More than a dozen people were trapped on an attraction at SeaWorld, the second time this week that thrill-seekers have been trapped on rides at the popular theme park.
13 people were stranded on the Vortex ride, which was aborted on Tuesday at around 2:45 p.m. due to a communication error with a sensor.
“There will be an interruption in one of our trips this afternoon,” a spokesman said earlier.
“We have communicated with everyone and they are safe and in good spirits.”
Queensland Fire Service and paramedics were on standby in the park.
Footage from 9 News shows the riders floating in their seats while a cherry picker was on site to pick them up from the attraction.
Bikash Randhawa, Chief Operating Officer of Village Roadshow Theme Parks, confirmed that a communication error in the sensor led to the ride being cancelled.
“Our team was in constant contact with the 13 guests on board, who were fine at all times, and our on-site nurse checked their well-being with extreme caution after they completed the voyage,” said Mr Randhawa.
“Our engineering team manually lowered the ride to its home position, where guests disembarked just over 90 minutes after the ride was suspended.
“Due to the location where the ride was interrupted, QFES was tasked with assisting our team with assisting guests exit the ride in the event that the manual process did not work, however this was not necessary.”
Mr Randhawa said the SeaWorld team “trains regularly for these exercises” and has a “close working relationship with the QFES team”.
“The safety and well-being of our guests is our highest priority and the ride disruptions are a testament that the ride systems and operators are doing what they were designed and trained to do to ensure the safety of our guests,” he said.
The Vortex ride invites thrill seekers to “twist, turn and whirl like never before” 15 metres above sea level.
It reportedly reaches speeds of 30 km/h and rotates 360 degrees. The minimum height and age to participate in the ride are 140 cm and 10 years respectively.
The incident occurred less than a week after dozens of riders were evacuated from the Leviathan roller coaster at SeaWorld.
The ride was stopped at around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 22, after a sensor was activated.
Park staff helped the riders get off, which the company said was “proof” that their systems were working effectively.
Opening in 2022, Leviathan was the centerpiece of Sea World’s $50 million The New Atlantis district and reaches speeds of up to 80 km/h.
According to Sea World’s website, nearly 200,000 meters of wood were used to build the 909-meter-long wooden roller coaster track.
In a statement posted on social media, Sea World said guests were safe “at all times” during the ride.
“This morning, Sea World’s Leviathan experienced an outage due to the activation of a ride sensor,” the message reads.
“Throughout the disruption, guests were kept safe and our team was in constant contact with them. Guests on board left the cruise from the safe holding areas with the help of our team.
“The safety and well-being of our guests is our highest priority. The ride interruptions are a testament that the ride systems and operators are doing what they were designed and trained to do to ensure the safety of our guests.”
