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The judge ruled the accident a result of park negligence and found that the ride operator failed to ensure that the man's safety bar was properly latched, that the lap bar mechanism itself was poorly maintained, and that it appeared to be functioning when it was not.
The attorney representing the park called the decision a "travesty of justice."
The attorney representing the victim said he hoped the case would bring attention to what he called a lack of oversight in the amusement park industry.
The park will pay $4.9 million to the victim and another $500,000 to his son, who witnessed the accident from his own seat on the ride.
The looping roller coaster, called Turbo, had twelve people aboard at the time of the incident. None of the passengers was injured. Riders scoffed at the park's offer to compensate them with a free ride on the Turbo when it reopens.
The Health and Safety Executive is investigating.
Investigators found that the frame of the victims' car was cracked, rusty and fatigued. They also found similar cracks around several other seats on the ride, as well as several other "disastrous defects," including cracks and rust in the ride's turret and chassis.
The owner of the ride has been charged with a breach of health and safety laws.
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The device was not subject to any independent safety check, and its owners were allowed to operate it without any kind of license. However, a spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive says that the machine does fall under health and safety legislation and operators had a duty to ensure that it was safe.
The victim paid the machine's owners 20 pounds to ride.
Avon and Somerset Police and the Health and Safety Executive are investigating, and criminal charges are possible.
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The ride was shut down, and authorities are investigating.
The company's website says that the ride is "completely safe."
The lawyer for the family complained that it took the park three years to come to an agreement. The park says it worked as quickly as possible to settle with the family.
The accident happened on the park's Roaring Rapids ride on March 21, 1999. A raft capsized, spilling its riders into the water. One woman was killed in the accident, and ten others were seriously injured. The park has now settled all of the lawsuits which victims and their families had brought against it.
Six Flags is now suing Canyon Manufacturing, blaming the company for the malfunction which led to the accident.
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The Grand Prix is owned and operated by Fiesta Shows of Seabrook, New Hampshire. The company says it is unaware of any other accidents involving Grand Prix roller coasters.
The ride operates without any seat belts or restraint bars, as there are no industry or government regulations that call for their use on the ride.
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A 15-year-old girl was also injured when her footrest struck the man. She was sent to a local hospital and treated for minor injuries, including bruises to her right leg.
The man worked for Amusements of America, the midway operator of the fair.
The ride has been shut down as local authorities and safety officials investigate.
The ride was ordered closed along with several others and the Health and Safety Executive is investigating.
A park spokesman suggested that the evacuation procedure should be implemented much sooner should a similar incident take place and that the ride's contingency plan is under review.
None of the riders was injured.
The ride is owned and operated by Midway of Fun of Oroville, California.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.
Two years ago, a similar accident injured two women at a Minnesota carnival. As they were being let off a Zipper ride, the ride jerked forward, throwing the two to the ground. One woman was hospitalized.
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Witnesses say that the man was walking around the running ride picking up change which had fallen from people's pockets.
The Re-Mix features six arms which hold three pairs of seats at their ends. During the ride, the arms lift and rotate, while the seats tilt outward as they spin around.
The ride's manufacturer, Tivoli of England, has been notified of the problem. The ride's owner, Wood Entertainment of San Antonio, Texas, agreed with the findings of the report.
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The boy was taken to a local hospital where he was reported to be in fair but stable condition.
The ride, called the Grand Prix, is owned and operated by Fiesta Shows of Seabrook, New Hampshire.
The accident is under investigation.
The most significant item reported by the Commission was the increased number of inflatable ride accidents and injuries: nearly 2,000 injuries were attributed to inflatable rides in 2001. The Commission also noted a significant increase in the total number of fixed-site ride injuries, and a significant decrease in the total number of mobile ride injuries.
The number of amusement ride fatalities has not changed significantly. From 1987 to 2000, there were an estimated 62 non-occupational amusement ride deaths, representing an average of 4.4 fatalities per year. More than two-thirds of the fatalities occurred at fixed sites.
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The owner of Reed Exposition says that a ride supervisor noticed that the man was drunk and that the supervisor called the police over to the ride. He also says that all of his rides are safe, that alcoholism among carnival workers is rare, and that carnival ride operators are well-trained and well-qualified. However, speaking to KCBD News of Texas, one ride operator said, "You don't fill out nothing. You just give them your ID and Social Security Number and they take your name and they put you on the ride you want to work."
