By Irma Widjojo
The Vallejo Times Herald
VALLEJO, Calif. — A dozen riders of the newest Six Flags Discovery Kingdom ride were safely offloaded after being stuck in a stalled train car 150 feet in the air for almost two hours.
Six Flags spokeswoman Nancy Chan said that the Superman Ultimate Flight roller coaster stopped at the crest of the ride, before a twist after the first tower, at about 2:30 p.m.
The new ride, which opened June 30 at the Vallejo theme park, and can travel at up to 62 mph, holds two cars with six riders each.
Vallejo firefighters were dispatched to the scene at about 3 p.m. after receiving a rescue request.
At about that time eyewitnesses told the Times-Herald that the riders had been stuck in the upright position for about an hour.
At about 3:15 p.m. a large theme park crane equipped with a large personnel bucket was readied to reach the riders, who at one point tried to shake the ride loose to get it started. It was not immediately clear if they tried that maneuver on their own or were told to try it. In any case, it didn’t work.
During the rescue mission, two Vallejo firefighters and a park mechanic were lifted up in the bucket and gave bottles of water to the stranded riders. Vallejo Fire Battalion Chief Ray Jackson said that the goal was to get the ride restarted, and if that didn’t work then the riders would be taken individually in the bucket.
However, the mechanic managed to restart the ride, which then went backwards, lowering the riders safely to the ground.
Jackson said none of the stranded riders were injured or required medical attention.
It was unclear what caused the two-car train to stop. Chan said that the ride will be closed for a “thorough safety inspection.” She added that the ride will reopen when the inspection is completed, at an undetermined time.
“If (a ride) stops, it usually detects something and it stops for safety reasons,” Chan said.
When asked about compensation, Chan said that the theme park staff has collected the riders’ names and contact information.
“I don’t know what compensation, if any, would be given,” she said. “I can’t speculate.”
Chan said that in her five-year tenure at the park, she has not seen any incident like Sunday’s.
A park visitor, Tiffany Sanchez of Vallejo, said her 8-year-old son was on the ride two weeks ago when his train was also stalled mid ride for about eight to 10 minutes.
Sanchez said no compensation was given. When asked about it, Chan said she was unaware of the earlier incident.
A Modesto area family was watching from across the street. They said that they were planning to visit Six Flags Discovery Kingdom on Monday.
“Even if it’s open (tomorrow), it wouldn’t matter,” the Modesto man said. “We are not going on that ride.”
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