Del Mar Fair Turnout Wins Another Prize

This year’s run of the Del Mar Fair enjoyed record-breaking attendance, despite a fatal parachuting accident during Fourth of July festivities and the injury of two people on a roller coaster.

“Out of the 20 days of the fair, a lot of people had a good time, and, even though we are saddened by these tragedies, overall we are quite pleased with the way the fair turned out this year,” said Diane Scholfield, spokeswoman for the fair.

Attendance was 1,130,843, up from last year’s 1,083,572, while gate receipts totaled $842,688, up from last year’s $808,082, Scholfield said. Revenue figures from the Midway rides and games and the food concessionaires were not available, but Scholfield said they, too, rose slightly.

“Here we are in the middle of a recession, and for us to be up in revenue even slightly is very nice,” Scholfield said. “Before the fair, we thought there was a possibility that attendance will hold but that people will be watching their dollars a little more. But apparently there are enough people who think that, well, this is a once-a-year thing, and it’s worth it.”

The accident on the Hi-Miler roller coaster disturbed fair officials, they said, because they feel they already take stringent precautions with the rides.

“That was particularly troubling to us because we do take very, very, very careful measures to ensure safety in the Midway, so all I can say is that we will be adding even more attention to what I feel already are pretty extensive safety measures,” Scholfield said.

The parachuting accident marked the fair’s second fatality in recent memory. The other occurred in 1985 when a maintenance worker was hit by an empty roller coaster car.

“We do expect that we would have some medical situations each year, but it is rare that we would have some sort of fatality, obviously, and the ride accident was very unusual,” Scholfield said.

The fair is waiting for the results of an investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration into the accident before making any decisions on whether to hold the parachuting event again next year, Scholfield said.

A group of 54 parachutists were to land in the fairgrounds’ infield as part of a promotion to draw attention to the plight of Vietnam prisoners of war and the missing in action.

Four sky divers were blown off course and into the ocean. Three received minor injuries, but the fourth, who apparently cut himself loose from his chute 80 feet above the water, was killed.

Dave Levin, 35, of Oceanside had logged more than 1,000 jumps and had been a parachuting instructor in Perris Valley before jumping at the fair, said Michael Miller, who organized the event.

“We want to do it again, and, provided that the FAA feels that we weren’t negligent, we are hopeful that we will get the opportunity to do it again,” Miller said.

The FAA will issue a report on the accident in two weeks.

Levin, an Army veteran, and the rest of the team were making their second Del Mar Fair appearance and their fifth jump since they began working together a year ago, Miller said.

“We tried to do something that had the intent of being spectacular and bring a little bit of attention to the POW and MIA situation, and, unfortunately, we had a tragedy,” Miller said.

“Dave made a personal decision. He volunteered for the mission, and he died as a result of a mistake on his part,” Miller said.

Cloud cover and winds made the conditions for the jump “marginal,” but it was still “achievable,” Miller said, noting that most of the parachutists landed on target.