The operator is not alone in his criticism of carnival worker training and standards. In a 2001 court case in West Virginia, an employee of a carnival operator named Shaw and Sons Carnival told a judge that he never completed an application for his job as a carnival ride operator, and that he had never been interviewed about his qualifications or whether he had any disabilities or drug or alcohol problems. He also told the judge that the only thing he had to do to get hired was show identification. The man had been operating a kiddie roller coaster when a 7-year-old girl was seriously injured. Attorneys for the victim argued that he was mentally retarded. The carnival company ultimately settled the case.
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The ride, called Way Out, has been shut down while the state investigates.
The bungee equipment, which is owned by a company called Freefall Bungee Wales, has been seized by police. The Health and Safety Executive is also investigating.
Since 1986, at least 18 people have died from bungee jumping accidents worldwide.
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The Starfish, more commonly known as the Trabant, or Wipeout, features cars which surround a platform which lifts and tilts while it rotates. The girl, who was thrown from her car as it passed the highest point of the ride, spent a week in a hospital suffering from internal head injuries, spleen laceration, and multiple broken bones, but was expected to recover.
The ride operator reported to the park that he believed the two were seated properly, but that he was "not 100 percent sure."
"If the operator was properly trained to identify the situation, the accident could have been prevented," said a spokesman for OSHA's Department of Industrial Relations.
"The bottom line here is the position of the passengers was totally incorrect."
OSHA reported that the girl and her mother were both unaware of the seating requirements for the ride, and that the operator "failed to notice and correct the seating position for them when he made his lap bar check before starting the ride."
"The operator walked around and checked the lap bars without saying anything regarding their seating positions."
OSHA also found other problems that may have contributed to the accident.
"The posted safety signage at the entrance to the ride did not inform the passengers that the larger person must sit in the outside position. Decals that are supposed to be posted on the outside of the tub regarding the seating location of passengers were missing. The operator's instructions to the passengers...did not include the requirement of the larger person sitting on the outside."
OSHA says that the ride's existing restraint system "is not adequate to secure passengers in the seat," and has ordered the ride to remain closed until the park designs a new restraint system.
A spokesman for the park disputes the state's findings, but has agreed to keep the ride closed.
Last May, a 41-year-old woman fell from the same ride and suffered minor injuries. She is suing the park and the ride's manufacturer, Chance Rides of Wichita, Kansas.
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On Friday, the ride passed one inspection by its operator, Garbick Amusements, and another inspection by Pennsylvania's Bureau of Amusement Rides and Safety Standards.
The ride has been repaired and reopened.
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The state tested the pool's waterlines and equipment and found them to be working properly. Investigators believe that the computer settings which control the flow of water, chlorine and hydrochloric acid had been set improperly.
The park denies any responsibility, but has not suggested any other possible causes of the cloud. A spokesman says that the park "stands by" the quality of its water.
Wyandot Lake is owned and operated by Six Flags of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
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The Re-Mix is owned and operated by Wood Entertainment of San Antonio, Texas. It features six arms which hold three pairs of seats at their ends. During the ride, the arms lift and rotate, while the seats tilt outward as they spin around.
Investigators say that the accident was a result of a welding break.
The ride passed a state inspection on Tuesday, and had also passed several daily inspections by Wood Entertainment and Amusements of America, the company which operates most of the fair's midway rides.
The Re-Mix has been banned from operating anywhere in the state of Ohio until it is fixed and passes a state inspection, and until its manufacturer, Tivoli Rides of England, addresses possible structural problems. At least one other Re-Mix ride, operating in New York, has also been shut down.
A spokeswoman for the Ohio State Fair maintains that there have been no accidents at the fair in the past 10 years, however, the fair's records would not even include the Re-Mix accident because only accidents which involve overnight stays at hospitals are counted by the fair as accidents. Using that standard, the fair also would not consider last Monday's malfunction on the Big Sling ride an accident. Two people were trapped on the Big Sling 100 feet in the air for about 20 minutes after a cable snapped. Those riders were not injured.
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The incident occured on a new spinning roller coaster called Jammin.
Park directors and the Health and Safety Executive are investigating while the ride remains closed.
