What Really Happened on Vortex North Carolina State Fair October 24th 2013? 

My guess is when the fight/flight/freeze response got triggered their brain landed on freeze and they went full deer in headlights. Honestly makes me wonder if the ride ops had any training beyond the minimum it takes to run a normal cycle.

This happens when your staff doesn't do drills. I'm sure most here have done fire drills and found them a bit superfluous, but when in a panic, that drill could save your life. Same goes for heavy machine operations. Drills feel superfluous, but without them, people could panic and forget what they read three years earlier that they should do.

I know when the fire alarm went off in the school I attended, nobody used the fire exit door that was right next to classroom door instead opting to walk the long distance to the main doors. Basically in fake or real emergencies we are lucky to do what is normal and use the regular stop instead of the emergency stop even if the two are right next to each other.

He probably figured that button didn't work because all the jumpers to override the safety systems were in place.

@@jimmypatton4982 I was in class when a fire alarm went off and the teacher said "What is that?". A few of us said "Fire alarm" and left. Most of the rest of the class & the teacher stayed in the room. It turned out to be a false alarm because of work occuring in another area of the building and we were back in class in 5 minutes tops, but I can only imagine what would have happened had it been real.

@@reeseoutdoors7491 I rode many a carny ride when I was a teenager but I'm done with them these days unless they are in a permanent professionally run amusement park. I know those big theme parks still have accidents too but at least the ride ops don't look like methed out Hill Bellies involved in a competition to prove they have the least brain cells or teeth in their family. It's also a comfort to know that a multi million or multi billion company has a rather large liability if something does happen to somebody on one of their rides, unlike some fly by night upstart who my family might never see a dime out of if something happens to me. In the end a national or multi national corporation knows it's far cheaper to make sure the rides are well maintained and operated correctly then it is to pay out huge lawsuits on a regular basis. It's bad PR for them as well.

@@ashleighelizabeth5916 i dunno. six flags ride ops arent any better in my opinion. they're all high school students who dont wanna be there. at least at my local six flags thats how it is (darien lake).

I started in Ride Ops and went into entertainment and spot at the winter parade. There's E-stops on all floats. No guest is coming in front of my float! Alot of guests do not think about safety. Edit- I work at a Cedar Fair park.

@@ashleighelizabeth5916 gs

At Disney, for this sort of ride, we had to keep our hand resting on top of the e-stop at all times when the ride was moving - seems like overkill but there were definitely times when I had to react in a split second (pro tip don’t lift your kid up in the air on Dumbo)

All of that, and he got 30 days for it... then almost did it again with the ferris wheel. Absolute madness this guy is allowed to operate anything involving other people

@@Teh_Random_Canadian The fact that he's even allowed to operate these machines anymore, much less profit off of them, is incredibly messed up to me. He should not be allowed near another amusement ride for as long as he lives.

@@AdriElizabeth IKR. Not once, but TWICE his negligence almost killed someone..

Macaroni really thought that people would believe that Mr T acted alone and duped everyone, inspectors etc and himself just so he can what? Get paid minimum wage to operate this ride til it gets fixed at the next fair/carnival? The gall smfh

Greed is one of the seven deadly sins.

I don't know man. That's probably little comfort for the people who suffered life long physical and mental damage. It really shouldn't have happened to begin with.

For sure, it shouldn't have happened. But still I think 'I'm so sorry, I made a terrible mistake and will never do it again' is going to be much more acceptable to them and their loved ones than 'why are you trying to bring up the past? It wouldn't have happened if the inspectors didn't make me fix stuff!'

@Birdy You're completely right, people need to focus on how to improve moving forward, regardless of what happened in the past, otherwise past events are all for naught (which, of course, they couldn't be bothered to do -.- Why are people like this not only in charge, but even allowed to be in charge of their own shoes..)

Mr. T was part of something that's going to cause lifelong trauma. The past can never be erased. But, as someone with PTSD, there is comfort in someone admitting they did something wrong and harmful. He paid his dues and is going to be living with that for the rest of his life.

I'm sorry Mt t felt pressured.

I think there was another death at our State Fair where someone had their foot hanging out of the ride, and it struck I believe the ride operator and killed him. I wonder if this guy has done a vid on that one. That is the NC State Fair, same as this one, just some other year, I can't remember I think it was back closer to 2010s or maybe before.

