Power outage leaves coaster riders upside down

Post by **Zamperla** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 6:43 pm

Published: Sunday, June 10, 2007
Canadian Press

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (AP) - A dozen riders on a roller coaster spent half an
hour hanging upside down - 46 metres above the ground - after a power outage shut down the attraction.

It took about 30 minutes for the city Fire Department to rescue the riders
using a ladder truck Saturday evening, said Aundrea Crary, spokeswoman for the Springs & Crystal Falls amusement park.

Spectators cheered when the riders were brought to the ground from the
highest point of a loop on the X-Coaster, but one passenger threw up after
reaching safety.

The X-Coaster was one of several rides brought to a halt by the outage that originated somewhere near the park.

"You could tell who got off the (X-Coaster) because their faces were red,"
said Angela Salter. She was riding the Gauntlet, another coaster, and said
park employees worked quickly to free her.

The park resumed normal operations, although the X-Coaster remained closed.

zipperdude22 · Post by **zipperdude22** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 2:15 pm

i saw this in the paper that would really suck the riders should get a refund and lifetime free entry to the park

benclare · Post by **benclare** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 3:31 pm

An unpleasant incident for sure but probably no one's fault unless the park forgot to pay its power bill...

princess · Post by **princess** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 5:32 pm

They may never want to go to a park ever again.

Post by **Zamperla** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 10:52 pm

Animal caused outage that stranded roller coaster riders

June 12, 2007

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — A bird or some other animal apparently is to blame for the power outage that shut down a roller coaster and stranded 12 people hanging upside-down and 150 feet above the ground, a utility spokesman says.

The riders were at the top of a loop on the X-Coaster at Magic Springs & Crystal Falls when the power failed Saturday.

They returned safely to the ground after about 30 minutes when park employees were able to start a backup generator, said Magic Springs General Manager Dan Aylward. One man was taken to a hospital after complaining of neck and head pain.

Crews inspected the power lines leading to the theme park and found burn marks on two insulators connecting wires to poles, said Mark Hunt, general manager of customer service for Entergy Arkansas in the Hot Springs area.

He said the marks indicated a bird or another animal touched the insulators simultaneously, causing a short circuit and blowing the fuse connecting the park to the electrical service.

"When the crews saw the burn marks, it was pretty easy to spot the cause of the outage," Hunt said. "The main thing is we are trying to prevent this from happening again. Our crews are doing animal-mitigation work to prevent it."

Jmill326 · Post by **Jmill326** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 11:04 am

Hahaha. That would SUCK.