The ‘tallest, fastest, longest giga coaster in North America’ has been shut down indefinitely after an amusement park-goer spotted a huge crack on a support beam – as the ride, full of passengers, zipped past.
The Fury 325 ride at the Carowinds park is now undergoing a “thorough inspection” after Jeremy Wagner posted a terrifying video (see below) showing a noticeable crack in one of the roller coaster’s steel support pillars.
Mr Wagner, a former paramedic, said he was waiting to pick up his kids in the car park when he noticed the crack moving at least couple of feet as a roller coaster car filled with passengers zoomed past.
“I was trying to shoot the video, and my hands were shaking because I knew how quick this could be catastrophic,” he told the New York Times, adding that his 14-year-old daughter had ridden the almost 100 metres-tall roller coaster eight times that day.
The park closed the ride after they were notified but kept the rest of the park open over the weekend. They noted that all the rides in the park go through “daily inspections to ensure their proper functioning and structural integrity.”