Fatal Ride Malfunction at Ohio State Fair Possibly Caused by Structural Fatigue

The Ohio State Fair opened yesterday and will be marred by a fatal accident after one of the rides malfunctioned. One person was killed and seven others were injured, two in critical condition.

The video below shows the moment that one of the rows of seats on the Fireball ride breaks off and goes flying. The ride is made up of six rows of seats that spin around and move as a pendulum to swing 40 feet into the air.

Nothing graphic is shown, but given that somebody was killed as a result, take caution when watching:

After a little research I found out that the Fireball is sold as the Afterburner outside of the U.S. by KMG, a Dutch fair attraction manufacturer. In 2007 KMG sent out service bulletin warning of structural fatigue.

While it's not the same point of failure in this accident, it shows that the ride has a history of fatigue on its welds. The Ohio State Fair shut down all rides following the accident to further inspect each one.

Fire Ball rides across the nation are being shut down for inspection to insure this accident isn't repeated.