This is a summary of notable incidents that have taken place at various independently-owned amusement parks, water parks or theme parks. This list is not intended to be a comprehensive list of every such event, but only those that have a significant impact on the parks or park operations, or are otherwise significantly newsworthy.

The term incidents refers to major accidents, injuries, or deaths that occur at an independently-owned park. While these incidents were required to be reported to regulatory authorities due to where they occurred, they usually fall into one of the following categories:

• Caused by negligence on the part of the guest. This can be refusal to follow specific ride safety instructions, or deliberate intent to break park rules.
• The result of a guest's known or unknown health issues.
• Negligence on the part of the park, either by ride operator or maintenance.
• Act of God
  Act of God
  Act of God is a legal term for events outside of human control, such as sudden floods or other natural disasters, for which no one can be held responsible.- Contract law :...
  
   or a generic accident (e.g. slipping and falling), that is not a direct result of an action on anybody's part.

Space Invader 2

On July 21, 2000, an 11-year-old boy died from head and body injuries after falling out of the carriage during the ride. The victim had reportedly fell out of his cart due to heart attack.

Polar Express

• On August 5, 2007, a restraining lap bar broke causing an unidentified 15-year-old girl to fall out of her seat and into the center of the ride where she was briefly knocked unconscious. The ride was running in reverse at the time. The victim was taken to the hospital with head and leg injuries, and complaining of neck and back pain.

Sky ride

• On July 19, 2008, a 44-year-old woman from Ann Arbor, Michigan
  Ann Arbor, Michigan
  Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
  
   lost about a centimeter off the tip of her left index finger when it was caught in the safety bar.

Fujin Raijin II

• On May 5, 2007, a 19-year-old from Higashiomi
  Higashiomi, Shiga
  is a city located in Shiga Prefecture, Japan.As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 117,557 and the density of 303 persons per km². The total area is 388.58 km²....
  
  , Shiga
  Shiga Prefecture
  is a prefecture of Japan, which forms part of the Kansai region on Honshu Island. The capital is the city of Ōtsu.- History :Shiga was known as Ōmi Province or Gōshū before the prefectural system was established...
  
   was killed and nineteen other guests injured when the Fujin Raijin II derailed at Expoland in Suita, Osaka
  Osaka Prefecture
  is a prefecture located in the Kansai region on Honshū, the main island of Japan. The capital is the city of Osaka. It is the center of Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto area.- History :...
  
  . An investigation revealed that the ride derailed due to a broken axle. None of the ride vehicle's axles had been replaced for fifteen years. Following this accident, similar coasters at other Japanese parks were voluntarily shut down and inspected to see if they could have the same axle flaw. Expoland was cited by authorities for faulty maintenance when similar axle cracks were found on a second train a month later. On July 15, 2008, three former Expoland employees—the director and administrative manager, the head of facility and business department, and the head of the technical division—agreed with the allegation of professional negligence and violating Building Standards Law. They admitted to purposefully postponing the coaster's regular inspection, even though a visible crack was noticed months earlier, as well as submitting a false inspection report.

Hersheypark

• Of the 1.4 million visitors to the park in 2006, 55 people were injured at Hersheypark during the year, none seriously.

The Raven

• On May 31, 2003, a 32-year-old from New York City, New York died after falling out of the The Raven
  The Raven (roller coaster)
  The Raven is a wooden roller coaster at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana, USA. It was designed and built beginning in 1994 by the now-defunct roller coaster manufacturer Custom Coasters International, with the help of designers Dennis McNulty and Larry Bill; it opened on May...
  
   roller coaster during the ride's 69 feet (21 m) drop. Witnesses told investigators they saw the victim standing up in the car as it neared the drop. An investigation after the accident showed that the victim's seat restraints were working correctly and no mechanical deficiencies were found on the coaster. The coroner's office ruled the death as accidental. However in 2005, the victim's family members filed lawsuits against both Holiday World and the Philadelphia Toboggan Company
  Philadelphia Toboggan Company
  The Philadelphia Toboggan Company is one of the oldest existing roller coaster manufacturing companies in the world.Mack Rides of Germany dates back to 1781, but it did not start building coasters until 1921 Based in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, it was established in 1904 by Henry B...
  
