Operators ignored safety instructions, ‘flung’ Adelene Leong from ride at Adelaide show

Operators ignored safety instructions, ‘flung’ Adelene Leong from ride at Adelaide show

A coroner found that an eight-year-old child was tossed to her death at the Royal Adelaide Show because debt-stricken ride operators disobeyed safety regulations.

Adelene Leong came to see the show with her mother in 2014 while on vacation in Malaysia.

 

She slipped out of her bindings on the Airmaxx 360 and was flung into the air before crashing headfirst in front of her mother and many witnesses.

She died as a result of a combination of injuries.

 

When Adelene was allowed to ride the ride, the operators of the attraction oversaw safety instructions, according to an inquest into her death.

Despite the fact that the original manufacturer of the Airmaxx 360 recommended a height of at least 140cm, operators have set the minimum height requirement to 120cm.

Adelene, who was 137cm tall when she embarked on the ride, slipped out of her straps and was thrown into the air, where she was killed.

When Adelene was pushed out, the Airmaxx was said to be working at maximum force and at a speed of at least 100km/h, according to the inquest.

Prior to being evicted, she was hanging upside down from her seat by her left ankle.

The Airmaxx 360 was the first of its kind to enter the Australian market.

It was purchased in 2013 by amusement park owners Clinton Watkins and Jenny-Lee Sullivan, but the couple failed to complete the requisite design registration process.

They had also taken out a debt for over a million dollars to purchase the Airmaxx 360, and had repeatedly defaulted on their loan when the acquisition put them in financial distress.