Moon Bounces, Air Castles, and Other Inflatable Structures Can Cause Serious Injuries or Death

On June 4, 2011, thirteen children who were attending a New York soccer event were injured when bounce houses they were playing in, were suddenly blown away due to a strong wind gust. Police officials stated that three bounce houses were sent airborne, while the children were still in them, during a soccer tournament at the Oceanside United Soccer Club in Long Island, New York. One child was also hooked around her neck by one of the ropes as she was entering the bounce house just as it was lifted into the air.

Bounce houses or inflatable structures can be very dangerous if the proper safety measures and precautions are not followed. On April 2, 2011, two children were injured in Arizona when a dust devil caused a jumping castle to become airborne, approximately 15 feet into the air, tossing it across three lanes of traffic before it hitting the ground. The children, a boy and girl, were inside the jumping castle when it became airborne. They were transported to a local hospital with serious injuries.

In 2003, a South Yorkshire boy died while playing in a bounce house. In 2005, a young boy sustained a traumatic brain injury after another child somersaulted and collided with the boy. In 2006, two children were killed and 13 injured when the inflatable structure they were playing in was thrown into the air at Riverside Park. In 2011, a nine year old girl who was attending a birthday party sustained catastrophic injuries when the jumping castle she was in was lifted into the air and crashed into a nearby roof.

These are just a few of the tragic accidents that involve inflatable bounce houses. Many other children have sustained concussions, traumatic brain injuries, broken bones, fractured skulls, spinal cord injuries, quadriplegia, paraplegia or even death in similar inflatable devices.

Inflatable structures are very popular at birthday parties, carnivals, fairs, fund raisers, block parties, and school or church functions. They are advertised under the name such as Bounce House, Moon Bounce, Moon Walk, AstroJump, Jolly Jump, Spacewalk as well as many other names.

In a lot of instances, the social host, or person who rented the inflatable device and set it up, are the ones who are thought to be responsible for any injury a guest sustains. However, there could be other issues that caused an inflatable device to fail, become airborne or cause harm to others. Many times there is a product defect or a failure to properly educate the renter on how to secure or operate the device. Sometimes, an operator of the device will unknowingly allow too many children in the air castle at one time or not fully supervise the children and it leads to a child falling out of the inflatable onto cement or hard surface. Other times, a renter is not informed of the weather condition guidelines on using an inflatable device.

When you, a loved one, or your child has been injured in an accident while playing in an inflatable structure, it is important that you contact an experienced law firm that is familiar with all of the problems that could have caused something to go terrible wrong. Since 1958, the experienced Philadelphia personal injury lawyers at the Beasley Firm have investigated thousands of cases with proven results. To date, we have had billions awarded on behalf of our injured clients. Please feel free to look at our record of success and contact us for a risk free, no fee, and confidential consultation. We are here to help you.