  ; the manufacturer of the coaster trains. The lawsuits were settled out of court in 2007. Terms of the settlements were undisclosed.

The Wave

• On July 4, 2007, a 29-year-old woman from Fort Wayne, Indiana
  Fort Wayne, Indiana
  Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...
  
   collapsed near the edge of The Wave pool, falling into the shallow water. Lifeguards attempted to revive her, but she was pronounced dead after being taken to the hospital. An autopsy showed that the woman died of congestive heart failure
  Congestive heart failure
  Heart failure often called congestive heart failure is generally defined as the inability of the heart to supply sufficient blood flow to meet the needs of the body. Heart failure can cause a number of symptoms including shortness of breath, leg swelling, and exercise intolerance. The condition...
  
  .

Bahari River

• On June 20, 2009, a filter pump used to treat the water used on the ride malfunctioned, resulting in a larger than normal amount of liquid bleach and muriatic acid to be released when the pump was turned on. Twenty-four people, including guests and park staff, complained of troubled breathing and nausea and were taken to a local hospital for treatment.

King Kahuna

• On July 6, 2008, twenty riders were stranded upside down for ten minutes when the King Kahuna ride malfunctioned and unexpectedly stopped for an undetermined reason.

Thunderbolt

• In 1999, there was an accident on the Thunderbolt when the operators failed to brake the train coming into the station and it collided with the train being loaded. Thirty people were injured in the crash. After the accident, the headlights on the cars were partially removed because the electrical system did not hold up well to the vibration of the cars.

The Whip

• On May 31, 2002, a 29-year-old female guest from Monroeville, Pennsylvania
  Monroeville, Pennsylvania
  Monroeville is a home rule municipality in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located about east of the city of Pittsburgh, Monroeville is a bustling suburb with mixed residential and commercial developments...
  
   was killed when the roof of The Whip ride collapsed during a microburst
  Microburst
  A microburst is a very localized column of sinking air, producing damaging divergent and straight-line winds at the surface that are similar to, but distinguishable from, tornadoes, which generally have convergent damage. There are two types of microbursts: wet microbursts and dry microbursts...
  
  . On July 20, 2007, a trial jury awarded the victim's family US$1.21 million.

Scenic Skyway

• On June 13, 2003, a man was seriously injured in a 30 feet (9.1 m)-fall from the Scenic Skyway chairlift ride at Knoebels Amusement Park. The man was a member of a group home
  Group home
  A group home is a private residence designed or converted to serve as a non-secure home for unrelated persons who share a common characteristic.-Types of group homes:...
  
   for mentally disabled
  Mental illness
  A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
  
   people and was riding alone. The man was airlifted to a local hospital and recovered. The ride opened just 2 weeks prior to the accident. Inspectors found no problems with the ride.

Speed Slide

• On March 2, 1999, an attorney representing two girls who sustained injuries while riding a water slide at a Pennsylvania amusement park discovered
  Discovery (law)
  In U.S.law, discovery is the pre-trial phase in a lawsuit in which each party, through the law of civil procedure, can obtain evidence from the opposing party by means of discovery devices including requests for answers to interrogatories, requests for production of documents, requests for...
  
   a history of complaints of injuries made by riders after they had ridden the same ride. Fifteen injuries had been reported to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Ride and Measurement Standards in recent years, including six reports of injuries to riders' genital areas. The Speed Slide, also known as the Super Slide, is a 40 feet (12.2 m) vertical drop water slide attraction. The tort
  Tort
  A tort, in common law jurisdictions, is a wrong that involves a breach of a civil duty owed to someone else. It is differentiated from a crime, which involves a breach of a duty owed to society in general...
  
   lawsuit filed sought $9,200 in medical costs and at least $50,000 in damages
  Damages
  In law, damages is an award, typically of money, to be paid to a person as compensation for loss or injury; grammatically, it is a singular noun, not plural.- Compensatory damages :...
  
   on behalf of one girl, age 11. The suit also sought $5,300 in medical costs and at least $100,000 in damages on behalf of the other girl, age 12. The park was charged with negligence
  Negligence
  Negligence is a failure to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in like circumstances. The area of tort law known as negligence involves harm caused by carelessness, not intentional harm.According to Jay M...
  
