Louisville, Ky. -- New court documents are giving a voice to one of two ride-operators on shift when witnesses say a cable snapped on an amusement park ride June 21st, severing one young girl’s feet.  The latest deposition in the case comes from a 16-year-old girl.  Her name is not being released because of her young age.

She had been on the job, her first ever, for two or three weeks when she says she first heard a loud “snap.” 

“We heard it and then we just looked at each other and I was like, press the stop button,” she says in her deposition.  “Then by the time we did that, it was too late.  it was already down.”

Some experts say the requirements should be more strict.

“While it doesn’t take a rocket scientist, it takes someone with people skills, who is attentive and observant,” says Ken Martin, an amusement park ride specialist out of Richmond, Virginia.  He has been a safety inspector certified in Virginia for 25 years and has no ties to this case.  “You can’t just put any 16-year-old in a position of ride operator.”

But in fact, there are no rules keeping 16-year-olds in Kentucky from operating a machine like the Superman Tower of Power.

When this 16 year old was asked, “Did they ever teach you in your training or since you were there about looking for any mechanical problems?”  She answered, “No.”

“And when you were in training did you-all ever push the red button to stop the ride?”  She also replied, “No.”

But she says, the red “stop” button was hit that day but not before the ride had already dropped 177 feet.

Kentucky Kingdom officials commented today that, “Safety is of the utmost importance – it is our number one priority at Kentucky Kingdom.  Our employees undergo extensive training and meet all guidelines set forth by the State of Kentucky.”

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture oversees all ride inspections in the state.  They continue their investigation of this incident.