An amusement park in Charlotte, North Carolina, closed one of its roller coasters on Friday after a crack was found in a support beam.
Carowinds closed Fury 325, which park website it is billed as the “tallest, fastest and longest giga mountain in North America” crossing both North and South Carolina.
Video of the ride showed the crack in the beam as cars full of riders whizzed past.
Park patron Jeremy Wagner said WBTV to CBS Charlotte, NC he was the one who spotted the crack and made the video.
She said she was waiting for her children to finish one last ride on the roller coaster when, “I look up and I see a light go through the pole.”
As the next car passed, he pulled out his phone and recorded it.
Wagner told WBTV that what he saw when he played it sent a shock to his chest.
“When the car went by,” he said, “I saw (the beam) move.”
(Credit: Jeremy Wagner via Storyful)
He told The New York Times that while shooting the video, “My hands were shaking because I knew how quickly this could be catastrophic.”
Wagner told WBTV that he immediately showed the video to park security to have the ride shut down, but didn’t get a clear answer on whether park officials would do so. But Wagner eventually called the fire department and learned that his video did cause the Fury to stop.
“My heart was kind of relieved because I was just scared … are they going to do the right thing? I just didn’t want anything bad to happen,” she told WBTV.
“It takes one time, just one time” for tragedy to strike, he said.
Tiffany Collins Newton told CBS News she took a photo on June 24 that appeared to show “the beginnings of a crack” on the roller coaster. He said he didn’t notice the crack until the ride closed on Friday and zoomed in on his recent photos.
Tiffany Collins Newton
The park said in a statement that it closed the ride “after park staff noticed a crack at the top of a steel support pillar. The park’s maintenance team is conducting a thorough inspection and the ride will remain closed until repairs are complete.Safety is our highest priority and we appreciate the patience and understanding of our valued guests during this process.
“As part of our comprehensive safety protocols,” the statement continued, “all rides, including the Fury 325, undergo daily inspections to ensure proper operation and structural integrity.”
Fury 325 first opened to the public in 2015 and cost approximately $30 million to build, according to news reports.
Carowinds did not say how long the repairs would take. The rest of the park will remain open.
State officials said they will inspect the ride Monday.
