A video of a broken roller coaster in Charlotte, North Carolina went viral this weekend after a visitor noticed a massive crack in one of the support beams. Jeremy Wagner was the first to spot a broken beam on the Fury 325 at Carowinds park while there with his family. After he posted a video of the crack and notified park officials, the ride was shut down and is now under investigation.
The Fury 325 is one of the tallest and longest rides in Carowinds, which is itself a massive theme park on the border of North and South Carolina. Wagner told CNN that when he first noticed the crack in the support beam, he thought to himself: “I’m not an engineer, but that’s not right.” He said he noticed the gap between the coaster’s track and the beams widening every time a cart passed by it, and when he zoomed in with his phone’s camera he realized it was no longer attached at all. He then hurried to report what he saw to the park’s guest services.
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“My daughter and niece rode it six times,” Wagner said. He said that as he left the park, he worried about how his report would be handled and he decided to call the local fire department as well. He said: “They called me back within 10 minutes and advised the ride was shut down.”
Wagner’s video took off on social media, where many users marveled that he was the first to see this issue. Commenters swore that they would never ride a roller coaster again and wondered what safety regulations were in place to stop this kind of incident before more riders got on. According to CNN, state and local governments have been required to oversee fixed-site amusement parks since the 1980s. Still, users online felt that if Wagner was the first to see this broken beam, that oversight was failing somewhere.
Carowinds told CNN that all of its rides are inspected daily by to ensure their proper functioning and structural integrity,” adding: “Safety is our top priority, and we appreciate the patience and understanding of our valued guests during this process.”
Carowinds was open as usual on Monday, though the Fury 325 remains closed. The North Carolina Department of Labor’s Elevator and Amusement Device Bureau sent inspectors to the park to investigate the roller coaster. A spokesperson for the state said: “We will be able to make a full assessment and provide further information as it becomes available. Safety always has been and always will be our top priority.”