The lawsuit claims that Knott's Berry Farm was negligent because it failed to adequately warn people of the ride's potential health hazards.
An investigation by California's Occupational Safety and Health Administration concluded that the woman's injury was not caused by the ride.
The park has yet to comment on the lawsuit.
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The ride has been shut down, pending a state inspection.
The accident happened at a day camp for children. Six children were taken to local hospitals, but none of them was seriously injured.
Employees of the company which owns the ride later packed up the ride and left town, refusing to answer reporters' questions.
Local police are investigating.
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The ride passed its daily inspection prior to the accident.
The Ohio Department of Agriculture is investigating.
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The boy, who worked in the loading area, was struck by a part of the ride.
The accident is under investigation. The ride has been shut down.
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The girl suffered a lacerated kidney, an inflammed pancreas, and a broken leg.
The ride had cleared a state inspection prior to the accident.
The ride was scheduled to reopen on Sunday.
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The chairlift transports passengers to the top of a mountain where the park is located.
The same ride malfunctioned on June 30, leaving 42 people stranded for up to four hours. Three people received minor injuries.
The North Carolina Department of Labor is investigating.
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The accident happened on the Top Gun roller coaster, a suspended coaster whose trains feature cars that hang below the track. An employee mistakenly parked the maintenance truck in the path of the ride, causing the accident. The damaged train was removed from the track and the ride was later reopened with its other train running.
The concrete walkway was suspended about two feet above an area of water which was about four feet deep.
The ride has been shut down while investigators inspect the area.
Chesire police and the Health and Safety Executive are investigating.
The fan, which was located at the top of the car in which the children were riding, overheated, resulting in the deadly fire. Two other children who jumped from the ride were also injured.
A police chief who led the investigation said that the fan was old and in poor condition before the accident.
"Investigators concluded the fire was due to the recklessness of the individuals responsible for the upkeep of the ride. They failed to to regularly examine the condition of the ride and keep it in good condition."
The manager of the park, the owner of the ride and those responsible for its maintenance face criminal charges.
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The ride has been closed and the Health and Safety Executive is investigating.
Last December, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited the park for ten safety violations in connection with the accident, and fined Lake Compounce $14,500.
The fatality was the park's third in just two years. On July 1, 2000, a 6-year-old boy fell off his inner tube while riding the park's Lake Plunge water slide. Lifeguards found him a half-hour later, curled up in a fetal position at the bottom of the lake, 15 feet below the surface of the water. He never regained consciousness, and died one week later. A police investigation later concluded that the park was partly to blame for the death. On August 21, 1999, a 16-year-old park employee died from injuries he suffered from an accident on the park's Tornado ride a day earlier. He was struck by the ride and dragged underneath it. That incident led OSHA to fine the park $7,000 for safety violations, saying that its management failed to use "feasible and acceptable methods" to prevent employees from entering the area of ride rotation. The citation also said that Lake Compounce "did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards and that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees."
The Boulder Dash lawsuit says that the park's safety procedures did not comply with industry and federal safety guidelines. It says that the park failed to implement a safety "lock-out system," which would have prevented anyone from operating the ride while workers were on or around it. It also faults the park for failing to train park mechanics to avoid conducting test runs with workers underneath the tracks, or to check with groundskeepers by way of two-way radios to be sure that the area is clear. Those guidelines are standards of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.
The park mechanic who dispatched the train which struck the victim said that there was no park protocol to determine whether there were any maintenance workers in the area around the ride. Other employees who worked with the victim said that they were never told to leave the area, and that none of the groundskeepers were given safety training before they began working at the park.
The attorney representing the victim's estate told reporters that it was hard to believe that "there were still safety violations going on" despite the fact that there had been two fatalities in the park's previous two years of operation.
"When you have a situation where you have a death in your park, then another death, you would hope somebody would conduct a generalized inquiry into all safety procedures and make sure employees are well trained."
Lake Compounce denies all the allegations of the lawsuit and all responsibility for the accident.
"It is our intention to vigorously defend our position," said Richard Bisi, a park spokesman.
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The cause of the sicknesses has not yet been confirmed, however witnesses reported seeing a green cloud above the waters of the wave pool.
The wave pool and water rides were evacuated and shut down and the incident is under investigation.
