Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Carnival ride fails, trapping 20

The riders were strapped in for hours, some 50 feet high. No one was injured.

By GRAHAM BRINK
Published October 13, 2006

	[Times photo: Willie J. Allen Jr.]
	A girl is stuck on a broken carnival ride at Sacred Heart Church in Pinellas Park on Thursday evening. It was unclear what caused the failure.

PINELLAS PARK - Jaymee Bates, 11, came to the Sacred Heart Fall Festival to ride as many rides as possible.

She only made it to two.

The Power Surge, a ride with tentacle-like arms that lift people up and down as it spins, conked out with her and 19 other riders aboard.

It took work crews about three hours to get everyone off. No one was hurt.

"She was supposed to go to Busch Gardens tomorrow," said Jaymee's father, Jim Bates. "Now she's thinking she might stay home."

It was unclear what caused the failure. Some riders were about 50 feet high, their feet dangling. They were strapped into their seats with over-the-shoulder harnesses.

Workers had to drain the hydraulic fluid from the pistons that make the machine go up and down.

Onlookers watched as the ride slowly lowered toward its platform. A little after 10 p.m., workers unlocked the harnesses and helped the riders off.

The rest of the carnival remained a hive of activity, even as firefighters taped off the area around the Power Surge to keep people away.

The Fall Festival is held at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in the 8000 block of 46th Street N in Pinellas Park. The riders were offered their money back and a wrist band good for unlimited rides for the rest of the weekend.

Power Surge rider Amber Hohman, 16, said she was more bored than scared.

"It just took a long time to get down," she said.

[Last modified October 15, 2006, 10:41:00]