  , failure to monitor the amount of force of the water and its effect on riders, failure to fix defects, and failure to provide adequate warnings to riders.

Roller coaster

On July 30, 1930, four people were killed and 17 injured when a bolt on the coaster came loose, causing four cars to fall to the ground. As a result of the incident, the Omaha City Council passed an ordinance banning roller coasters in the city.

Lake Winnepesaukah

• On April 19, 2003, a crowd disturbance described as a "near-riot" involving 500 to 700 youths took place outside the park in Ringgold
  Ringgold, Georgia
  Ringgold is a city in Catoosa County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,422 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Catoosa County...
  
  , Georgia
  Georgia (U.S. state)
  Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
  
   after management decided to close the park 90 minutes early. Catoosa County Sheriff Phil Summers claimed the incident was caused by parents leaving their children unattended at the park with little or no money, thus unable to participate in the park's activities. When sporadic fighting began in the crowd, the decision was made to close the park early, which escalated the fighting. Law enforcement agencies from Georgia and Tennessee
  Tennessee
  Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
  
   were dispatched to the scene when the crowd began to disrupt traffic on roads surrounding the park. After the incident, the park instituted a new policy of requiring visitors under 21 years of age to be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Visitors also will be required to purchase some sort of admission.

Nickelodeon Universe

• In April 1998, a dime-sized plastic nut in the ride "The Mighty Axe" (now known as Tak Attack) came loose, causing the ride to come to a stop with the riders stuck upside down at the very top. The loose nut had interrupted the power to the seating platform. The five riders were stuck for about an hour before park mechanics were able to get them down.

• On Saturday, August 1, 1998, a 12-year-old boy fell off the log chute. When the boat neared the top of the chute, the boy began to panic and reached outside of the log to grab a railing. The ride operator attempted to stop the ride, but the log had already began its descent down the major drop. Losing his grip, he fell off the chute, falling onto the landscaping rocks. The boy died from his injuries. O.D. Hopkins Associates, Inc., the manufacturer of the ride, inspected it and found it was in proper working order. It was Camp Snoopy's first fatal accident.

• On Saturday, August 15, 1998, an 8-year-old girl died of a heart attack after she rode the Screaming Yellow Eagle (now known as Danny Phantom Ghost Zone), a rotating platform ride. She had a history of heart problems for the five years before her death. The ride was working properly.

• On November 4, 2007, a conveyor belt on the log chute malfunctioned, causing one log to crash into the other. However, there were only minor injuries. The ride was inspected and fixed. It reopened on November 15, 2007.

• On May 14, 2008, four people were slightly injured, suffering minor leg injuries when the Backyardigans Swing Along malfunctioned, apparently spinning at a faster-than-normal rate. The ride was shut down when it became apparent that it was malfunctioning and remained shut down until maintenance crews located and fixed the problem. On May 18, 2008, The ride was inspected and fixed. It reopened on May 19, 2008.

• In October 2008, an autistic boy climbed over a fence onto the catwalk of the Pepsi Orange Streak at the point where it enters the cave of the log chute. An employee was able to get to him before the roller coaster released another train. No one was hurt.

Old Indiana Fun Park

• On August 11, 1996, a 4-year-old girl was paralyzed from the chest down, and her 57-year-old grandmother was killed after the miniature train ride at the Old Indiana Fun Park derailed and overturned as it approached a curve. The two victims were crushed under the weight of the cars. An investigation showed that the train was traveling much faster than its design speed of 12 miles per hour (5.4 m/s).

Space Journey

• On June 29, 2010, 6 people were killed and 10 were injured when a Space Shuttle-simulator ride called Space Journey fell to the ground in Shenzhen
  Shenzhen
  Shenzhen is a major city in the south of Southern China's Guangdong Province, situated immediately north of Hong Kong. The area became China's first—and one of the most successful—Special Economic Zones...
  
