Quick answer

The bungee workers’ reported “excuse” was that they couldn’t remember how or why the safety rope failed to be attached, and claimed there had been a kind of “blackout” or confusion during setup, with responsibility shared jointly so no one could say who missed the final check.

What happened

  • Victim: Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, 21, from near Jandira, Brazil.
  • Location: “Skeleton Bridge” (an abandoned railway bridge) in Limeira, São Paulo state.
  • Height: About 130 feet (around 40 meters).
  • Incident: She was carried horizontally by two staff members toward the edge and then released for what was supposed to be a bungee jump—but the main safety rope had not been clipped to her harness. Bystanders reportedly shouted that the rope wasn’t attached as she went over.
  • Outcome: She died at the scene; her body was taken to the Legal Medical Institute, and a criminal investigation was opened.

The workers’ explanation to police

According to multiple reports quoting police interviews and local media:

  • Three male instructors were questioned after the fall.
  • They told investigators they “can’t remember” exactly how the rope ended up unattached or who was responsible for the final safety check.
  • Two of them, identified in reports as Feliciano Egoroff and a colleague referred to as Fernandes Cintra , said equipment checks were done “jointly,” making it unclear who missed the last step.
  • They also referenced a sort of “blackout” amid setup , implying a lapse in memory or注意力 during the procedure.

In short: their core explanation was memory failure plus shared responsibility , not a specific mechanical fault or a clear, single-person error.

Why this explanation is so controversial

  • Basic safety protocol: Bungee operations normally require redundant checks—visual, verbal, and often a tagged system—precisely to prevent a single miss from becoming fatal.
  • Witness accounts: People on site reportedly yelled that the rope wasn’t attached before she was thrown, suggesting the error was observable and potentially correctable in the moment.
  • Regulatory issues: A police delegate told media the team “wasn’t regulated” and lacked authorization to operate there, framing the death as a failure of verification and supervision.

That combination—unauthorized operation, visible warnings, and then “we can’t remember”—is why the incident drew outrage and arrests.

Aftermath and investigation

  • Arrests: Three employees were taken into custody following the incident.
  • Criminal probe: Brazil’s Civil Police is investigating to determine charges and responsibility.
  • Local response: The Limeira City Council said it would file a complaint related to lack of access control and protection at the federal area where the bridge sits, citing known risks.

Bottom line

The workers did not offer a concrete technical reason (like a broken clip) so much as a procedural and cognitive explanation : they claimed they forgot/couldn’t recall how the rope was missed and that checks were a joint responsibility , leaving no clear single point of failure in their account.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.