Mom part of Oaks Park lawsuit after ride malfunction trapped daughter mid-air

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Nearly a week after a ride malfunctioned at Oaks Amusement Park and stalled mid-air with 28 people upside down, a rider’s mother has decided to file a lawsuit.

Passengers on the AtmosFEAR were stuck at a height of 50 feet for 25 minutes when the pendulum ride suddenly stopped on Friday, June 14. No major injuries were reported by authorities, but riders have described the experience as traumatic.

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“A lot of people were screaming, throwing up, crying, panicking — not knowing what to do. Feeling completely helpless,” Evie Yannota told KOIN 6 News on Monday. “And no one was really telling us what was going on. “

Now her mother, Amy Yannotta, has filed a lawsuit with the help of attorney Michael Fuller in the Multnomah County Circuit Court, first reported by Willamette Week.

The lawsuit claims that as result of the AtmosFEAR incident, the 14-year-old Evie “experienced ongoing physical pain and discomfort, mental suffering, terror, fright, emotional distress, stress anxiety, and inconvenience and interference with her normal and usual activities from the time she was injured until the present.”

The specific ailments Evie allegedly experienced were listed in the lawsuit as “abrasions, soreness, body aches, increased blood flow to the brain causing intracranial pressure, dizziness, increased heart rate, high blood pressure, and ongoing post-traumatic stress and anxiety.”

Evie spoke with KOIN 6 News on Monday, saying the experience impacted her physical and mental health all at once

“Physically, I still have a headache, and I’m kind of sore just in my upper body area,” she said. “And mentally, I think I have PTSD.”

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The lawsuit claims Amy, Evie’s mother, spoke with the Oaks Park CEO and Operations Manager “but she was left with more questions than answers.”

The lawsuit claims Oaks Park was negligent in that staff did not ensure the AtmosFEAR ride was “reasonably safe” for Evie and the 27 other customers to ride.

As the lawsuit claimed, “Defendant breached these duties owed to Evie Yannotta by failing to maintain and operate its AtmosFEAR ride in a safe condition, failing to have all the necessary tools on hand to promptly repair its AtmosFEAR ride, failing to know the proper procedure to repair its AtmosFEAR ride without having to call the manufacturer, failing to eliminate or provide adequate warning of the dangers and potential harms that occurred, and by failing to keep Evie Yannotta and the other trapped-upside-down AtmosFEAR riders adequately and meaningfully updated during the incident over the course of 25 minutes.”

If the lawsuit is successful, the plaintiff could receive up to $125,000 in damages.

KOIN 6 News has learned another AtmosFEAR rider has retained lawyer Jason Kafoury of Kafoury and McDougal for representation. Kafoury issued a letter to Oaks Park asking them not to destroy any evidence.

Following the incident, Oaks Park immediately offered refunds for those impacted by the ride, urging visitors to keep their ride bracelets to “help expedite the refund or rescheduling process.”

“The AtmosFEAR has been in operation since 2021 and has operated without incident to this point. The ride will remain closed until further notice,” Oaks Park officials said in a statement released on June 14. “Oaks Park Management was in immediate contact with the manufacturer and will work with both the manufacturer and state inspectors to identify the cause of the stoppage.”

Oaks Parks spokesperson Emily MacKay said the case remains under investigation and the park has no further comments.

Stay with KOIN 6 News as this story develops.

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