Boardmasters fairground ride breaks down as thrillseekers left 'stuck upside down'

Festival-goers were left in a state of shock as they dangled upside-down for 20 minutes when a fairground ride malfunctioned this weekend.

The Apollo 13 attraction, which swings participants high into the air on a giant arm and flips them over at the apex, malfunctioned on Friday evening, leaving riders stranded at its highest point during the Boardmasters Festival. A spectator in the queue captured the moment evacuations commenced at the lower end of the swing, while those at the top remained suspended head-first. The witness shared the footage with the caption: "Apollo 13 broke, with people stuck at the top for 20 minutes."

Since being uploaded to TikTok on Friday night, the video has been circulated over 500 times. One viewer expressed their horror, commenting: "No, imagine being stuck up there and it starts to move because of the wind.", reports Cornwall Live. It comes after a woman travels 8 hours for wedding only to be told to leave for not reading invite 'small print'.

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Another remarked: "I saw this happen from my house and I thought the ride was shut.", while a third revealed: "I was stuck up there." Boardmasters Festival organisers have been contacted for a statement regarding the incident.

The difficulties with Apollo 13 come after one woman told how she was "lucky to be alive" after she was thrown from a malfunctioning ride at 60mph.

Jade Harrison, 27, was left with a fractured jaw and difficulty breathing after a brush with the Airmaxx 360 ride at the annual Hull Fair in 2019. Jade said she had never tried the ride before, and had to be convinced by her friends to board after initially not wanting to go on any rides at all.

She told the Manchester Evening News: "I wasn't planning on going on any rides. But my friend wanted to go on the Airmaxx 360. I didn't want to be left on my own."

Just 90 seconds after boarding the ride - which can spin up to 60mph and spins intensely - Jade said she heard a concerning click coming from her seat clamp. After initially disregarding the noise, her friend said they had heard the same click, although it didn't raise alarm bells, and she "didn't really panic".

Before long, she was catapulted from the ride and into another, then falling to the ground and losing consciousness. She said: "All I remember is the feeling of flipping like you do in a dream when you wake up startled.

"When I came to I was laid on the floor next to the ride but everyone was just around me and I was a bit confused. I kind of forgot where I was and what I was doing so it took me a minute to realise what had happened. Then obviously I started panicking and everyone was telling me to calm down. It felt like ages for the paramedics to get there but in reality it was only about two minutes."

"I'm lucky to be alive. The most painful part was my chest. I couldn't sit up or take a deep breath. When I got home, I couldn't get out of bed without my partner's help."

Following the ordeal, Jade received a significant five-figure compensation from Taylor's Funfairs, the company that runs the ride, which admitted fault in the incident. The Health and Safety Executive shelved a criminal inquiry into the incident in 2023.