Coronial Inquest hears that Royal Adelaide Show ride had 'design and condition flaws'

A Coronial Inquest into the death of eight-year-old Adelene Leong who was thrown from a ride at the 2014 Royal Adelaide Show has heard that the ride from which she was thrown had been "plagued by complaints" during previous shows and fairs.

Deputy State Coroner Ian White was also told that the Airmaxx 360 - which caused Adelene Leong to be "catapulted" through the air at 100 kilometres per hour - had escaped major scrutiny because it had a "misappropriated" design registration.

In opening the inquest, being held more than six years after it happened, Coroner White advised "this young girl would have now been 15 years of age - the court doesn't wish any parent or guardian to suffer a like experience.”

Counsel assisting the coroner, Sally Giles, told the court that Leong loved show rides and was on holiday from Malaysia when she attended the Royal Adelaide Show with her mother in 2014.

Advising that her mother twice asked Airmaxx 360 staff to better secure the belt for her daughter, Giles noted “what took place was nothing short of horrendous”.

As reported by the ABC, Giles said that 90 seconds into the ride, Leong "somehow" became unfastened from the safety belt and was left hanging by her left shoe as the ride bounced around.

She said the girl was then "ejected" from the ride and attempts to save her were unsuccessful.

The inquest, which will run over four weeks, will explore the history of the Airmaxx 360 - a carousel made of 12 arms with two seats each that bounce side-to-side and up-and-down - and what improvements need to be made to ensure the industry is safe.

Giles said the ride was purchased from Spain, and imported into Australia in April 2013 by Jenny-Lee Sullivan and Clinton Watkins, of C, J And Sons Amusement Pty Ltd.

She said on arrival in Australia, engineers undertook the wrong type of inspection, but before it was given the green light to operate, it had "two more hurdles to jump" - getting design registration and plant registration.

The inquest heard that design registration ensures rides that operate in Australia do not have any design flaws.

Giles stated “but it never went through the process of design registration.”

She said the design registration number that appeared on the Aixmaxx 360 was assigned to another ride - The Techno Jump - in 2004, noting “how and why the Airmaxx 360 owners continued to use the design registration number will be the subject of evidence during this inquest.”

Giles said the Airmaxx 360 owners said they were unaware the registration number, which is not publicly available, had been "misappropriated".

She said the now deceased engineer Brian Bradley, was employed to register both rides and had possession of The Techno Jump's number when he registered the Airmaxx 360, adding “the Airmaxx 360 operated at a number of shows and rides, including the Royal Sydney Show, Royal Melbourne Show and Royal Brisbane Show … and the minimum height restriction varied from 120 to 130 centimetres.

"Prior to coming to the Royal Adelaide Show, the Airmaxx 360 had been plagued by complaints."

The Inquest heard 22 reports of minor injuries were made in three days at the Royal Melbourne Show, and WorkSafe Victoria lifted the minimum height restriction to 130 centimetres.

However, Giles said by the time the show travelled to Shepparton, in rural Victoria, the height limit had dropped back down to 120 centimetres.

As reported by the ABC, she said the Royal Agriculture and Horticultural Society of South Australia, which runs the Royal Adelaide Show, was unaware of interstate complaints and ticked off the Airmaxx 360 for the 2014 show.

Giles went on to advise “the height limit was 120 centimetres - 20 centimetres less than what was suggested by the ride manufacturers. Adelene was 137 centimetres.

"The Airmaxx 360 had a number of design and condition flaws that should have been identified.

"It was a tragedy waiting to happen."

Sullivan read a statement ahead of giving evidence, telling White that after six years, she continued to think of "Adelene and her mother every single day".

Sullivan went on to say “the ride was meant to bring joy to families, and we cannot begin to imagine the devastation that Adelene's family has gone through

"I'm so heartbroken by what happened, and I recognise this inquest is necessary so we can find out exactly how Adelene came out of the ride."

She said she wanted the industry to be "as safe as possible" so history did not repeat itself.

In 2017, C, J And Sons Amusement Pty Ltd and Sullivan, pleaded guilty to breaching workplace safety laws by failing to maintain the ride in a safe condition in the South Australian Industrial Court, with the company fined $94,500 and Sullivan $63,000, plus a maximum compensation sum of $20,000.

However, Australasian Leisure Management understands that the fines were not imposed and the Court did not make any order to enforce the fines.

The inquest continues.

Images: Adelene Leong died when she was thrown from the Airmaxx 360 at the Royal Adelaide Show in 2014 (top, credit: SA Police) and the Airmaxx 360 in operation prior to the 2014 incident (below).