Wyandot Lake is owned and operated by Six Flags of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
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The chairlift transports passengers to the top of a mountain where the park is located.
Three people suffered minor injuries.
A spokesman for the park says that a cable is to blame for the mishap.
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health is investigating while the ride remains shut down.
The fire quickly engulfed the front passenger car in which the girls were riding. Two others were injured in the accident.
The manager of the park and the operator of the ride have been charged with negligence resulting in death and injury. Police continue their investigation and say that more charges are possible.
The ride, called the Whirlybird wheel, features a hydraulic system which lifts and tilts a rotating wheel which carries passenger cars. Reports indicate that the ride's hydraulic system failed, but the Health and Safety Executive begins a full investigation on Sunday.
Fire departments from five towns were called to the scene. Firefighters used ladders and a cherry picker to rescue the riders, most of whom were teenagers. Five of the passengers were hospitalized with minor injuries including heat exhaustion and dizziness; 12 others were treated at the scene. One firefighter was also treated for heat exhaustion.
The ride passed an inspection on Monday.
The Spin Out is operated by Amusements of America.
The ride is operated by Amusement Management International of Carrollton, Texas.
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The Starfish, more commonly known as the Trabant, or Wipeout, features cars which surround a platform which lifts and tilts while it rotates.
The ride had recently passed an inspection by California's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). It is now closed, pending an OSHA investigation.
Park officials say that the girl's safety restraints were closed and locked, and they have not yet determined how she fell from the ride.
Last May, a 41-year-old woman fell from the same ride and suffered minor injuries. She is suing the park and the ride's manufacturer, Chance Rides of Wichita, Kansas.
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The Gravitron consists of an enclosed cylinder which spins at high speeds, using centrifugal force to hold riders to their seats as the seats rise, giving the illusion that the floor is dropping out.
Investigators ordered the Gravitron shut down. Another ride operating at the carnival -- a kiddie boat ride -- was also ordered shut down.
The carnival is owned and operated by World Wide Entertainment Group of Chesapeake, Virginia.
The carnival manager declined to speak to a news reporter from WTOP radio in Washington, however the reporter did get this response from an employee: "So why do you have to come out here? This is none of your business."
The storm's strong winds also uprooted trees, downed power lines and damaged several other buildings in or near the park, sending branches and other debris flying about the area.
The park was shut down after the accident and park officials have not said when it will reopen.
The Whip, one of the park's oldest rides, features 16 cars which spin as they rotate about an oblong track. It originally opened in 1918 but had been relocated to its current building in 1995.
The collapse happened during a tornado warning which had been issued for Allegheny County, where the park is located.
The boy suffered lacerations to his head and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. His injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.
Investigators from the Health and Safety Executive allowed the park to continue operation of the ride.
On Sunday, a man was killed in a similar accident at Six Flags Over Georgia in Atlanta, Georgia. A 56-year-old employee was struck by the leg of a passenger on the Batman The Ride roller coaster and killed. Park officials say that the man was in a restricted area underneath the track of the ride when the accident happened. The rider, who was seated in the ride's front car, sustained a leg injury and was treated at a local hospital.
Batman The Ride and Nemesis are inverted, looping roller coasters. Trains travel beneath an overhead track, allowing riders' legs to dangle below the trains.
In a statement released by Alton Towers, park officials said that the immediate reaction of the staff "resulted in less serious injuries than might otherwise have been sustained."
"Alton Towers very much regrets this incident and will of course continue to monitor the boy’s condition."
In 1997, two children were injured when they fell from the same ride.
Park officials say that the man was part of a group outing for "mentally challenged" individuals.
The Rainbow features a passenger platform that is attached to a vertical arm which rotates 360 degrees through the air.
Batman The Ride is an inverted, looping roller coaster which reaches speeds of up to 50 miles per hour. Inverted roller coaster trains travel beneath an overhead track, allowing riders' legs to dangle below the trains.
In August, 1995, a similar accident happened at Morey's Piers amusement park in Wildwood, New Jersey. A 36-year-old maintenance worker was killed after he was struck in the head by the foot of a passenger riding the Great Nor'Easter, an inverted looping roller coaster. The passenger was also injured.
Officials have not yet determined what caused the bar to open.
