Terrified festival-goers left hanging upside down for 20 minutes after fairground ride breaks down
Festival-goers were left clinging on for dear life after a fairground ride ground to a halt, leaving thrillseekers dangling upside down for 20 minutes.
The Apollo 13 attraction - which hurls riders high into the air before flipping them over - suffered a terrifying malfunction on Friday night at the Boardmasters Festival in Cornwall, reports the Mirror.
Stunned onlookers watched as the giant arm froze mid-swing, trapping riders at its highest point with their heads pointing towards the ground.
Those stuck on the lower end of the swing were slowly evacuated, while others at the top were left hanging helplessly in the air.
One witness shared the footage with the caption: "Apollo 13 broke, with people stuck at the top for 20 minutes."
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Since being uploaded to TikTok on Friday night, the video has been circulated over 500 times. One viewer expressed their horror, commenting: "No, imagine being stuck up there and it starts to move because of the wind.", reports Cornwall Live. It comes after a woman travels 8 hours for wedding only to be told to leave for not reading invite 'small print'.
Another remarked: "I saw this happen from my house and I thought the ride was shut.", while a third revealed: "I was stuck up there." Boardmasters Festival organisers have been contacted for a statement regarding the incident.
The drama comes after other fairground ride horror stories including that of Jade Harrison, 27, who said she was 'lucky to be alive' after she was flung from a faulty ride at 60mph.
Jade was at Hull Fair in 2019 when she reluctantly boarded the Airmaxx 360 after pals persuaded her. Just 90 seconds in, she heard a loud click from her seat clamp and then moments later, she was catapulted through the air.
She told the Manchester Evening News: "I wasn't planning on going on any rides. But my friend wanted to go on the Airmaxx 360. I didn't want to be left on my own."
Just 90 seconds after boarding the ride - which can spin up to 60mph and spins intensely - Jade said she heard a concerning click coming from her seat clamp. After initially disregarding the noise, her friend said they had heard the same click, although it didn't raise alarm bells, and she "didn't really panic".
Before long, she was catapulted from the ride and into another, then falling to the ground and losing consciousness. She said: "All I remember is the feeling of flipping like you do in a dream when you wake up startled.
"When I came to I was laid on the floor next to the ride but everyone was just around me and I was a bit confused. I kind of forgot where I was and what I was doing so it took me a minute to realise what had happened. Then obviously I started panicking and everyone was telling me to calm down. It felt like ages for the paramedics to get there but in reality it was only about two minutes."
"I'm lucky to be alive. The most painful part was my chest. I couldn't sit up or take a deep breath. When I got home, I couldn't get out of bed without my partner's help."
Following the ordeal, Jade received a significant five-figure compensation from Taylor's Funfairs, the company that runs the ride, which admitted fault in the incident. The Health and Safety Executive shelved a criminal inquiry into the incident in 2023.
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