Unharnessed four-year-old boy Tristan Curtis narrowly avoids disaster on Sydney Royal Easter Show ride

A ride at the Sydney Royal Easter Show may be shut down for the remainder of the event, with safety investigators told to “explore all avenues” after a terrifying near-miss.

The NSW Minister for Fair Trading said a high-speed ride could be closed for the remainder of the Sydney Royal Easter Show after a four-year-old boy wasn’t fully strapped into his harness.

Tristan Curtis was set to ride the “Free Fall” ride when onlookers yelled to alert staff that the ride had not been fitted properly as the ride launched about 3.50pm on Sunday.

“The (operator) girl stopped the ride but didn’t get out of her booth so another father ended up getting him to climb down to him,” mum Sky Boustani Curtis said.

“Myself and my husband were not tall enough to reach him,” she said.

Another mum Eva Levy, who watched the incident unfold, said it was excruciating to see.

An onlooker captured a photo of the near-miss incident as it unfolded.

“They hit emergency stop but it seems like the operator couldn’t bring the ride down and the (someone) actually had to come up there and have his son jump into his arms,” she said.

“Operator had no idea the child wasn’t secured. Onlookers had to scream for the ride to be stopped.”

The high speed ride Free Fall is closed today after the accident. Picture: Jonathan Ng

SafeWork NSW Inspectors, including their specialist engineering team, are investigating the incident and will continue to be a presence for the remainder of the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

Fair Trading Minister Eleni Petinos said she has a zero tolerance approach towards any operator who fails to provide the highest possible safety standards.

“I can confirm that I have instructed SafeWork NSW to explore shutting the Free Fall ride for the remainder of the 2022 Sydney Royal Easter Show if patron’s safety cannot be guaranteed. The ride has been closed pending investigation,” Ms Petinos said.

“Safety is my number one priority and any operator who fails to provide the highest level of safety standards should face severe consequences and that is why I’ve instructed SafeWork NSW to explore all available avenues.”

The incident comes after a 14-year-old boy plunged 50m to his death on a similar ride at a Florida amusement park in March.

Footage taken prior to the ride taking off appears to show that the harness was not fully on.

An Easter Show spokeswoman said: “The safety of patrons at the Show is paramount and we have shut down the kids’ Free Fall ride following a reported issue with a harness.”

“The safety systems of the ride functioned well to prevent any injury occurring and the ride will not operate again until a full investigation has been completed and the ride has been approved by specialist engineers.”

However Ms Curtis said it was hard to tell how their son was coping with the ordeal.

“It’s hard to tell how he is doing as he has autism,” she said.

“He’s 4yrs old. They simply did not pull his harness down didn’t check him.”