Wichita firm recalling amusement rides

!Always on the lookout for transportation news, an item out this morning caught my eye: “CPSC and Chance Rides Manufacturing Announce Recall to Inspect and Repair YO-YO Amusement Rides.”That’s the headline on an announcement from the Consumer Product Safety Commission that 85 YO-YO rides made by Chance Rides, in Wichita, are being recalled.A YO-YO accommodates up to 32 riders in individual swings, arranged in a circle and dangling from arms that lift up once the ride begins, suspending riders in the air. The ride turns, in a circle, up to 10 times per minute, pushing riders outward. The ride also can tilt up to 10 degrees.Turns out 23 folks were injured while riding on a YO-YO, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. That incident occurred in May, in California, when the ride’s arms broke away from the central cylinder, sending all of the chairs to the ground.The plan now is for the company to send out inspection/repair kits to help make sure that all is well with the YO-YO units, which were built from the late 1970s into the 1990s.”It’s been a long-standing design,” Jeff Roth, vice president for administration at Chance Rides, told me this morning. “It’s been running without fail for 30-plus years. It’s incumbent upon the owners to use good maintenance practices. To make it easier for them to inspect components of the YO-YO, we’ve come up with this kit.”A YO-YO was operational this year at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson, brought in by the fair’s amusement contractor, North American Midways. Fair officials report that they didn’t have any problems with the YO-YO or any rides this year.For a closer look at the ride and its specifications, click here and scroll over to the YO-YO photo.The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced that it “is working with state regulators and insurance providers to ensure that these safety inspections and modifications are conducted.”The commission’s list of regulators and inspectors maintains that Kansas does not have any specific statutes requiring licenses, permits or inspections for amusement rides. But that changed during the latest legislative session, giving the Kansas Department of Labor jurisdiction regarding inspections.Chance Rides describes itself as the largest U.S. manufacturer of amusement rides and people movers. It has 120 employees at its 300,000-square-foot plant in Wichita.