New Jersey Probes 2-Year-Old's 12-Foot Fall From Casino Pier Sky Ride

Q: How did a toddler slip from a 40-year-old boardwalk ride before it even started moving?

The fall appears to have stemmed from how the riders were loaded and positioned on the Sky Ride, not from a mechanical failure. Authorities said the 2-year-old fell before the chair fully departed, and later reporting indicates she may not have been properly settled in the seat. One account said the aunt dropped her phone near the turnaround platform and, as she reached for it, the girl was pushed or shifted off the chair. Another account said the child tumbled off before the ride had fully lifted away. In both versions, the ride had either not yet begun normal movement or had only just started its boarding transition. Police said the 40-year-old ride appeared to be operating properly, with no obvious defects. The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, which regulates amusement rides, investigated and issued a notice of violation tied to “control of the operation,” not a structural or mechanical defect. The problem was corrected, and the ride was cleared to reopen. That points to an operational or loading issue: a very young child on an elevated chairlift-style ride may not have been securely positioned before dispatch, and adult movement during boarding or unloading may have contributed. The aunt then left or fell from the chair while trying to help, while a 3-year-old boy remained aboard until firefighters removed him by ladder. So the central question is less about the ride’s age than about rider placement, supervision, and operator control at the platform.

Q: What operational failure led state inspectors to cite the park after a two-year-old's terrifying plunge?

State inspectors cited Casino Pier for a **“control of the operation” violation** — meaning the problem was with how the Sky Ride was being operated and supervised at the loading area, not with a mechanical defect in the ride itself. Authorities said the Sky Ride appeared to be functioning properly, and police reported no obvious equipment failure. The state Department of Community Affairs reviewed the ride the next morning and issued the violation after the child’s fall, indicating an operational lapse tied to ride control rather than a breakdown of the chairlift. Reporting did not publicly spell out a more detailed technical failure beyond that notice. But in context, the citation points to inadequate control of boarding or rider management on the elevated chairlift-style attraction, where the 2-year-old fell before the ride had started moving. The issue was corrected the same day, and the state cleared the Sky Ride to reopen.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 3

The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs is investigating after a 2-year-old girl fell from Casino Pier's Sky Ride in Seaside Heights around 7:40 p.m. Monday, before the chairlift-style ride began moving.
Police said the ride appeared to be functioning properly, with no apparent defects, even as the girl fell onto an entrance platform and then the sand from a height of about 10 to 12 feet.
Casino Pier staff shut down the ride immediately, firefighters used a ladder to remove a 3-year-old boy who remained on the chair, and EMS took the girl and her aunt to Community Medical Center for evaluation.
The Sky Ride opened in 1983, and the incident adds to a recent run of U.S. amusement-ride scares, including a Colorado roller-coaster ejection case and riders stranded 200 feet up in Texas.