Circus Acrobats Plunge in Horrifying Collapse

[Omaha Steve]

Source: ABC News

A group of acrobats fell in the middle of a circus performance in Providence, R.I., today when the device suspending them suddenly collapsed, shocking audience members.

It was unclear how many people were injured or how seriously.

The incident happened about an hour and a half into a performance of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at the city's Dunkin' Donuts Center, audience member Sydney Bragg said.

Bragg said there were about 20 performers suspended from the circular structure when it fell. Stage crews lifted it off them, she said.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/aerial-performers-plunge-horrifying-collapse-ri-circus/story?id=23583107

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Sydney Bragg tweeted this photo on May 4,2014, "There was an accident at the circus during an act and snapped the performers necks. I'm like skaking and frightened." Sydney Bragg

[Algernon Moncrieff]

1. Horrible!

Very sorry and sad for the performers, as well as the audience members.

[itsrobert]

2. Video here

[geomon666]

4. Geez, that's awful

That's kind of hard to watch.

[Helen Borg]

23. Yes. Nets should be mandatory...

[Egnever]

20. oof

That's horrible.

[Bluenorthwest]

3. So awful.

nt

[Sunlei]

5. omg! what a horrible accident.

[secondwind]

6. I truly wish we could ban these circuses, they are abusive to animals, etc....

[Warpy]

7. When members of the Flying Wallendas family died

I remember people all saying the same thing, that acts like theirs should be banned. I always thought the part that should have been banned was the "no safety net" part. More of them might be alive today if they'd had one.

People are always going to want to do acrobatics and push the limits and other people are always going to want to watch them try.

I'd like to see the animal acts go, too. Most of them are not willing participants.

[Coventina]

8. They need stricter oversight and safety regulations.

I'm against an out-and-out ban.

Having said that: I think animal performers SHOULD be banned, as it is cruel to the animals (this is well-documented) and animals cannot give informed consent.

Human-only circuses would be OK if they were run with more attention to safety.

Accidents will always happen, in any human endeavor, but Barnum etc., has a deplorable record.

[Omaha Steve]

10. Petition I posted yesterday

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024904083

[Auntie Bush]

11. At the moment... looks like they are more abusive to humans.

I wonder why we haven't heard any updates on their condition?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

9. This is what happens when they push the limits. From time to time they find them.

[Auntie Bush]

12. It wasn't the performers pushing the limits...

It was an equipment or mechanical failure. But yes, they do often push the limits...but not this time.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

13. It's the performers act. They are the ones who designed the equipment....

Usually this kind of thing turns out to be an anchor failure and not a cable/rope breaking.

[Mosby]

14. Maybe there was a mistake made in the set up of the equipment.

[olddad56]

15. seems quite possible, since circuses travel and they have to set up and tear down all of the time

[Auntie Bush]

16. I would think they'd tell an engineer what they needed and the engineer would have it made.

Heads are going to roll or at least blamed unless cheap defective materials were used.

Maybe the equipment holding the disc up was at fault and was never inspected...who

knows? Anyway, I don't think it was the performers fault... this time.

[bamademo]

17. Friend of mine who did spotlight for them when they were in Huntsville heard wire was substandard.

Scuttlebutt she heard was rigging was Wal-mart quality.

Circus does their own rigging.

[FailureToCommunicate]

19. Your friend should probably contact the authorities.

[bamademo]

21. She just got back in town from her Father's memorial service.

I'm not going to bother her with this now but she met those women and said they were very nice. I think we should let this play out and be investigated.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

18. I'm sure there is some contract where they assume some responsibility.

[Skittles]

22. life would be very boring if people never "pushed limits"

very boring indeed

[Helen Borg]

24. You can push limits...

And still have safety nets underneath. Pushing limits does not mean risking your life for no reason.

[Skittles]

25. I thought he was insinuating hanging three stories up by the hair was pushing the limits

[CreekDog]

26. but they didn't fall because they pushed the limits

they fell because one hook broke. that's shoddy engineering, probably negligent engineering. one piece breaks and the whole thing falls? what a joke, what an unfunny joke.

where is the redundancy. the performers did nothing wrong and the thing came down on top of them.

[exboyfil]

27. I think the Providence Rescue team agrees

"The carabiner was rated for about 10,000 pounds, and the weight of the performers and the rig that fell was about 1,500 pounds, he said.
"Doughty declined to say if the rigging appeared safe. But Providence Fire Chief Clarence Cunha said his crews would not rely on a single carabiner for safety."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/05/05/309858883/failure-of-steel-d-ring-may-have-caused-circus-accident

Safety factors are usually based on single tensile test. I wonder what the duty cycle was on this piece of equipment. Was it inspected for deformation or cracks after every use?

Personal fall arrest systems (PFAS).

I don't know if the D-ring would be considered the anchorage but it should be since it is a point of failure. Here is the OSHA standard for PFAS. Note a PFAS does not have nearly a severe a duty cycle as this device.

For a single individual:

1915.159(a)(3)
D-rings and snaphooks shall be capable of sustaining a minimum tensile load of 5,000 pounds (22.24 Kn).
1915.159(a)(4)
D-rings and snaphooks shall be proof-tested to a minimum tensile load of 3,600 pounds (16 Kn) without cracking, breaking, or being permanently deformed.

https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=10275

1915.159(a)(9)
Anchorages shall be capable of supporting at least 5,000 pounds (22.24 Kn) per employee attached, or shall be designed, installed, and used as follows:

[Marrah_G]

28. This was so sad

I was in the ER there last night. The nurses said it was "chaotic" but at least everyone lived. Made my kidney stone seem small in comparison.