When you go to an amusement park you don’t want to think about all the bad things that can happen, you want to concentrate on having fun. That said, many of us can’t help but feel a little nervous as we wait in line for a thrill ride such as a big roller coaster. While hundreds of scary scenarios can rush through your mind as you wait, one of the most common roller coaster worries is, “What if it gets stuck?”
Amusement park rides are inspected every day to make sure that they are operating properly and are safe to ride. Although they are reassuring, these inspections don’t mean that accidents can’t happen. This week, sixteen people found that out the hard way when they got stranded on a roller coaster at Busch Gardens in Tampa Florida.
According to park spokesman Travis Claytor, the coaster got stuck before the first hill at around 2:30p.m. Because the coaster had not made it to the first hill climb, maintenance workers were able to reach it and tried to nudge it back to the loading dock. When that did not work, the park had to call Tampa Fire Rescue to help rescue the stranded passengers.
Tampa Fire Rescue was able to help the passengers and no one was injured in the incident. Park employees and maintenance workers were working to determine what exactly caused the roller coaster to stall. As of Wednesday evening, the park had not came to a conclusion.
Once the passengers had been rescued, Busch Gardens posted an update on their twitter account.
Busch Gardens and Tampa Fire Rescue have safely evacuated 16 riders off of Cheetah Hunt. No injuries have been reported.
— Busch Gardens (@BuschGardens) February 12, 2014
What is your biggest fear when riding rides at an amusement park and what do you think is the likely cause for the roller coaster stalling?
Image via Wikimedia Commons.
