Teenage girls left hanging upside down for what 'felt like an hour' after ride malfunctions
Two teenagers have recalled how they were left hanging upside down when a fairground malfunctioned.
Emilia Gordon and Charlotte Hacker, who are both 13 years old, had been at the boardwalk in Ocean City, New Jersey in the US the day after the Fourth of July.
While at the fair the two girls got on the Wipe Out ride, which was running at Playland’s Castaway Cove.
This is a ride consisting of a large pendulum structure with passengers strapped in to seats around the base of the pendulum, which then swings back and forth while the passenger section spins.
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But during the ride passengers were horrified when the pendulum reached the highest point of its swing, meaning they were upside down, when the ride malfunctioned and they got stuck.
Not only that but at the time they had no idea just how long it would take before they were able to come down again.
Fortunately, operators were able to get the ride working again after around five to seven minutes, but the teens said that to them it had felt like a lot longer.
The pair had been there to celebrate Gordon's 13th birthday the following day, and spoke to Fox News Digital with the consent of their parents, recalling the terrifying ordeal.
“We were stuck upside down for five to seven minutes, and it doesn’t seem like that much to the people that were down watching us, but we were up there, and it felt like an hour,” sad Hacker.
They had been to the attraction a number of times and had been on several of the rides, the pair said, and they had decided to give the Wipe Out ride a try as it was a new addition.
“I seriously thought I was going to pass out,” Gordon said of being left hanging upside down.
“You try to put your head up, but you literally can’t. You can barely get it up at all.”
While they were upside down only the safety bars on the ride were holding them in place.
“I remember thinking that the lap bars were going to open and that we were just going to fall,” said Gordon.
They had also tried to distract themselves by having conversations on everyday topics, with footage of the incident being shared on social media.
Meanwhile their families watched from the ground as the incident played out.
“My uncle was there too, because we were all with my cousins, so he was also freaking out,” Hacker said.
After a few minutes technicians got the ride moving again.
However, instead of immediately stopping the ride then finished its standard run before finally coming to a stop.
It then took them a few minutes before they were allowed to get off, with Gordon saying: “When we came off, people were literally clapping."
The park's operators subsequently offered them refunds on tickets.
“That ride is five tickets, so they just gave back our ticket but [Hacker] only got three back. I got five. But still, after all that, I feel like you expect more,” said Gordon.
Hacker also added that the ride continued operating after the incident, with people still queuing up despite watching what had happened.
Kit Roberts