etc. Nowadays, people don’t do their jobs and maintain and ispect these things
And hopefully somebody’s going to jail.
I live here in Columbus and it was bad. I’ll correct the report though. NO Marine recruit will be at a fair EVER. He was a hopeful who enlisted and was the DEP (delayed entry program)
I saw on the news that the ride had been inspected the same day it failed.
Sounds like the inspector was either incompetent or crooked.
I’m with you on that. Even at the big amusement parks like Six Flags or Disneyworld one can’t be sure of the safety records of their rides.
I suppose the only way it would have been caught is if the inspector drilled holes in the support arms to look.
“If they were PAYING the Carney’s A LIVING WAGE things like this wouldn’t HAPPEN!!”
~ Said Every Screechy Harridan Leftist Chick, Ever!
#CarneyLivesMatter
“...Sounds like the inspector was either incompetent or crooked.”, or didn’t have a clue as to what he was doing.
Having managed equipment maintenance, and repair for international container shipping entities for many years I am familiar with varying perspectives of corrosion.
Most believe it is something that can be like a can, and kicked down the road.
That doesn’t have to mean what you think it means. It could just be toward the center of the ride, or more likely a butt joint between surfaces.
This is the manufacturer’s “investigation” of the matter, released on a Friday to keep the publicity down to a minimum.
Its the SOP for big business, big government.
I was in Columbus when this came down and visited the fair the next day.
Governor John Kasich said the government as in the Ohio Highway Patrol was conducting an investigation.
We need to see what they have to say about the matter.
It was revealed within hours of the accident that multiple rides (seven, I believe) were not set up properly after state inspectors re-examined them.
That can be based on factor of safety built into the design and whether the corrosion violates that, or possibly by noting the exact nature of the corrosion.
There simply is no such thing as “no corrosion”, or we would be hand-tied from ever getting anything built for fear of it.
This is the kind of report that makes lawyers salivate.
Yes, I suppose you’re right.
When I think of internal corrosion I think of “internal” like inside a pipeline or tube.
This why I avoid amusment park rides, fair rides, etc.
Yes, still possible, but they don’t make that clear. If it’s a channeled type beam, it could be on the inner surface and they’d have to periodically dissemble to inspect. I doubt that was the daily inspection.
1. BAD design. Yield before fracture? Margins of Safety? DESIGN LIFE???? Especially if corrosion will be an issue.
2. Lousy inspection process
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.