A ride at the Kern County Fair is still shut down after it partially collapsed and left riders stranded upside down in mid-air Saturday.
Cal-OSHA is investigating the accident. The state law that requires annual inspections was written after a teenager was killed on a ride at the Kern County Fair 45 years ago.
"All of a sudden we started hearing noises and screeching like metal," said Jennifer Wood.
In cell phone video, you can hear panic in the crowd, seconds after a ride partially collapsed Saturday at the Kern County Fair.
"People were screaming, running around frantic, like what do we do?" continued Wood.
The "Spin Out" ride takes passengers up in the air, spinning around on a deck.
"We were going really fast, and all of a sudden it just stopped. I really thought we were going to fall straight first on the ground," said rider Andrea McCabe.
When the blocking that holds up the platform gave way, part of the ride dipped down and hit a stairway.
Photos snapped moments after the accident show the operator's booth knocked on its side. Event staff ran to rescue the person stuck inside.
"The operator immediately did what he was supposed to do. He hit the emergency stop which stopped the ride immediately, but it stopped the ride upside down," said Lance Moyer, Chief Operations Officer, Butler Amusements.
Riders were left dangling for eight minutes. "Kids were screaming, crying up there, help me, get me off," said Wood.
Butler Amusements has operated Kern County Fair rides for 13 years. "We have one of the best safety records of any amusement company in the country," continued Moyer.
The Division of Occupational Safety and Health, better known as Cal-OSHA, oversees traveling amusement rides in California.
"Incidents like this are uncommon. They do operate safely by-in-large, but we do have an occasional incident like this," said Dean Fryer, Spokesperson, Cal-OSHA, Amusement Ride Unit.
Cal-OSHA is investigating the accident.
"We do see a lot of minor type of injuries on amusement rides and typically those are trips and falls when you're getting on and off the ride or patrons on a ride will bump their head," continued Fryer. "We don't see incidents like this happen often at all."
Records show no previous problems with the ride, which has been around since 1999.
"We want to look at maintenance records to ensure the proper work was done on the ride," explained Fryer.
Up until the 1960's, inspections on traveling rides weren't required in California. That changed after September 26, 1967, when a teenage girl was thrown from a carnival ride at the Kern County Fair and died.
The Amusement Rides Safety Law took effect the following year. "The law says they must be inspected annually and issued an annual permit," explained Fryer.
A similar law for permanent amusement rides was passed in 2000.
The ride operator also inspects traveling rides each time they are torn down and put back together.
The "Spin Out" ride is scheduled to be repaired, inspected, and re-opened Tuesday afternoon.