"This is a rapidly growing problem that will soar out of control if the industry does not wake up to its responsibility to the riding public," said Markey. "The average roller coaster riders are not graduates of astronaut training like John Glenn or Sally Ride, and they surely should not be placed in a situation where the forces of the ride test the limits of human endurance."
The latest inventory includes 58 cases -- 22 published in the medical literature and 36 unpublished cases. Previously, Representative Markey had released a list of 15 cases culled from the medical literature by the National Institutes of Neurological Disease and Stroke (NINDS). At that time, Markey noted that 14 of the 15 cases had occurred in the 1990’s, which he noted coincides with a building boom in the roller coaster industry that was leading to a sharp increase in the average speed and force designed into the rides. Today’s updated list reveals a similar pattern, with 51 out of 58 cases, or 88 percent, occurring since 1990.
In the United States, 10 cases have occurred in California, 5 in Florida, 4 in Nevada, 4 in Ohio, 6 in Pennsylvania, 6 in Texas, 3 in Virginia, 2 in New Jersey, and 1 each in Colorado, Missouri, Tennessee, and Washington. The other 14 cases are from outside the United States.
"The industry is playing a very dangerous game if it pretends that all is well on some of these rides," Markey continued. "We need tough, tight, enforceable g-force standards, and we need them now."
Markey’s call for g-force standards may be answered first by the state of New Jersey, which is reportedly ready to publish proposed g-force limits on rides in that state.
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Investigators believe that the devices which attached the bungee cords to the bridge failed.
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The woman suffered bruises and scrapes, but no broken bones. Paramedics said the fall could have easily killed her.
The ride was shut down and the accident is being investigated.
The ride has been shut down pending an investigation.
The Cajun Cliffhanger, more commonly known as the Rotor, was manufactured by Chance Rides of Wichita, Kansas. It uses centrifugal force to pin riders against a spinning circular wall. Once riders are clinging to the wall, the floor beneath them drops from under their feet. The floor returns as the ride slows to a stop.
Witnesses of the accident say that the floor was raised at the wrong time, and that two girls were injured when their feet got caught between the wall and the rising floor. The girl whose parents filed the lawsuit lost most of her right toe. The other girl was not seriously injured.
Six Flags says that it will add a rubber safety strip around the floor of the ride to prevent similar accidents.
According to park records, at least twelve other people have been injured on the Cajun Cliffhanger.
The park also agreed to pay the victim an undisclosed sum of money.
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Perilious Plunge was manufactured by Intamin AG of Switzerland and opened in 2000 as the "world's tallest, steepest, and wettest water ride."
The OSHA report stated that: "While the possibility cannot be excluded that more optimal placement or adjustment of the seat belt and/or lap bar could have been achieved so as to have prevented the accident or mitigated its outcome, the design of the restraint system was clearly not adequate to protect against the type of event that resulted in the deceased's separation from her seat."
The report also says that while park employees did check to make sure that the passengers who were seated on the right side of the victim's boat had been properly secured by lap bars, they may not have done so for passengers on the left side of the boat, where the victim was seated. Ride operating procedures set forth by Intamin and Knott's state that ride operators must visually check the seat belt, and that "lap bar restraints are to be checked by 'pushing down, then up.'" OSHA added, however, that there is no evidence to suggest that a more thorough check of the left side would have resulted in any adjustment of the victim's lap bar.
OSHA is calling for the ride's restraint system to be modified so that riders of all body sizes will be adequately secured, and says that Knott's should sponsor another training program for its employees before they operate the ride again.
Knott's Berry Farm says it will work with Intamin to implement OSHA's recommendations.
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Internationally recognized engineering firms and experts were engaged to investigate independently the cause of the incident with the VertiGo attraction at Cedar Point and to provide third-party recommendations for engineering modifications. The crack was determined to be caused by a vortex-shedding phenomenon that resulted from the towers standing during the off-season without the support of the attached passenger cart and cables or other support while the ride was not in use. Ultrasound inspection of the two similar rides that were in operation at two other amusement parks at the time of the incident at Cedar Point show that those rides have no evidence of vortex shedding, due to the continuous attachment of the passenger cart and cables. In conjunction with the independent engineering firms, S&S has developed methods that eliminate the circumstances that can create a vortex-shedding phenomenon.