  , China
  People's Republic of China
  China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
  
  . According to eyewitnesses, one of the rides' 12 cabins came loose in an explosion while spinning and collided with other cabins. Some cabins dropped 50 feet (15.2 m) and ejected passengers. Another eyewitness claimed that a power shortage caused the accident.

Mind Scrambler

• On June 29, 2007, a 21-year-old female park employee from White Plains, New York
  White Plains, New York
  White Plains is a city and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located in south-central Westchester, about east of the Hudson River and northwest of Long Island Sound...
  
   was killed when the ride was started by a second employee while the victim was still assisting guests with their safety restraints. Park officials stated that a safety precaution (put in place after the 2004 Mind Scrambler incident) was not followed. A report issued by the State's Labor Department on August 24, 2007 stated that the ride operators were running the ride improperly. The Ride Owner was cited for providing inadequate training. Due to this incident the Mind Scrambler was closed.

• On May 22, 2004, a 7-year-old girl from New Rochelle, New York
  New Rochelle, New York
  New Rochelle is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state.The town was settled by refugee Huguenots in 1688 who were fleeing persecution in France...
  
   was killed when she fell out of the ride after her restraining bar opened.

Ye Old Mill

• On August 3, 2005, a 7-year-old boy from Norwalk, Connecticut
  Norwalk, Connecticut
  Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of the city is 85,603, making Norwalk sixth in population in Connecticut, and third in Fairfield County...
  
   died of blunt force trauma to the head after he climbed out of a boat on the Ye Old Mill ride, where he became trapped underwater by a conveyor belt. The victim's family sued the county that owned Playland, and on March 24, 2009, the defendants were ordered to pay US$1.25 million, as well as create a scholarship in the victim's name. The scholarship will be awarded annually to the Playland employee who exhibits excellence in safety and customer service.

Guest altercations

• On July 4, 2006, a 43-year-old woman from Queens, New York drowned after walking into a 40-foot-deep man-made lake that is off-limits to swimmers. An autopsy showed the victim had a blood alcohol level several times the legal limit.

Flume ride

• On October 23, 2007, one woman was killed and five others injured when the ride vehicle fell 20 metres (65.6 ft) to the ground from the top of the lift hill. Park management said that there was a drop in electric power, causing a water pump to fail to control sufficient water level on the ride.

Water slide

• On January 12, 2008, 28 children, ages 10 to 13, were injured when they fell two meters to the ground after the final sections of the corkscrew water slide collapsed.

Water Park of America

• On May 22, 2006, a 39-year-old man from Lakeville, Minnesota
  Lakeville, Minnesota
  As of the census of 2000, there were 43,128 people, 13,609 households, and 11,526 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,192.4 people per square mile . There were 13,799 housing units at an average density of 381.5 per square mile...
  
   suffered a bruised spinal cord
  Spinal cord
  The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular bundle of nervous tissue and support cells that extends from the brain . The brain and spinal cord together make up the central nervous system...
  
   while attempting to ride the FlowRider wave ride on a boogie board. As a result, the victim had two titanium screws and a plate inserted into his neck to stabilize vertebrae and relieve pressure on his spinal cord. Doctor reports stated that the victim was almost paralyzed, but he has regained some movement in his limbs shortly after surgery.

Water Works Park

• On August 5, 2007, an unidentified 10-year-old girl suffered severe internal injuries while riding the speed slide at the Denton, Texas
  Denton, Texas
  The city of Denton is the county seat of Denton County, Texas in the United States. Its population was 119,454 according to the 2010 U.S. Census, making it the eleventh largest city in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex...
  
   park. The accident report filed by the on-duty lifeguards stated that the injuries were caused by the victim's failure to follow park rules while riding the slide to keep her legs crossed at the ankles. The park rule regarding crossing ankles on a water slide
  Water slide
  A water slide is a type of slide designed for warm-weather or indoor recreational use at water parks. Water slides differ in their riding method and therefore size...
  
  is common in the industry, and is one method, along with wearing a wet suit, used to prevent water slide injuries such as the "water ski douche injury" or the "straddle injury."