The owner of the "Gravitron," a carnival ride federal regulators want inspected or shut down, says every precaution is being taken to ensure its safety at the Utah State Fair.
"We have double-inspected it," said Buddy Merten, owner of B&B Amusements, a California-based company supplying rides for this year's fair.Despite the concerns, the ride was popular with fair patrons, particularly teenagers, on the opening day Thursday.
"It's fun; it makes you stick to the wall," said Melissa Galke, 15, Salt Lake City.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission released a nationwide notice about the ride after one fell apart at the Missouri State Fair, injuring seven children.
"We are recommending (carnival owners) proceed with caution by shutting the rides down or not using them until we know what caused the Missouri accident," said Joel Swisher, spokesman at the commission's San Francisco office.
Jay Demarco, a commission compliance officer in charge of amusement rides, said ride owners are not banned outright from using the Gravitron but are being urged to at least "inspect it fully before setting it up."
The Gravitron is a barrel-shaped ride made of vertical panels with backboards on tracks. Riders stand against the backboards and as the ride spins, they are raised on the backboards.
It is believed one of the panels broke loose on the ride at the Missouri Fair, throwing out three riders. Four other people were injured by flying debris.
Merten said his Gravitron ride was inspected before assembly as ordered by the commission, along with the rest of his rides.
"We are not in the business of hurting people," he said. "We are in the business of people having a good time. It is to our advantage to make sure we have properly operating equipment."
Merten, who has supplied rides to the Utah fair for the past 10 years, said the rides also are inspected daily by the ride's foreman.
"Our safety record is the reason we were hired to do the fair," he said. "We've never had a major or serious accident."
Utah doesn't have an agency in charge of inspecting rides at mobile carnivals. And the safety commission has to rely heavily on local and state regulations because it is "spread too thin," said investigator Larry Spinazze.
"In states where there are no inspectors, it falls on the localities. There will be areas where there are no inspectors. Then we have to rely on the operators and hope everything goes all right," Spinazze said.
Donna Dahl, assistant director of the Utah fair, said Merten assured her all the rides have been inspected. She also said a representative of the state's Risk Management Office has inspected the area.