Funderland patrons cheat death on ‘Frisbee’

DOZENS of people cheated death when a large gear cog snapped off a white-knuckle funfair ride in mid-air, missing their heads by inches as it crashed earthwards.

Funderland yesterday launched an investigation into the incident at the Showgrounds in Cork, where the funfair is running until Sunday.

The ride, known as the Frisbee, mimics the pendulum of a clock, swinging funfair patrons — strapped into their seats on a spinning circular platform — to a height of around 50 feet.

Some 40 passengers were aboard The Frisbee when a metal gear cog, weighing about five stone, snapped and fell from its housing to the ground.

The cog crashed onto the ride’s headrests before it bounced behind the ticket office, coming within inches of injuring or killing the passengers. Gallons of oil then spewed over the unlucky Frisbee patrons.

The accident took place shortly after Funderland opened on Monday afternoon.

Eyewitnesses reported hearing a loud cracking noise before seeing the cog, measuring about two feet by three feet, fly out of the housing on top of the swinging arm.

A mother, who asked not to be named, described the incident as terrifying.

“I grabbed my children and ran back. People didn’t realise the danger they were in. This was inches away from killing somebody,” she said.

“I love funfairs, but I will never go on a funfair ride again in my life.

“It looked to me like there was too much of a strain on the machine,” she added.

“Kids came off the ride crying with oil all over their hair.”

According to Funderland marketing manager John Magee: “People were quite relaxed after the incident.”

He described it as a “bad mechanical breakdown”, adding that it looked a lot worse than it actually was.

“The distressing thing about this is that it released some oil,” according to Mr Magee.

“Our people took the names and addresses of those who were sprayed with oil and they will be compensated for the damage to their clothing,” he said.

“We know what happened, but our own engineers are now investigating why it happened.”

Mr Magee said the ride was fully licensed and certified, had recently passed government tests and was also inspected by Funderland’s engineers.

The Frisbee was shut down after the incident and remained closed yesterday, but it was business as usual for Funderland.

Gardaí and the Health and Safety Authority are not involved because the incident has been classed as a mechanical breakdown and not an accident.