Roller coaster rides usually last a few minutes at most, but a dozen people got stuck on the new Superman Ultimate Flight roller coaster at Six Flags in Northern California for almost two hours on Sunday.
At around 2:30 p.m. the Superman roller coaster at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo stopped working at a hill on the ride. The riders were stranded 150 feet above ground while workers tried to get it going again. The ride just opened on June 30. It travels up to 62 miles per hour and can hold up to 12 people. The ride was full when it stopped working, according to The Asociated Press.
Firefighters arrived around 3 p.m. to try to help the people stuck on the ride. The people were strapped onto the ride while in the sitting upright. Park engineers provided a large crane with a big bucket to reach the stranded riders. Two firefighters and a park worker went up on the crane to hand the riders bottles of water and sunscreen while they waited.
Passengers tried to shake the ride loose to get it moving, but that didn't work. Rescuers were waiting for the ride to start again, but they were ready to take each passenger off of the ride with the crane if necessary.
The individual rescues weren't needed as a mechanic was able to fix and restart the ride. The car rolled backwards and brought the riders back to safety.
Despite being stuck for almost two hours, the riders didn't need medical attention.
There is no word on why the roller coaster stopped working, but it will remain closed until officials conduct a throughout safety inspection. So far, investigators have ruled out a mechanical problem as the cause.
"If (a ride) stops, it usually detects something and it stops for safety reasons," Six Flags spokesperson Nancy Chan told The Associated Press.
Six Flags staff collected the contact information for the riders so they can receive compensation, but it is not clear what the compensation will be.
This isn't the first time the ride has faced problems. Visitor Tiffany Sanchez told The Associated Press that hey 8-year-old son was also caught on the ride two weeks before. He only had to wait about 10 minutes for it to start back up again. Sanchez did not receive compensation.
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