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A document filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court on June 23 raises the possibility that Oaks Amusement Park’s AtmosFEAR pendulum ride malfunctioned on June 6—more than a week before the major malfunction on June 14 that trapped 28 riders upside down for nearly half an hour.
The document asks Oaks Park to admit or deny that “on June 6, 2024, students from Otto Petersen Elementary were temporarily trapped on defendant’s AtmosFEAR ride,” and whether Oaks Park admits or denies that the nonprofit association that operates the park told the public about the June 6 malfunction.
“It’s unclear why the AtmosFEAR is reopened when we still don’t know what caused the malfunction,” says attorney Michael Fuller, who submitted the court filing on behalf of Amy Yannotta, who is suing the park after her daughter was trapped on the ride June 14. “It’s also unclear whether there was a separate incident with the AtmosFEAR back on June 6.”
In interviews with WW, two middle schoolers and the mother of one of them all reported that AtmosFEAR malfunctioned on June 6, though not in so dramatic a fashion as when it got stuck upside down eight days later.
Mariah Caldwell and Caelyn Campbell were on a June 6 field trip to Oaks Park celebrating graduation from sixth grade at Otto Petersen Elementary School in Scappoose when they decided to ride AtmosFEAR. They both recall hearing a loud noise—”like a blaring alarm,” Caldwell says—from the top of the machine at the beginning of the ride.
“I was really worried if my seatbelt was clicked or not,” Campbell says, due to the shrieking noise.
AtmosFEAR did not make it all the way around on its second loop, and instead started swinging back and forth, similar to a pirate ship ride, both riders tell WW. Once it stopped, security had to come release riders from their seats, the girls say. They also describe a problem with the automated metal footrest platform coming toward them, but then moving away.
“There was a crowd outside, actually,” Caldwell says. “The students were yelling and booing every time the platform went out, and every time it went in [toward us], they started cheering.”
Upon the prolonged dismount, some kids started to cry and security was trying to calm them down, telling them it would be OK, she says.
WW reached out to the students’ teacher, who also was on the ride that day, but has not heard back.
Caldwell told her mother, April O’Neal, all about her day at Oaks Park when she got home, saying the field trip was horrible because AtmosFEAR broke while she was on it. They were in disbelief when news of the June 14 malfunction broke.
“After seeing it on the news, I sent that photo to her, and she was like, oh my gosh, I can’t believe they let people on that ride again. I thought they would have, like, taken it out of service after we rode it,” O’Neal says.
When asked about the June 6 malfunction and the new court filing, Oaks Park spokeswoman Emily MacKay said she could not comment due to the pending litigation. The century-old amusement park is operated by a nonprofit, the Oaks Park Association.
Attorney Fuller filed the document as part of the lawsuit he filed on June 20 against Oaks Park claiming negligence on behalf of one of the June 14 riders. As WW reported, the lawsuit alleges that Oaks Park was negligent in “failing to maintain and operate its AtmosFEAR ride in a safe condition,” and failed to warn riders of danger.
Kids suffered headaches, body aches, bruises and bouts of vomiting from being left hanging upside down for so long. One student with a preexisting condition was taken to the hospital after the event.
In a press release posted that evening, Oaks Park stated, “AtmosFEAR has been in operation since 2021 and has operated without incident to this point,” and that management immediately contacted the manufacturer and state inspectors to find the cause of the ride malfunction.
AtmosFEAR resumed operations today, after the manufacturer came to the Southeast Portland amusement park to inspect the ride and found “no mechanical, technical, or maintenance issues.” A statement from the park added that the incident was not a result of operator error.
However, Oaks Park has suspended the operation of AtmosFEAR’s 360-degree mode, and will instead offer riders an option of either a 180- or 260-degree experience.
O’Neal calls Oaks Park’s decision to keep running AtmosFEAR after June 6 “irresponsible.”
“It’s a bad story waiting to happen. Which is exactly what happened.”