Roller Coaster Riders Left Hanging

(AP)  A dozen riders on an Arkansas roller coaster spent half an hour hanging upside down — 150 feet 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.

One X-Coaster passenger, Jay Plummer, 37, was taken to St. Joseph Mercy Medical Center in Hot Springs after complaining of neck pain and a headache.

"It was very scary," said his girlfriend, Connie McBride. "I love the amusement park, but I will never get on the X-Coaster again."

The park has experienced outages before, but usually they last only seconds, said Dan Aylward, Magic Springs president and general manager.

Entergy Corp. was investigating but crews found no faulty wiring.

"The cause could be a (tree) limb or as simple as an animal (on the lines)," said Mark Hunt, general manager of customer service for Entergy. "We could find no faults, but we are going to continue to investigate until we find the cause."

[tiffercita]

Oh, guess what I just saw. A 10 year old girl died after getting off of a ride at Six Flags. I bet you have all heard of that place. She had a history of heart problems. Should the family be able to sue?!

[tiffercita]

I was born and raised in Hot Springs. I used to go to the park when I was a child. The park did close down for several years, but it was bought out, COMPLETELY re-done, and re-opened. In all the years I have lived there I have NEVER heard of any kind of major incedent. The power went out plain and simple. It happens all the time no matter where you live. If the power went out in your house and a visitor fell down your stairs would it be right for them to sue? No one was injured because the park did their job and had the proper saftey devices installed. It was in no way their fault. God did not call the park owner that morning and say "Hey, I am going to shut your power off for a little while this afternoon, make sure there is no one on the rides". I now live out of the state but will be visiting in the next month with my roomate who has never been to Hot Springs and guess what is still going to be on our agenda for our trip. Yep, that's right, Magic Springs.

[jetranger7]

YOU SEE, I WOULD OF OFFERED THEM ALL MILK SHAKES WHILE HANGING UPSIDE DOWN, NOW THAT WOULD'VE BEEN ANOTHER FEAT IN ITSELF, AND OFFERED THEM SOME FOOD WHILE HANGING UPSIDE DOWN TOO,,,HAAA CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT !!! EATING UPSIDE DOWN !!!

[summersmama]

are all of ya'll crazy... it happened and it was for a reason! God took care of those people.... and why would it be Bush's fault? rollercoasters have been around for years.... I myself don't ride them, but everyone around me does and it's just the same as any other ride.... it's just maybe some of ya'll can't handle it! Yes this ride has had this problem in the past yr... 3 times to be exact.... now it's the theme park owners who need to say it's time for it to go.... and move onto the next one.... this ride was so popular, that the youth group that we took there on saturday, had to stand in line for a while, and still didn't get to ride because they got tired and hungry!

[summersmama]

The part on the roller coaster ride about it taking the fire dept. 30 min. to rescue them is a bunch of crock! We took our youth at our church in ms. there for the day and we watched the whole thing... my husband is a firefighter and even he knew the ladders would not reach.... rope rescue only might work.... they had to wait until the power came back on and then they were realeased and finished the ride! It was a scary thing... we as spectators were scared, but as we stopped and joined hands and prayed, we knew God was going to take care of them.... and he did! If you're gonna tell the whole world about something, make sure you tell it right... or don't tell it at all!!!!

[beanerman4]

Since you brought it up, yes it is Bush's fault. As the Decider, he could have banned roller coasters, even if against the will of the people.

[jenny1011]

Oops! i'll never get on a roller coaster again.



Jenny
http://www.spaml.com

[lwsnscott16]

My milk was sour this morning...

Must have been George's fault also?

[tscm98]

"The cause could be a (tree) limb or as simple as an animal (on the lines),"

Maybe a bush was on the lines!? Or the animal was hiding behind a bush??

[novellite2]

Oh, and George Bush never signed legislation banning these rides, so it is indeed his fault.

(Is someone going to ask who John Galt is now?)

;)