Hillcrest jumping castle tragedy: Weather expert provides insight into conditions
A weather expert blamed a ‘dust devil’ for the jumping castle tragedy at a Tasmanian primary school that tragically killed six children. Here’s what happened in court.
Tasmania
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A weather expert has told a court he is “absolutely certain” that a “dust devil” was responsible for a jumping castle becoming airborne at Hillcrest Primary School in December 2021.
On day four of the hearing into the tragedy, University of Tasmania climate science lecturer Nicholas Earl-Jones took to the witness stand to describe the weather conditions when the jumping castle became airborne on December 16.
Six children died after the jumping castle was flung 10m in the air during an end of school year function.
Dr Earl-Jones described the wind blast that occurred at Hillcrest on the day as a dust devil – a “tornado-like” weather event – and he said it would have been hard to predict.
“It’s not completely impossible because they (dust devils) do form in other parts of the world at certain types of times in the day,” Dr Earl-Jones said.
“Scientists have studied these in places like the Arizona desert where the conditions are often very ideal for the formation of dust devils.
“And in that kind of situation, they can be predicted. But in Devonport, it’s impossible to predict with any kind of accuracy.”
The hearing in Devonport Magistrates Court centres on a charge against jumping castle owner Rosemary Gamble, of the local company Taz-Zorb, who is charged with one count of failure to comply with health and safety duty category 2. She has entered a plea of not guilty.
Earlier in the day, the progress of the hearing was thrown into some doubt when prosecution and defence teams argued about a technicality in the tendered evidence of Dr Earl-Jones.
Ms Gamble’s defence lawyer Chris Dockray threatened to apply for an adjournment if Magistrate Robert Webster sided with the prosecution regarding a dispute over the evidence about potential wind force.
After some period of deliberation, Mr Webster ultimately ruled in favour of the defence, and the hearing continued.
Dr Earl-Jones’ UTAS profile states that one of his research areas is “observational climatological analysis of mean wind and gust speeds”.
In his expert evidence report on the weather event at Hillcrest, Dr Earl-Jones said there were likely multiple dust devils in the Devonport area that day.
“We have video evidence of one at the Devonport Airport, and having read the witness statements, I’m absolutely certain that this was a dust devil,” he said.
Dr Earl-Jones said it was likely that the dust devil travelled through the Hillcrest Primary School carpark before reaching the oval and flinging the jumping castle into the air.
“It’s (the dust devil) tall and not that wide … so if anything’s going to get picked up on the dust devil, it’s something big and light.”
The hearing will resume at 10am on Monday and is expected to continue until November 15.
Initial: A weather expert will take to the witness stand Friday morning to explain the sudden gust of wind that caused a jumping castle at Hillcrest Primary School to become airborne in December 2021, resulting in the deaths of six children.
The expert is expected to be the only person giving evidence on day four of the hearing into the Hillcrest tragedy.
Taz-Zorb owner Rosemary Gamble has previously entered a not guilty plea to one count of failure to comply with health and safety duty category 2.
The charge relates to an incident at Hillcrest Primary School on December 16, 2021, where six children died after a jumping castle was flung 10m in the air.
During the first day of the hearing at Devonport Magistrates Court, Prosecutor Madeline Wilson read witness statements to the court – many of which described the weather event that lifted the inflatable in the air as a “mini-tornado”.
The hearing continues.
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Originally published as Hillcrest jumping castle tragedy: Weather expert provides insight into conditions
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