Guests Watch As Worker Falls, Dies On Thrill Ride

Magical Midway Worker Falls Doing Maintenance On Ride

POSTED: Saturday, July 2, 2011
UPDATED: 1:50 pm EDT July 3, 2011
clickorlando.com

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A worker was killed Saturday while performing maintenance on an Orlando thrill park ride as park guests watched while he dangled from a safety harness.
Video Here

Justin W. Honeycutt, 30, was killed while working on the Star Flyer at the Magical Midway, a thrill park located at 7001 International Drive in Orlando. The Star Flyer attraction is a giant swing that takes riders hundreds of feet in the air.

Orange County deputies and fire rescue officials found Honeycutt suspended by the safety harness about 50 feet off the ground. Rescuers brought Honeycutt down after about 45 minutes, but he was pronounced dead.

Honeycutt suffered severe traumatic injuries to his body.

A witness said she saw Honeycutt climbing the ride, and her children said the ride began to move when a counterweight apparently struck him.

"I was there to see the blood," the woman said. "The machine came down on him, and they went to go tell someone and no one believed them until finally when I started screaming, 'Blood, blood."

"He was strapped in. He was following safety precautions," a rescue worker said.

Officials said the ride was not open to guests at the time of the incident. No one else was injured.

Rides at the park reopened Sunday, although the Star Flyer remains closed.

The state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will investigate the incident.

Stay with Local 6 for more on this story.




Copyright 2011 by Internet Broadcasting Systems and ClickOrlando.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.