• Leave best wishes for Katie Lasitter
• Identity of injured girl released
• Latest on girl's condition
• Slideshow
• Officials inspect ride
• Raw video: Inspection
• Park statement
• Girl's feet severed
• Witnesses describe accident
• Description of ride
• Accident affects other local parks
• Expanded coverage from ABC

Louisville, KY. — Since the request for "best wishes" was published on this site Monday, hundreds of well-wishers from around the country have written offering their prayers and support for the girl who was seriously injured at a Louisville amusement park.

The teen is recovering after her legs were severed above the ankles on a ride at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom

Thirteen-year-old Kaitlyn Lasitter has been identified as the teenager who had both of her legs severed above the ankles on the Superman Tower of Power ride at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom on last Thursday.  Lasitter is a student at Highland Middle School in Louisville and is known as Katie by her friends there. 

The young teen has been recovering at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville and is said to be conscious and doing okay.  A neighbor describes the girl as bubbly, beautiful, positive and very close to her family.  She also says the girl has already talked about writing a book about her experience. 

The Superman Tower of Power remains shutdown as the state investigates the accident. According to the Associated Press, the president of the company that provided the ride to Kentucky Kingdom said that a failed cord is what caused the girl’s feet to be severed. 

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Earlier coverage:

  LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- A thrill ride remains shut down at four Six Flags locations around the country as investigators in Kentucky review evidence and witness statements from an accident that resulted in a teenager's feet being sheared off.

  Investigators have completed the investigation at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom and are now going over the evidence and witness accounts, said Ted Sloan, a spokesman for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, which inspects amusement park rides.

  "We're trying to determine what happened and why it happened," Sloan said Monday.

  A cable broke loose Thursday on the Superman Tower of Power ride, striking a 13-year-old girl in the legs, officials have said.  Sloan said there's been no determination on what caused the cable to break.

  Sloan was unsure if investigators had interviewed the girl or her family.

  The ride passed inspection in each of the last four years according to inspection records. The ride lifts passengers 177 feet straight up, then drops them nearly the same distance at speeds reaching 54 miles per hour.

  Six Flags shut down similar rides at parks in St. Louis; Gurnee, Illinois; and near Washington as a safety precaution, Goldberg said. She said Six Flags Over Texas, near Dallas, also has a Superman Tower of Power, but it is not the same ride. Those rides remained shut down on Monday, said Wendy Goldberg, a spokeswoman for Six Flags.

  Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. of Sandusky, Ohio, also shut down drop tower rides at five of its amusement parks for inspection. A call to Cedar Fair Entertainment was not immediately returned Monday.

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Earlier coverage:

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- State investigators spent Friday at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom inspecting the Superman Tower of Power ride.

A 13-year-old girl lost both her feet on the ride Thursday afternoon. Park officials say the ride malfunctioned.

I just talked with Bill Clary, a spokesman for the Department of Agriculture, who says that by law, the department must inspect amusement park rides in Kentucky once each year.

Bill Clary says they keep those records for three years and after the state reviewed those records today it does not appear that the ride has had any significant problems in the past.

The last inspection for the Superman Tower of Power was on April 5. Clary says the park had done some maintenance on that ride ahead of schedule.

During the inspections, agriculture officials look for proper safety features, check for wear and tear on belts, bolts and electric components, and monitor the rides’s motors.

Agriculture inspectors have been at Kentucky Kingdom since Thursday night and all day Friday. Clancy couldn't say how long their investigation will take.

“Sometimes these things take a while, these investigations. And we're just in the early preliminary stages. They've looked at the moving parts and so forth. We're not in a position now where we can say that is was caused by X or Y,” Clary told us.

Clary says last year, there were seven incidents across the state involving amusement park rides that requires a re-inspection. He did not specify where those incidents happened.

No one was seriously injured on rides last year.

Clary stressed this injury is an exceedingly rare situation. Inspectors make over 5,000 inspections each year. About 3,500 rides fall under the department's regulation.

Web story produced by Jay Ditzer.

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Earlier Coverage:

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Investigators have spent the morning taking a closer look at the Superman Tower of Power ride at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom.

A teenager lost both her feet on the ride after witnesses say a cable snapped. That ride is closed -- but the park is open today in Louisville.

Shawn Higgens was with his kids at the park Thursday and he had no worries bringing them back Friday.

“Safety is the key,” he says. “I feel safe here.”

Also Online

Officials investigate Witness talks about accident Description of ride Park statement

They were at the park at 4:45 p.m. Thursday when the accident happened.

“All of a sudden I heard a big poof and the cable broke,” said Chris Stinnett, a witness.

Kentucky Kingdom won't say if this is what caused the accident on the Superman Tower of Power, only that there was some sort of malfunction. Around 6 a.m. Friday, investigators started work trying to figure out what was the problem on this ride where a 13-year-old girl's feet were severed.

“I try not to think about it. Like, I’m kind of worried what if it happens. But I’ve never actually heard of anything happening,” says Brandy Thomson.

(WHAS11 News)

Officials inspect the Superman Tower of Power ride at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom

The ride is now shut down, with no indication when and if it will reopen. Investigators worked through most of the morning.

“It is scary, but it is a chance you take in life,” says Deborah Mathis. “Things happen.”

As for Shawn Higgens, he will enjoy the park today -- just without one ride.

“Every place is going to have their moments of bad luck… It’s a one in a million chance.”

Web story produced by Jay Ditzer.

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From The Associated Press:

By BRETT BARROUQUERE / Associated Press Writer

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Six Flags has shut down four thrill rides at parks around the country after a gruesome accident at an amusement park in Louisville.

A 13-year-old girl’s feet were severed just above the ankles Thursday as she rode the Superman Tower of Power ride, park officials said. The ride lifts passengers 177 feet straight up, then drops 154 feet, reaching a speed of 54 mph, according to the park’s Web site.

Investigators from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, which inspects amusement park rides, returned to Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom on Friday to examine the ride, said Bill Clary, a spokesman for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.

The accident happened around 4:45 p.m., Six Flags spokeswoman Wendy Goldberg said. It was unclear at what point during the ride the girl was injured, Goldberg said.

The girl was taken to a hospital, but her name was not released and her condition was unavailable Friday morning.

Six Flags has shut down similar rides at parks in St. Louis; Gurnee, Ill.; and near Washington, D.C., as a safety precaution, Goldberg said.

Six Flags Over Texas, near Dallas, also has a Superman Tower of Power ride, but it is not the same ride, Goldberg said.

There were no reports of injuries on the ride before Thursday, Goldberg said.

“We’re conducting an investigation now,” Goldberg said. “Millions of people have safely ridden this ride in our parks.”

The accident led Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. to shut down and inspect drop tower rides at five of its amusement parks, company spokeswoman Stacy Frole said.

Frole said the company spoke with the maker of the ride and then decided to inspect its similar rides as a precaution.

The five rides that will be shut down are at Kings Island near Cincinnati; Canada’s Wonderland, in Toronto; Kings Dominion in Doswell, Va.; Carowinds, in Charlotte, N.C.; and Great America in Santa Clara, Calif.

Intamin, a Swiss company, made both rides, said Craig Ross, a spokesman for Cedar Fair.

“We’re going to keep these things down until we’re certain it’s safe,” Ross said. “We’ll wait and see.”

An e-mail message sent to Intamin was not immediately returned Friday morning.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)