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added, is not designed to be rocked, but you have to allow that kids may become rambunctious and rock.
Mrs. Foster said that “nobody I’ve talked to saw kids rocking,” and that she did not recall seeing any children rocking the ride. She did say that although the operator said that the buckets were designed for two children, at least one bucket held three kids: two older children with one holding a young child on her lap.
“I watched the whole thing,” Mrs. Seal agreed. “I could almost swear that none of the children was rocking.”
Mr. McCarthy said that it appears that operator error played a part in the incident. “It’s not as important to me where he went as that he should have been there at the controls,” Mr. McCarthy said. If the kids were rocking the ride, the operator should have warned them to stop, or shut down the ride if they continued. And, “although there is no requirement that the operator must have his hand on the switch, he was apparently not where he was supposed to be.” Had he been at the controls, Mr. McCarthy pointed out, he could have shut the equipment down immediately when the problem developed.
Mr. Harrison said that, apart from human error, “everything which could have been done was done.” He added that he was at the carnival Thursday evening with his young daughter, and she was on the rides. Not the small ferris wheel, he said, “because that didn’t interest her,” but the rides are safe, he emphasized.
“We are on top of the situation,” Mr. Harrison said. “We are protecting the residents of the county - we are concerned about safety.” He said that Mr. Cole and John McSpadden, owner of J. R. Amusements, which furnished the rides for the carnival, had cooperated with the county’s investigation. (Mr. Cole owns the two ferris wheels and the “Moonwalk” ride which were leased to Mr. McSpadden for use at the Flint Hill carnival.)
Mr. McSpadden expressed regrets over the accident, adding that he and his family have been providing rides to the Flint Hill carnival for
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