Witness remembers Vortex accident as State Fair opens
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- The State Fair has officially opened and throngs of people walked through the gates Thursday on opening day. This came after last year's accidents on the Vortex ride.
Max Bryn was on the Vortex when it malfunctioned and hurled people off in every direction.
"It went by so fast I didn't have any time to concern myself with being scared," said Bryn, who is now 14 years old.
He took cell phone video right after the accident and can vividly recall the frightening experience.
"One of the girls fell like five or six feet in front of me," Bryn said. "Another person flew straight into the metal mural. Some people did go completely upside down. When they jumped off of it, they went straight first into those metal bars. You could hear the clanging and then you start to hear the people fall."
A few riders were seriously injured and spent extensive time in the hospital recuperating. Authorities say the ride operator rigged the ride to keep it running after it was certified and deemed safe by inspectors.
"I can tell you it still makes me very angry to think back about that incident and why it happened," said North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler.
But while fair officials are still angry, the Labor Department made absolutely no changes to how ride inspections were done this year. The Department says inspectors already follow pretty strict guidelines and they don't have the manpower to station inspectors to oversee fair rides.
Instead, once a ride is open to the public, the ride owner or operator is responsible for daily inspections. Those need to be done three times a day. The ride operator will keep a log and that information will be reviewed by an inspector.
"We looked at everything we could do to inspect these rides and the program that we have in place," said North Carolina Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry. "We believe that our inspection process is the best."
Although there have been no extra inspections at the fair, Bryn still plans on enjoying the state fair's rides.
"I've been going here my whole life," said Bryn. "I have lots of fun here. The fair is one of the best things. I look forward to it all year, so I'm not going to let just one experience just ruin it."
More than a hundred rides are offered at the fair this year. When the gates officially opened at 3:00 p.m., 10 rides were closed off to the public. They did not pass inspection.
Fair officials say during the fair, law enforcement officials and inspectors will patrol the ground and look for suspicious activity. Some deputies will be undercover.
