Two teenagers died after plunging 150 feet from a bungee cage attraction in South Carolina when a makeshift winch cable snapped, with one boy's parents watching in horror from the ground.
Fatal Flaw in Bungee Cage Mechanism
On the night of 10 August 1993, 17-year-old Zachary Steinke and 19-year-old employee Michael Nash entered the elevator-style cage at Beach Bungee in Atlantic Beach, South Carolina. The ride, a 175-foot steel arch, was designed to lift participants inside the cage before they jumped. However, the original chain-driven hoist mechanism was faulty. Instead of replacing it with an identical part, the owners installed an improvised commercial shrimping winch with a wire cable that was not fit for purpose.
As the cage reached a height of 150 to 160 feet, the wet and rainy conditions reduced visibility. The wire rope, unable to handle the load, snapped under strain. The cage plummeted to the ground, killing both teens instantly from catastrophic impact injuries. Zachary's parents, who were watching from below, attempted CPR before emergency services arrived.
Legal Battle and Landmark Judgment
Attorney John Kassel, representing the families, explained the cause of the accident: “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.”
Kassel pursued the case against the owners in federal court, seeking individual liability rather than a verdict against a defunct corporation. In 1995, the families won a $12 million judgment against the individual owners of Beach Bungee. The court ruled that the owners could be held personally liable because they bypassed safety systems by installing the faulty shrimping winch to avoid losing summer tourist business.
Second Case Against Regulatory Agency
Kassel also tried a second case in state court against the South Carolina Department of Labor, the responsible regulatory agency. He noted, “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.”
