A free fall ride in Australia has been closed down after an autistic four-year-old was seen unrestrained - seconds before he was launched into the air. Tristan Curtis' terrified parents rushed to stop the ride at Sydney's Royal Easter show from setting off when they realized his harness was firmly above his head. The youngster appeared seconds away from disaster when he was seen clinging to the ride with his restraint fully up above his head. All the other children on the free fall ride were properly secured in their seats. In an interview with the <a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/unharnessed-4yearold-narrowly-avoids-disaster-on-sydney-royal-easter-show-ride/news-story/d49c45a9e79481b69621ad82914b81f7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daily Telegraph</a>, the boy's mother Sky Boustani Curtis recalled how "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." "Myself and my husband were not tall enough to reach him," she explained, adding that ride operators: "Simply did not pull his harness down, didn’t check him." [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/TheTodayShow/status/1513251249004720144]] The horrified mom went on to explain that as her son is autistic, it was "difficult" to know how the ordeal had affected him. According to a report by <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2022/04/11/australia-boy-4-clings-on-to-free-fall-ride-after-harness-opens-16447258/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Metro</a>, other witnesses were equally outraged by the apparent lack of care shown by ride operators, who they claim had "no idea" that Tristen wasn't properly strapped in. "They hit emergency stop but it seems like the operator couldn’t bring the ride down and someone actually had to go up there and have his son jump into his arms," eyewitness Eva Levy recalled, adding that: "Onlookers had to scream for the ride to be stopped." Since the incident, fairground operators have shut down the free fall ride and launched an inquiry into how the incident occurred. "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," said a spokeswoman, adding: "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." [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/eastershow/status/1513134962341470214]] <h6>Featured Image Credit: VIAVAL / Alamy</h6>

Free fall ride is shut down after parents notice their son, 4, is unrestrained

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