Amusement Ride Program Grounded Indefinitely
IN THE MALL PARKING LOT–Western Amusement officials are 70% certain that they know what caused the failure of their flagship amusement ride, “The Shuttle.” The ride, one of seventeen traveling amusement attractions owned by the carnival company, has been out of service since Saturday, and it is not known when it will be functional again.
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Carnival workers believe that one of the two hydraulic lifters, mechanical arms designed to simulate the real take-off effects of the original NASA space shuttle, cracked a seal, forcing liquid out of the hydraulic chamber, thus disabling the 16-passenger ride. No one saw the accident, which occurred during a preflight warm-up sequence, performed every morning before the traveling amusement center opens for business.
Shuttle ride debris was found scattered over a thirty-foot radius in the parking lot around the ride, but much of it was swept up before a proper investigation could be done.
Carnival officials were hesitant to speculate on the possible cause of the disaster until they had taken a good look at the lifting mechanism.
The regrettable incident has upset the carnival atmosphere, and many now question how this will affect the show, other than the obvious loss of revenue from the 4-coupon ride.
“It was inevitable,” said Rory Baxter, senior ride mechanic. “The shuttle ride is getting old. I doubt there was anything that could have been done to prevent this tragedy.”
The ride was built in 1982, and has been one the amusement circuit for over twenty years. During that time, it has been serviced nine times. Regular maintenance had been performed regularly since the ride was originally purchased, and there had only been one other breakdown during its tour of service–an unfortunate circumstance involving a metric conversion.
The shuttle ride accident will likely setback the carnival’s future plans. They had intended to journey to The Southside Mall in Ambleside next week, but those plans may have to be postponed until the ride can be fixed, or at least lowered back down onto its rig.
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