List of incidents at Carwardine parks

This is a summary of notable incidents that have taken place at amusement parks, water parks or other attractions owned and/or operated by Carwardine Parks. This list is not intended to be a comprehensive list of every such event, but only those that have a significant impact on the parks or park operations, or are otherwise significantly newsworthy.

The term incidents refers to major accidents, injuries, or deaths that occur at a Carwardine-owned or operated facility. While these incidents were required to be reported to regulatory authorities due to where they occurred, they usually fall into one of the following categories:


 * Caused by negligence on the part of the guest. This can be a refusal to follow specific ride safety instructions, or deliberate intent to break park rules.
 * The result of a guest's known, or unknown, health issues.
 * Negligence on the part of the park, either by ride operator or maintenance.
 * or a generic accident (e.g. slipping and falling), that is not a direct result of an action on anybody's part.

Double Dash Dueler

 * On August 1, 2006, four people received minor injuries and 15-year old Lilah Jayden from had her left leg severed when a train of Double Dash Dueler collided into a backup train that had accidentally been positioned into the station. After the incident, all Double Dash Dueler rides across the chain received heavy modifications to avoid this incident from happening again.

Sagwa's Rickshaw Run

 * On August 2, 2008, Sagwa's Rickshaw Run partially derailed during a test run, due to it being a test run, no one was injured. It was thought to have been a translation issue in the manual during it's conversion from German to English and the poor translation used literally by the maintenance crew. The ride reopened on August 31st, and switched to new rickshaw-inspired trains from Sunkid GmbH (the same company who built Teststrecke's new trains) the next year.

Constant Occurrences

 * It is arguably common for Zero G-Force to suffer from rollbacks, to the point where it cannot operate in weather cooler than 65°F.
 * Several airplanes towing advertisement banners have had accidents near or within the park.
 * On July 1, 2004, a pilot hired by a religious group made a crash landing in the employee parking lot after experiencing engine problems while flying a banner that said "If you died today, would you go to Heaven or Hell? - John 14:6" over the park. The pilot suffered minor injuries and was treated at the park's first aid center before being handed over to Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News, where he received further treatment. The pilot cut the banner loose, and it landed atop Monstar's lift hill, which resulted in the ride having to be temporarily closed so a helicopter crew could retrieve the banner.
 * On October 29, 2020, a banner towing plane that was flying a banner for the We Win Together project (featuring a design by Milton Glaser) over the park made an emergency landing in the employee parking lot after the pilot reported engine troubles to nearby ATC. No injuries were reported. The pilot cut the banner loose, with the banner landing in a nearby resident's backyard.

Isolated Incidents

 * On August 14, 1993, a shooting occurred at the Carwardine Colony parking lot, injuring 5 people and killing one. Since then, Carwardine has founded the "Protect the Colony" parking lot security staff for the park, before the 1994 season, when it became "Protect the Parks" and was applied to all the US Carwardine Parks.
 * On June 16, 1995, a brawl broke out between two families in the Mine Shaft section in front of the Super Mario World ride, after a parent accused the other family's child of cutting in line. Within an hour, security was called and both families were banned from the park for the rest of the 1995 season.
 * On August 1, 2021, the generator powering the Slime Geyser in Colony Coast overheated and exploded during its second cycle of the day, resulting in a brief burst of flame and enough of an impact to dislodge parts of the structure. Parkgoer videos of the incident went viral on the internet, spawning some memes. The nearly 30-year old Geyser was removed from Colony Coast and moved to the maintenance shop for repairs. It was repaired in time for the start of the 2022 season (albeit some parts had to be remade from scratch due to cracking and partial melting from the fire, and the generator and blower both had to be replaced due to being damaged beyond repair), and was back on display in Colony Coast in it's longtime location next to Nickelodeon Slime Geyser Beach.

Carwarween

 * During the 2010 Carwarween event, two people died:
 * On October 5, during a Carwarween concert at the Newport News Amphitheater sponsored by Radio Disney AM 1650, Ari Wilson, the former lead singer and guitarist of the glam metal band Bronze-Age, died of a heart attack after performing duties as a sound engineer for 5-Starz.
 * On October 23, scare actor Thomas Brooks, an Alcoa, Tennessee native, committed suicide by jumping off a cell phone tower in the employees' parking lot. Brooks was reported to have been distressed after he feared he had seriously injured a young girl earlier that night while she was in one of the scare zones.