Separately, Cedar Fair, the owner of Cedar Point and Knott’s Berry Farm, at which a second VertiGo attraction is also located, has indicated that, due to the publicity associated with the incident at Cedar Point, it will elect to remove the attractions from its parks and will not allow S&S to make the proposed modifications.
Stan Checketts, founder and Chief Executive Officer of S&S, stated, “It is a shame that guests at these two parks will not have the opportunity to enjoy the thrill of this ride in the upcoming season. Given the level and extent of outside engineering review performed in recent months, in my opinion, it is the safest amusement ride in the industry today. The thousands of people who have ridden the ride since it opened last year have expressed universal excitement, and there have been absolutely no incidents of rider safety complaints. We have several new sites opening this season and are pleased that park guests who love the ride will still be able to enjoy the experience.”
S&S Power has over 110 vertical rides in operation throughout the world.
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VertiGo is manufactured by S&S Power of Logan, Utah. The ride is a slingshot-type ride which features a triangular carriage which seats up to six passengers. Riders reach speeds of up to 50 miles per hour as the carriage is launched to heights of up to 300 feet.
The rides were newly manufactured and opened at the parks last year.
A similar ride operates at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California as Thrill Shot. Six Flags has not yet decided whether it will keep its version of the ride.
Cedar Point, S&S Power, and the state of Ohio continue their investigation of the January collapse.
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Six Flags, which denies any responsibility for the accident, says that it plans to recover the $4 million by joining the victim's family in a lawsuit against Canyon Manufacturing, the company that made the parts of the ride which were blamed for the accident.
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The Chaos features eighteen cars which border a circular platform. The cars, each of which seat two riders, flip through 360 degrees as the platform lifts, tilts and rotates. It had been operating at Michigan's Adventure since 1996. Witnesses of the July 31 accident say they heard a cracking sound, then watched the platform stop and crash to the ground. Apparently, the ride was spinning as it toppled over, and briefly rolled along the ground like a wheel until it came to rest. Rescue teams used cranes to stabilize the ride, then worked to free the riders, who were trapped underneath locked over-the-shoulder restraints. Some riders were trapped for nearly five hours. Thirty-one passengers, most of whom suffered minor injuries, were taken to local hospitals.
According to the report, Michigan's Adventure did not provide any evidence to the state that all required inspections of the ride were performed and certified by "special commissioned inspectors," as the state requires, nor that the bolts had been inspected according to the specifications of the ride's manufacturer, Chance Rides of Wichita, Kansas. The state also says that the park failed to provide documentation of regular monthly torque checks of the bolts as required by a service bulletin issued by Chance. Investigators also say that park inspectors told them that the bolts were visually inspected most of the time, and not checked with a wrench.
An outside metallurgical laboratory, which was brought into the investigation to examine the ride parts which broke and caused the collapse, concluded that the parts "were of proper materials and of good workmanship," and that "the most likely cause of the failure is loosening of the fasteners due to impact loads."
"This resulted in flexing, with subsequent fatigue fractures of the remaining bolts, and final catastrophic overload failure," says the lab report.
Michigan's Adventure has been ordered to keep the ride shut down pending a state inspection, however the park says it plans to remove the ride altogether.
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The boy was 4 years old at the time of the accident. He fell out of his car, got hit by another car under which he became pinned for some time. He suffered irreversible brain damage as well as serious injuries to his lung, liver, spleen, and pelvis. He was hospitalized in a coma for several weeks following the accident and is now hospitalized at a rehabilitation facility. He cannot talk or walk and is sustained through a feeding tube.
In December, 2000, the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) declared the ride unsafe, blaming the accident on a flawed ride design and operator error. The ride had been ordered closed until several safety modifications were made to it.
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The worker, a 52-year-old man, is the ride's overseer. He has been released on bail.
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VertiGo was manufactured by S&S Power of Logan, Utah and is the first if its kind to be installed at a park. It opened at Cedar Point in August. The ride is a slingshot-type ride which features a triangular carriage which seats up to six passengers. Riders reach speeds of up to 50 miles per hour as the carriage is launched in between the towers to heights of up to 300 feet.
Cedar Point, S&S Power, and the Ohio Department of Agriculture are investigating the cause of the accident.
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