A man who noticed a large crack in the support beam of a roller coaster at a North Carolina amusement park said he reported it several times to park staff before any action was taken.
Jeremy Wagner said, “I felt there was no readiness in any of the employees.” told CNN’s Erica Hill in a new interview,
Wagner was at Charlotte’s Carowinds Park with his family on Friday when he made a troubling observation: a large crack can be seen in the support pillar Holding the Fury 325 coaster. He said that his kids had just taken their last ride of the day on the roller coaster.
Wagner said he tried to tell several Carowinds employees about the issue before speaking to someone in guest services, who asked him to send a video of the crack that he had taken.
“Even after they asked me to airdrop the video, the guest service person walked away and said, ‘I’ll send it to someone,'” Wagner told CNN. “And they just turned around and walked away, you know, nonchalant.”
“I was in a room of about 15 park-goers and I just wanted to say, ‘You all have to turn around and leave,'” he said. “But I didn’t say anything, it’s not my place. I was hoping they would do the right thing and shut down the ride.
The ride was still underway, Wagner said, as he turned to his car to leave. Still concerned after an hour’s drive, he called the Charlotte Fire Department. Shortly thereafter, the fire station called back saying that Carowinds had closed the ride, Wagner told The Washington Post,
A spokesperson for Carowinds told HuffPost that “the ride was closed on Friday after park personnel became aware of a crack at the top of a steel support pillar.”
“The park’s maintenance team is conducting a thorough inspection and the ride will remain closed until repairs are completed,” the spokeswoman said. “Safety is our top priority and we appreciate the patience and understanding of our valued guests during this process.”
Despite the incident, season pass holder Wagner told CNN he still plans to visit the park again next weekend.
“I don’t mind, I would trust their security protocols,” he said.