...The girl was on the Terminal Velocity free fall-style attraction at Extreme World when a net that was supposed to catch her failed. The girl fell at least 40 feet. The attraction is described as an "unattached, controlled free fall.'...

http://www.wuwm.com/programs/news/view_news.php?articleid=6602

I hate to hear of such things. I hope the girl ends up being ok.

Wow, thats crazy. When I saw Extreme World on Travel Channel that (Terminal Velocity) was the ride I wanted to do the most. If it opens back up I'll still want to do it. After all I am an adrenaline junkie!

Quote: Judy Norys, from Woodstock, Ill., was at the scene and heard people screaming. A first responder, Norys began doing CPR on the girl.

"There was a little girl on the ground," Norys told reporters. "She wasn't breathing and didn't have a pulse. There was blood coming out of her nose, eyes and mouth." Quote>

Story

Sounds VERY bad. If a person is bleeding like that it means one thing. Internal bleeding. I'm no docter but I know that is VERY, VERY bad. I hope she makes it. I know I will never go on one of those things. There is a big difference between those and amusement park style rides.

http://www.channel3000.com/news/24453916/detail.html

I couldn't imagine something like that happening to one of my childen... My prayers are with that poor family.

My prayers go out to her and her family.

It said that the net was not up all the way. I wonder if this is a physics fail on the ride ops part. Oh she is just a little girl, she won't need as much net as an adult.

IIRC the free fall is 100' and the net is supposed to be 40' above the ground for a start point of 140'.

WISCONSIN PARK WHERE GIRL WAS INJURED WAS/IS UP FOR FORECLOSURE:

http://wcco.com/wire....2.1835939.html

Park also reportedly owes more than $75,000 in back taxes...

It seems that ExtremeWorlds entire site has been removed other then their home page http://www.extremeworld.com/. I just hope that the park was current with their insurance to take care of this girls medical and hopeful recovery. I know that when a business is in this bad a shape things like insurance often go delinquent.

Is it normal for the police to investigate an accident of this nature?

In some states, yes. Most places, no.

Thats just terrible. I would NEVER ride one of those things.

My prayers go out o the victim and her family.

I just don't see most police departments having the expertise to be able to competently investigate such an accident.

This also makes me wonder who did the inspection that was carried out in June.

The Department of Commerce inspects rides in Wisconsin:

http://www.commerce....desProgram.html

http://www.commerce....ideInspMap.html

There is also an Advisory Council. Part of it is:

Amusement Ride Code Advisory Council

William Anderson, Wisconsin Dells, Extreme World

http://www.commerce.....html#Amusement

Right when I saw the Travel Channel special with that ride in it, I automatically though, "No way."

I knew it was unsafe - I honestly thought - what if the net broke? Well, actually my mom said that......

Anyways, hopes and prayers out to that family, does anybody know how she's doing right now?

She is in critical condition:

http://www.startribune.com/local/99696689.html?elr=KArks:DCiUHc3E7_V_nDaycUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr

^This is honestly REALLY shocking. I can't imagine getting a phone call saying that a friend or child is hurt like that. I hope and pray that god will give her and her family strength.

I will never trust a ride that I'm not connected to something 100% of the time. Why can 't they make some sort of pit at the bottom of the ride full of foam blocks to prevent from this EVER happening again? I still think though that Winsconsin Dells will have remove the ride, although right now thats not important at all.

The Wisconsin Dells is an area...not unlike Mason...

The park is not the Wisconsin Dells.

^I know, I honestly JUST figured that out. Sorry Terp.

It's okay. There are many reputable operators in the Wisconsin Dells who had nothing to do with this...from Timber Falls Adventure Golf to Mt. Olympus to many, many family entertainment centers.

Park remains closed this weekend:

http://www.waow.com/Global/story.asp?S=12905605

Not the first freefall tower injury. Detailed tower freefall tower information here:

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime_and_courts/article_71f6739a-9d15-11df-9f1a-001cc4c002e0.html

And one more update:

http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2010/07/31/r_pbje_ok9rgqrwqbntahzvw/index.xml

I wish they would release a statement on how the girl is doing. I thought a lot about her last night and prayed she will pull through. Her injuries are severe I know. Just can not get her off my mind. I can not even begin to imagine what it would feel like to have this happen to one of my children.

The young girl remains in critical condition today:

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/99718679.html

Ty Terpy,

Ride "working properly"

"employee error"

"possible criminal charges" against ride operator

Park now open again:

...Teagan Marti, of Parkland, Fla., was not taken to the top of Terminal Velocity before she was dropped to the net below.

Riders are supposed to be dropped from 140 feet into a net 100 feet below the bottom of the platform. The net is 40 feet off the ground.

However, when Teagan was released, she was only 100 feet up, and the net was fully on the ground. Only the tubing around the net was inflated.

The ride attendant at the top of the release platform is supposed to look down at the ground, inspect the drop area for any problems and then look down at the ground attendant for an exchange of arm signals to indicate the release platform and landing net are at the proper height, the release said.

As part of the investigation, Chief Tom Dorner said police viewed four different recordings of Teagan's fall....

http://host.madison....1cc4c002e0.html

...The investigation has shown that the net and tube were supposed to be elevated about 40 feet when Marti was released for a free fall, but instead were laying on the ground.

Police are now investigating operator error as the potential main cause for the accident. It appears the operator who releases riders at the top of Terminal Velocity at Extreme World did not communicate with other workers on the ground to determine if it was safe to let the 12-year-old go....

http://www.todaystmj...l/99781444.html

I don't see how this is a criminal act, of course we only have what is in the article to go by.

Well, if it proves to be Operator Error, they would be charched with Involentary Manslaughter..well, the little girl (THANK GOD) is not dead, so I am not sure what they would be charged with...

http://www.cbs.com/daytime/the_early_show/video/?pid=DkdNTkp3bkTsDQRv_dxwKW73mKDqncuw

I just hope she gets through this.

I'm not a lawyer or law enforcement official, so please correct me if I'm wrong, but I can see how this could result in criminal charges. It all depends on the extent of the mistake and where it falls on the scale of tragic error to gross negligence of responsibility.

If the operator thought he was doing all of the checks and got confused and mistakenly forgot the final check, it doesn't seem to qualify as a crime to me. If the operator was ignoring protocols by skipping hand signals and safety checks because he didn't think they were really important, that could easily be interpreted as criminal negligence. It's like if you have a stop sign on your street that never has traffic or pedestrians so you decide you can just burn through it, when you hit a car or person you have committed a crime. I'm assuming that the safety checks ride operators go through are required by law.

That being said, even if you accidentally run a stop sign because something distracted you or you were just unfamiliar with the street, you can still be cited for running a stop sign, even if there isn't malicious intent. If the hand signals that were skipped were in fact required by law, even if it was just an honest mistake, law enforcement may be well within the law to file criminal charges.

Since we don't have all the information I'm not interested in making a judgement on this ride op, but depending on the scenario, criminal charges may be very appropriate.

It's all terribly sad though. Regardless of the ride op's intent, no punishment to him is going to change anything for the girl. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see how you could possibly fall 100ft and not have life-long disabilities as a result.