Mechanic gets lost inside a ferris wheel?

[ocalhoun6]

OS: Kubuntu Linux 20.04
Version: 0.3.3
Commit/Build: Unknown -- See #12909

This is a really rare fluke ... only occurred after playing the park in fast forward for 20 in-game years. Fast-forwarded the same park another 30 years, and it never happened again. Pretty weird, though, so I thought I'd document it in case it starts happening to other people.

The mechanic heading for this ferris wheel somehow got into the middle of the ferris wheel's station platform and then became lost, unable to find where he was supposed to go. His status said he was still 'responding to...' not 'fixing...' so he was still trying to get there for some reason.

Perhaps even more weirdly, I was able to pick him up and put him back on the path, and he didn't lose his status! He was still responding to the ride breakdown, and after being dropped on a path, he was able to navigate to the ride and fix it properly. He didn't answer another radio call or anything -- he just kept heading for the ride without interruption. Aren't mechanics supposed to forget what they were doing when you pick them up with tweezers?

It seems distinct from the bug where mechanics will walk through the air/over rides/over water/etc in order to get to a ride, because when that happens, the mechanic actually does get where he's headed eventually. But in this case, he got lost and couldn't find the ride, even though he was standing on it.

• [ ? ] Reproducible in RCT2 (vanilla)?
• [ No] Specific to multiplayer?

Steps to reproduce:

1. Have a broken down ferris wheel and a mechanic
2. Get really lucky?

Screenshots / Video:
Mechanic is lost while on the ferris wheel's station platform:

Same mechanic after being relocated back to a normal path:

Save game:
Save made while the mechanic was still lost:
Tumbledown Faire_error.zip
(just renamed, not a real zip file.)

[Broxzier]

Not familiar with mechanic mechanics (hah), so just speculating, but could this perhaps be caused by the mechanic being called to fix the ferris wheel while it was already there for an inspection or something? Or perhaps he reached the ferris wheel, but since it took so long another mechanic was called right as he entered the ride.