Inspector found safety belts not working properly on Worlds of Fun coaster, official says
A safety inspector found multiple lap belts on the Mamba roller coaster at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City were not working properly on Thursday after state officials received a safety complaint, a spokesman for the Missouri’s Department of Public Safety said.
That finding was made after the park said it closed down the ride and conducted an inspection earlier in October after a guest complaint. The park told The Star the roller coaster went through an inspection and reopened later the same day.
“The ride is equipped with a multi-layered restraint system, and it has operated safely since the initial concern was raised,” park spokesperson Wilma Rivera said on Friday.
A second park spokesperson, Sara Gorgon, told The Star the ride was inspected that day, Oct. 11, as well as additional times in the following days, including on Thursday, by the state inspector. It was during that inspection when several belts were found to be not working properly, said Mike O’Connell, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety.
Gorgon said belt buckles identified were “fully functional, but out of an abundance of caution, 18 units were replaced” before the ride was cleared to reopen Thursday. Lap bars, which are the primary restraint system, were found to be fully functional in multiple inspections, Gorgon said.
Mamba inspection
A couple told Kansas City TV stations this week they had been riding the Mamba on Oct. 11 when a child seated behind them announced that her seat belt was not latched. Chris and Cassie Evins told the stations there was a large gap between the girl and a lap bar and that they held onto her to keep her in her seat until the ride stopped.
“My whole thought after the incident is, what if it had been somebody else in our seats?” Chris Evins told KCTV 5. “What if it was others, her friends? You know, they could have had a drastically different outcome.”
A ride inspector went to the Kansas City amusement park on Thursday after state officials received a complaint on Wednesday from a woman who said she had been at the park a few weeks ago with her son and found that his lap belt did not lock snugly around his waist, O’Connell, with the Department of Public Safety, said. KMBC reported that incident occurred the day after the one involving Chris and Cassie Evins.
O’Connell said the inspector found more than 20 belts on the Mamba did not lock as required.
“A lap belt or seatbelt’s retractor is required to lock the belt tight,” he said. “This is a safety violation, and the inspector shut down the ride (the park was not open at the time).”
The ride was “red-tagged” and couldn’t operate until repairs were made. The ride was inspected again by the Department of Public Safety on Thursday, and it reopened.
The roller coaster was previously inspected in April and then again during the spot inspection on Thursday. Inspections are required annually, and no issues were noted in the April inspection, O’Connell said.