Cyberchase: Hack Attack

 * On May 18, 2001, the back of the train on King Cobra derailed during the final half of the ride cycle. 3 riders were injured and airlifted to area hospitals. Causes included poor translation of the manual from Russian to English and the replacement of wheels in the back car. King Cobra re-opened for the 2002 season after some modifications, then was re-themed as Cyberchase: Hack Attack for the 2003 season.

Shot Tower

 * On August 28, 2002, the final day of Shot Tower's operation, the battery for the buttons inside the ride vehicle ran out a week earlier than expected, leaving the final riders stuck for 30 minutes. The ride had to be manually dispatched via the control panel. All riders were treated on the scene for dehydration and were given "I Was the Final Survivor of the All Sport Shot Tower" T-shirts.

Tarzan Swing

 * During the existence of the Tarzan Swing ride at the waterpark, it was common for people jumping in to expose themselves, with men taking off their pants and women taking off their tops, and was arguably a possible third reason (besides safety and risking getting sued by Gene Mulvihil for copyright/patent trademark infringement) the ride was retired.

Afterburner

 * In 2001, an 8-year old girl from Quebec died after being thrown from her seat on Afterburner. Carwardine Parks were found to be not at fault as the girl failed to properly secure her lapbar.

Enterprise

 * On August 1, 1999, shortly before 7:50 PM, Enterprise caught fire. It was in motion, with riders aboard, when the fire suddenly ignited midway through the cycle. The operator stopped the ride and Carnies evacuated the riders, but not before injuries were sustained by the riders. 31 riders were hospitalized with first, second and third degree burns, with an additional 10 admitted and checked for possible smoke inhalation. Six children who were among the burn victims were transported to the Shriners burn hospital in Boston. The fire damaged the ride's electrical systems and five of the 20 gondolas. The New York State Department of Labor and IAAPA investigated the incident and declared arson as the cause of the fire. Two teens from Hauppauge, New York, Marvin Osborne (17) and Kenneth Peterson (16) were charged as adults with arson and attempted manslaughter and were sentenced to 12 years in prison. Another teen involved in the crime, Mykola "Mickey" Kolisnychenko (17), also from Hauppauge, was initially threatened with deportation to his native Ukraine, but he was allowed to remain in the US after an appeal to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, being sentenced to 2 years in juvenile detention in exchange for going informant against Osborne and Peterson. The nearby Kirby's Daring Dash was also affected by the fire, but no one was injured due to the ride having closed the previous week.

Redwall: Fight For Victory

 * On July 26, 2004, 12-year old Charity Lesley from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was found unconscious after riding Redwall: Fight for Victory once its train returned to the loading station. She was airlifted to North Central Bronx Hospital in The Bronx where she was eventually resuscitated. She was suffering from a heart condition according to authorities.

Sagwa's Rickshaw Run

 * On June 5, 2004, a family from East Harlem were critically injured when a train of Sagwa's Rickshaw Run collided with another train waiting to dispatch. The boy, 10-year-old Sam Rowland, dislocated his elbow while the mother, 42-year-old Karan Baker-Rowland, fractured her knee. Both were briefly hospitalized for their injuries.

Miscellaneous incidents

 * In 2005, 57-year-old Baxter Elliott, a Queens native who was formerly a debt collector, started working at the park during the summer as a seasonal employee. While working at the park on his second month on the job, he slipped and fell from Slide Mountain in Splashtown. He was airlifted to Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center in Secaucus, New Jersey where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Ferris Wheel

 * Around 10:00pm on June 25, 1994, only an hour after the park closed, the Ferris Wheel caught on fire, causing serious damage to the structure of the ride. An investigation determined that the fire was caused by some wires that were connected the ride's lighting package, which had been exposed for some time and had not been detected or noticed by the ride crew the whole time. The ride was quickly dismantled in the following days due to fears of a structural collapse and sold for scrap.

Miscellaneous incidents

 * On August 23, 1992, due to Hurricane Andrew, the entire park was evacuated at 6:30 PM EST and remained closed until September 1. While no one was affected on park grounds, several rides, decor and buildings were damaged. Two of the support columns for Drunkin' Airlines collapsed and had to be repaired by Hopkins Rides, although the gondolas were unaffected, as they were sent to Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Japan for the installation of safety enhancements.