Terrifying moment huge crack appears on rollercoaster pillar as riders race past
A dad was shocked after he spotted a huge crack on a rollercoaster support pillar hundreds of feet up in the air – as families whizzed by on a ride.
Jeremy Wagner, who was visiting the Carowinds amusement park in Charlotte in the US, was with his daughter, son, niece, and his son’s friend when he spotted the faulty ride.
Video footage taken by Mr Wagner last Friday shows a close-up of the Fury 325, with packed carriages flying past.
In the clip you can see the steel support pillar wobbles after it was completely cracked through.
It shows the pillar separating briefly at the crack and Mr Wagner says he felt like a tragedy could have happened at any time.
He told the New York Times: ‘I was trying to shoot the video, and my hands were shaking because I knew how quick this could be catastrophic.’
Mr. Wagner, who had just bought his children season passes for the park, said he recorded the damage from the parking lot.
His 14-year-old daughter had been on the ride eight times on Friday, he said.
At 325 feet tall, Fury 325 is one of Carowinds’ main attractions. It can carry dozens of riders and send them barreling at speeds of up to 95 miles per hour during its more than 3-minute ride, according to the park’s website.
Carowinds bills the ride, which opened to the public in March 2015, as the ‘longest giga coaster in North America.’ Roller coasters with drops of 300 feet to 399 feet are known as giga coasters.
Mr. Wagner said that he turned over his footage to park officials before he left on Friday but that he did not learn of the ride’s closure until after he got home.
‘I’m thankful they did that,’ he said. ‘Even though that’s their No. 1 attraction at the park.’
The rest of the Carowinds, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, remained open on Saturday and Sunday, according to the park’s website.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.