Two teens killed in bungee jump cage death in front of horrified parents

Two teenage boys fell to their deaths at a bungee jumping attraction before horrified witnesses and relatives – and it came about after a catastrophic decision made by the attraction’s owners.

Thrill-seekers often visit amusement parks, theme parks and extreme attractions seeking an adrenaline rush, but on some occasions, this can result in tragedy.

Such was the fate of Zachary Steinke who, 17, travelled to the Beach Bungee attraction in Atlantic Beach, located along the Grand Strand in the North Myrtle Beach/Atlantic Beach region of South Carolina, USA.

At the venue, the Beach Bungee boasted a 175 foot tall steel archway which enabled visiting jumpers to be elevated in a cage resembling a lift.

However, on the evening of August 10, 1993, when Zachary stepped into the cage with “bungee jump master” and attraction worker Michael Nash, 19, catastrophe struck.

The duo were being hoisted to an elevation of approximately 150 to 160 feet in the steel jump cage, both completely oblivious that the original chain-driven lifting mechanism was broken.

Rather than installing a like-for-like replacement to fix the defect, the proprietors instead chose a makeshift commercial shrimping winch which was deployed alongside a wire rope.

These items were were not fit for purpose.

That particular day proved exceptionally wet and rainy, and as the cage was being lifted into the evening sky, visibility diminished and the wire rope proved incapable of bearing the weight. Under strain, it snapped.

The cage, containing Zachary and Michael, plunged 150 feet to the ground, causing catastrophic impact injuries which neither teenager would survive.

In a heartbreaking turn of events, Zachary’s parents were watching from below and were forced to witness their son’s fatal fall. They are reported to have tried CPR before emergency services reached the scene.

Following the tragedy, a legal dispute unfolded. John Kassel, the attorney representing the families, detailed on the Kassel McVey website how the cable failed: “Without relieving the tension the cable would eventually fail and break.

“The scenario is well understood and actually has a name: two-blocking. Unfortunately, the bungee jump winch system had no safety devices of any kind. The system two-blocked.

“The cable ripped apart. The cage fell to the ground. Both boys were killed in front of a crowd of people, including the parents of one of the boys.”

He added: “I was a young lawyer. I tried the case against the owners and the shrimper in federal court. One issue was to find individual liability and not simply get a verdict against a defunct corporation.”

Kassel prevailed. In 1995, the victims’ families secured a $12 million judgment against the individual proprietors of Beach Bungee.

The court determined the owners could be held personally responsible because they bypassed safety systems by fitting the defective shrimping winch in an attempt to prevent losing summer tourist trade.

Yet Kassel was far from finished. He explained: “I tried a second case in state court against the South Carolina Department of Labor, the responsible regulatory agency. There, a major hurdle was overcoming multiple immunities enjoyed by the state.

“We received a $2 million verdict. The verdict was affirmed on appeal to the South Carolina Supreme Court. I became close to the families of both boys.”