That's great to hear

Yes, especially young children struggle with sitting still. Thanks to the quick reaction of a guy hitting the e-stop saved my sisters life from getting crushed by a moving carousel truck.

This is good, but i have to wonder if hesitancy in this case could have saved lives, if the whole thing was flipped upside down and you stopped it, wouldn't more ppl have fallen? Obviously this wasnt the reason why he didnt estop or else he would have said that but still

@@mothiiee I don't know, the ride starts slow at first. Like all flat rides, it takes a little bit to reach full speed and height, so there would've been plenty of time to press the ESTOP button before the seats had been fully upside down. Unfortunately the ride operator was just too slow.

That is pretty strict. I don't think I've ever ridden on a carousel that required seat belts for anyone over like five or so. Im not gonna complain though because I'm of the opinion to "better to be safe than sorry".

The ferris wheel accident is being covered in a What Really Happened Shorts video!

@@CoasterCollege I’d love to see the recent Melbourne accident covered in a short where someone climbed on the tracks of a travelling coaster. Seen conflicting information The more you cover this kind of the thing the more people will learn how stupid it is to bring a phone on a ride

@@the1barbarian781 I'm also looking into covering that accident

@@CoasterCollege awesome. Would covering the cedar point raptor accident go against any work agreements?

@@the1barbarian781 no, but I don't think me covering it will add much to the story.

He did, for 30 days

@@OtisCluck When we say he should be in prison we mean years.

Right? Kind of like "it was a routine flight"

I do my best to discourage my kids from rides. They just feel unsafe and there seems to be so many “accidents.”

@@ritadyer9295 what about rides from theme parks?

@juiceboxer100you have a pretty vehement response to someone not allowing their children to engage in behaviour that they, as a parent, think is unsafe. You don’t have much of a leg to stand on when the whole point of this video is discussing a man who cut corners and jeopardized the public’s safety STILL being allowed to operate in the same industry. That is appalling and cements my belief that travelling rides are not safe. As a lay person, I wouldn’t be able to identify whose rides were being hosted at an event or know which companies to avoid. Most people wouldn’t. We rely on the industry policing shitty people like Macaroni out so everyone can be safe. Since he is still allowed to operate, I’m going to go ahead and say I wouldn’t set foot on a ride like this either, not knowing who owned it or if they had a good safety record or a bad one.

@@samanthawright8830 I know you mean well... BUT here we already have a couple (and probably more) channels on YT helping "out" the dubious and dangerous practitioners and bad players in the industry... It's ONLY a matter of time before websites start popping up to post charts or curate some form of simple enough rating system on Theme Parks, Mobile Attractions, Rides, and Companies for their safety, performance, and entertainment values... The industry IS getting better about internal policing, and the rides are steadily safer with every passing year. It's come a LONG way just since "Action Park" and a few other Bad Actors raised national awareness (if not International Awareness) to the "Cowboy Era" of ridden attractions needing to draw to a close... and preferably before it killed the industry. At the same time, restricting children too much is ONLY going to be to their detriment. NOBODY is ever truly safe. What are you going to do for them when they HAVE to go off to college or to find work??? You want to wrap them in bubble wrap and duck tape??? It's not going to work. Either they'll grow up to be worse cowards over-all, OR they'll get awakened to "Mommy's needless phobias"... AND you'll get exposed as a LIAR about the freakish hazards of rides, whether mobile or permanently affixed... AND I've seen the parents exposed as liars FAR more often than kids growing up to be cowards. All the best intentions, and you won't understand why your kids somehow find every reason they possibly can to stay well and truly clear of you... You can bitch about "the thanks you got"... OR you can step back and reckon with reality... Try your best, but at some point, let them have adventures and go BE KIDS... The fact is, statistically, you're still more likely to get your entire family killed just negotiating traffic than you are to be injured (let alone killed outright) in an amusement ride. That's a fact across the United States, and regardless of "Carnies" or "Theme Parks". Just something to think about while you pass your own judgments on others. ;o)

macaroni, WTF

I was wondering if nobody would talk about the fact that this guy is called Macaroni 😅

@@melodiechartier5173 His life was doomed to failure with just that last name alone lolol.

I know, and that sentence was after he was caught lying about it, clearly willing to throw his employee to the wolves, and showed no remorse for his actions... 30 days. Meanwhile, people have gotten years in prison for having a joint on them, absolutely insane.

Rich white men don't get punished the same way normal people do.

