LEBANON, Tenn. (WTVF) — State officials and a third-party investigator have determined human error caused the Wave Swinger ride crash at the Wilson County, Tennessee State Fair that injured 9 people and sent 4 to the emergency room earlier this month.
The outside investigator, Worldwide Safety Group, sent state officials a letter stating the operator pressed the emergency stop, then "switched the ride back to manual mode and began to lower the ride without waiting for the ride to stop rotating."
Carnival ride contractor Reithoffer Shows said the operator hit the emergency stop after seeing a group of young people grabbing each other's chains and becoming entangled, which could have caused injury to themselves or other riders. The company said the operator then lowered the ride before it had come to a complete stop in what it described as a “moment of panic.”
The emergency stop is designed to gradually lower the ride until it stops spinning.
Tim Nowak was on the Wave Swinger with his two kids when the crash happened.
"It was just coming down a little bit faster, so they were still swinging a bit farther out than the swing coming back in, where it's supposed to be," said Tim Nowak.
Nowak had ridden the Wave Swinger multiple times that night. His wife, Jamie, was watching from just a few feet away and also noticed something was different about that ride.
"The swings are still way out here and it's just being lowered to the ground, and so we're all screaming, 'Stop the ride or raise it up, you can't keep lowering it with these people on the outer rail," Jamie Nowak said.
The state stopped the ride from operating the day after the crash while investigators looked into what happened. Investigators also said the operator who was working the ride that night would not be doing so anymore.
The ride was reopened on Friday August 21, 2026 and took on riders for the final days of the fair.
Tennessee has guidelines in place for who can operate a ride at a fair or amusement park. Operators must demonstrate competency and be at least 16 years old. They can only operate one ride at a time and must remain with the ride while people are on it.
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