Thrill Ride Gone Wrong: 12 Rescued from Malfunctioned Universal Studios Florida Roller Coaster
Authorities at the Universal Studios in Florida suspended operations on Wednesday night after 12 passengers got stuck high in the air at its Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster.
At around 7 p.m. EDT Wednesday, at about 140 feet above the ground, the 12-person train of the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit abruptly stopped.
"It failed at the highest part of the ride," Jeff Jay, District Chief of the Orlando Fire Department, told Reuters. The passengers were stuck for more than two hours aboard Orlando's tallest roller coaster.
"The occupants were in a vertical position, facing up in the sky when it stopped."
Tom Schroder, Universal Studios spokesman, said the system experienced a glitch, causing the computers to go into safety mode, thus stopping the ride.
"The safety system did exactly what it's supposed to do," he told AP.
Roderick McKenzie, Orlando Deputy Fire Chief, told ABC News Radio that the train was specifically going in the up position at a 90-degree angle when it stopped.
"It was just a long, tedious process to get everybody out and secure safely and to a safe platform so we could extricate them," he said.
There were no casualties brought by the unfortunate incident, but one person, a female passenger, was brought to the hospital due to "mental exhaustion."
She complained of neck and back pains, after being stuck for three hours in a vertical position.
"We spent a lot of that time talking to them (the passengers) and trying to make them as comfortable as we could," Mr Schroder said.
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit has a total height of 167 feet (51 m), a length of 3,800 feet (1,200 m), and a top speed of 65 miles per hour (105 km/h). However, local media reports highlighted this is not the first time an incident has occurred at the attraction. A similar accident had happened on Aug 1.
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