The Star Flyer in St Andrew Square, an integral part of Edinburgh’s Christmas was re-opened at 5pm today following an incident on Friday.
At approximately 9.30pm on 13 December, the plastic underside from one of the Star Flyer’s carriages dropped, landing on the box office roof, before falling to the ground. This was the plastic underside to the carriage, which was not integral to the seat or to the ride and at no point was the safety of the passengers on the Ride jeopardised.
The organisers issued this statement:-
“The incident occurred as the Star Flyer was being raised. The seats were approximately 80 ft off the ground and the seats had not yet begun to revolve fully. The ride was immediately stopped and the carriages were lowered down. No-one on the ground was injured.
Public safety is of paramount importance to Edinburgh’s Christmas and we apologise unreservedly for this incident.
Detailed safety inspections were carried out yesterday following the incident and the ride has been inspected to the satisfaction of an independent safety inspector and expert in amusement rides. The ride was also kept shut due to the gale force winds which hit Edinburgh on Saturday and which have been reported elsewhere.
The incident is completely unrelated to the maintenance which was carried out on the ride earlier in the day on Friday 13th December and which was part of the routine maintenance to the ride.
Edinburgh’s Christmas welcomes visitors to the Star Flyer, many versions of which are currently running in cities across the UK and Europe and have been doing so for several years. The Star Flyer has attracted over 45,000 customers since it opened on 22 November and remains a fantastic part of the City’s festive celebrations.
Further high winds are forecast for the Christmas period, which may require the Star Flyer and other parts of the sites to be temporarily closed. Edinburgh’s Christmas will update through social media channels.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
