Tragic bungee jump blunder killed teens in cage as parents watched in horror
Two teenage boys were killed in a bungee jumping accident in South Carolina in front of their parents after the attraction's owners made a devastating decision to bypass safety systems
Two teenage boys plunged to their deaths at a bungee jumping attraction in front of horrified onlookers and family members - and it stemmed from a catastrophic decision made by the attraction's owners.
Adrenaline junkies frequently flock to amusement parks, theme parks and extreme attractions seeking that coveted rush, but in certain cases, this can result in tragedy.
Such was the fate of Zachary Steinke who, aged just 17, visited the Beach Bungee attraction in Atlantic Beach, located along the Grand Strand in the North Myrtle Beach/Atlantic Beach region of South Carolina, USA.
At the site, the Beach Bungee boasted a 175-foot tall steel archway which enabled visitors to be hoisted upwards in a cage resembling an elevator.
However, on the evening of 10 August 1993, when Zachary climbed into the cage alongside "bungee jump master" and attraction employee Michael Nash, 19, catastrophe struck.
The duo were being hoisted to a height of approximately 150 to 160 feet inside the steel jump cage, both completely oblivious that the original chain-driven lifting mechanism had failed.
Rather than installing a like-for-like replacement to fix the problem, the owners instead chose a makeshift commercial shrimping winch which was deployed alongside a wire rope.
These components were woefully inadequate for the task.
That particular day was especially wet and rainy, and as the cage ascended into the evening sky, visibility was poor and the wire rope proved unable to bear the weight. Under the strain, it gave way.
The cage, carrying Zachary and Michael, plunged 150 feet to the ground, leaving both teenagers with catastrophic injuries that neither would survive.
In a heartbreaking twist, Zachary's parents were watching from below and were forced to witness their son fall to his death in sheer horror. They are reported to have attempted CPR before emergency services arrived on the scene.
In the wake of the tragedy, a legal battle followed. Attorney for the families John Kassel explained in a post on the Kassel McVey site how the cable came to snap: "Without relieving the tension the cable would eventually fail and break.
"The scenario is well understood and actually has a name: two-blocking. Unfortunately, the bungee jump winch system had no safety devices of any kind. The system two-blocked.
"The cable ripped apart. The cage fell to the ground. Both boys were killed in front of a crowd of people, including the parents of one of the boys."
He went on to say: "I was a young lawyer. I tried the case against the owners and the shrimper in federal court. One issue was to find individual liability and not simply get a verdict against a defunct corporation."
Kassel proved victorious. In 1995, the families of the victims were awarded a $12 million judgment against the individual owners of Beach Bungee.
The court ruled that the owners could be held personally liable as they had bypassed safety systems by fitting the faulty shrimping winch in an attempt to avoid losing their summer tourist trade. Yet Kassel pressed on further.
He explained: "I tried a second case in state court against the South Carolina Department of Labor, the responsible regulatory agency. There, a major hurdle was overcoming multiple immunities enjoyed by the state.
"We received a $2 million verdict. The verdict was affirmed on appeal to the South Carolina Supreme Court. I became close to the families of both boys."