At least 10 chairs on a Yo Yo carnival ride in Butte, Montana were missing pelvic safety belts, clips, and connectors while the ride was operating, according to a lawsuit filed by the estate of Clayton Phillips. Phillips, 13, was placed in one of those chairs by improperly trained employees. He was thrown from the moving ride and died from his injuries two weeks later.
The breakdown in the safety chain
Midway West Amusements, the ride's operator, knew about the missing restraints, the lawsuit alleges. The company did not repair the deficient chairs. Instead, it relied on employee memory and verbal instructions to keep those seats empty. That informal system was the only safeguard between damaged equipment and carnival attendees. It failed.
The Yo Yo is designed to swing outward and elevate riders as rotational speed increases. At the carnival in Butte, Phillips was seated in an unsafe chair, then ejected as the ride moved. The lawsuit states he "fell from a substantial height and violently struck the ground and/or surrounding surface," and died from those injuries two weeks after the incident.
After the crash, Midway West representative Michelle Jensen admitted to the ride's mechanical deficiencies when interviewed by law enforcement, the complaint states.
Named defendants
| Defendant | Role |
|---|---|
| Midway West Amusements | Ride operator |
| Shady Acres Safety Services | Ride inspection company |
| Dennis Sutherland | Owner, Shady Acres Safety Services |
| Government of Butte-Silver Bow | Named defendant |
The complaint also lists 20 unidentified individuals or entities, among them managers, ride operators, maintenance personnel, and contractors whose specific identities and roles were unknown at the time of filing. None of the named defendants responded immediately to requests for comment.
Phillips' estate seeks unspecified damages: compensatory, general, special, economic, and non-economic, plus compensation for lost future earnings, medical expenses, and emergency costs.