Don’t worry, karma is beautiful, what goes around comes around

welcome to america

Capitalism :)

Oh my, that would put a pit in my stomach. Glad no one lost their lives 🙏

Even agent 007 sounds better than Josh macaroni. Or just put some common name in front of bond. & watch ppl believe it. John Smith> Macroni. Kind of feel like you're just asking for it if u call yourself macaroni. But then again, I'm not gonna even bother trying to look him up. Glad I talked my youngster out of seeking thrills out of fair. Even tho other incidents happen at parks & its rarer, if u said u didn't question it even a teeny bit, ure lying!

Thanks so much Ryan! I'm glad you enjoyed this one, it took a lot of time to research and create!

You both make such good video series that are fun to watch beetween the what really happend and the problematic coasters seris

I love both of your channels! They're my favourite thing to watch!

hey if it isnt my two favorite roller coaster channels in one place

elryantoro

Thank you! I really gave this one everything I could!

I’m the same way with plane crashes - I used to be really afraid of flying, until I got into plane crash documentaries and learned exactly why flying is so safe

The exact same thing happened to me! I like the feeling of being in roller coasters, but couldn't bring myself to get on anything that wasn't a kiddie ride until I got on anxiety meds and watched a lot of technical analyses of them park accidents

Me too! Now I wanna go ride a few 😆 🤣

@@veronicadow1407 this didn't happen for me. I figured out I have a phobia 😆

I was the same, but about elevators, until i watched an elevator documentary, and it brought up the invention of the special lock mechanism that stayed unlocked only when there was power, so if the power went off the lock mechanism would lock the elevator in place, keeping it from falling more then maybe a foot or so. the guy who invented it showed it off at a fair or convention or something, showed how'd it worked, and said to the crowd something along the lines of 'I will not step on a elevator without this safety mechanism', eventually leading it to being standard for elevators

rip

If I'm ever looking to ride a fair ride, I'd rather go to a park or pier that has them as permanent installations (especially in NJ where regulations are very strict) because I frankly trust them more. Great Adventure and Morey's Piers have most of them available without the perceived risk of traveling versions.

I mean, it didn't have any issues for over 2 decades and the incident could have easily been avoided people followed the damn rules. There's also plenty of cases of incidents happening at actual theme parks. Not to mention how bad people are at evaluating risks considering we drive vehicles at upwards of 100km/h with nothing more than a line of paint separating them, all while filled with volatile petrol. So, despite what you think, nothing like this is going to happen in your boring life. Now pass the turkey.

@@Lovefromwcu1 Oh for sure. Santa Monica Pier has the dragon ship ride that I love, and I would rather ride something like there or the pirate ship ride at Knotts

@@Lovefromwcu1 i love morey's piers! i go there every year with my family and i know how committed they are to safety

They're rarer than roller coaster accidents.

People usually only get a harsh sentence if they are poor. The courts are especially lenient for business owners. It’s a travesty.

Thank you so much!

Thanks so much for your help!

Omg this is my state fair too, I have never heard about this!!

This was my first time hearing of the incident as well.

Where do they hold the State Fair in NC?

@@dextermorgan1 Raleigh, NC.

it’s been a while

He’s gp to enthusiast for me

he has such a calming voice

I remember when it was stilled called GP to Enthusiast

@@joshgraves789 me too. We are the old skool fans.

forged builders plate makes it very difficult to certify.

@@Aliceintraining that makes sense ! still sucks if it was, looks very cool :(

I won't lie, it was also to have fun lol. But thanks for understanding, I do try to give these WRH videos everything I can, sometimes that takes a while.

Lol

Thanks for watching!

@@CoasterCollege No problem!

Thank you!

His family also works in the industry

Idk I'm not a lawyer

it's a deadly weapon in that there is a possibility for fatalities. any time an object has the possibility of death attached to it, it can be considered a deadly weapon. running an amusement ride without a safety system is begging for something like this to occur, that's why there are laws and inspections. there's absolutely no way the owner can argue that he didn't know a malfunction was possible or he wouldn't have hidden the modification nor lied and tried to blame the ride operator. the operator did not. he would not have jumped the second connection without the owner having done it first, and he was uncomfortable because he didn't know what the possible repercussions of doing so were. the owner ordered him to leave it that way, knowing that it would not pass an inspection, and the ride needed to be fixed properly. it's the equivalent of playing Russian roulette with a revolver.

Thank you!

A fix is being pushed through the RU-vid editor now, thanks!