Riders stuck during power outage at Great Adventure theme park in NJ
JACKSON, N.J. (WABC) -- A power outage at a New Jersey amusement park left some patrons briefly stuck on rides, but no injuries were reported.
For Vanessa Nielsen and her big sister, Crystal, the ride they were stuck on at Great Adventure truly lived up to its name. The girls and roughly 30 others were strapped in their seats on Bizarro when, suddenly, they literally stopped in their tracks, which are about 2-3 stories in the air.
"As it went up it stopped, and we were all in a panic," says Vanessa.
The ride and many others abruptly lost power early Sunday afternoon. Eventually, officials, as a precaution, closed everything for several hours.
"It was scary, I mean, I was like thank God they got us out!" Crystal said.
Officials say a faulty transformer may be to blame, but teams from Jersey Central Power and Light were in the park investigating. All rides are designed with advanced computer systems that provide safe locations for rides to stop.
It is not clear as to when power will be fully restored.
Each and every ride has to be inspected to make sure it is safe before it can reopen again. One man tells Eyewitness News that everybody who bought a ticket on Sunday will be given tickets that are good through next season.
In a statement, Six Flags said, "Some areas of the park were affected, however all rides were closed as a precautionary measure. We are currently reopening approximately half of our rides and will continue to open rides as power is restored.
We have determined that the power outage arose from a faulty transformer. Jersey Central Power & Light is working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible."
In August, the Nitro roller coaster at Great Adventure lost power partway up its 233-foot peak, forcing riders to walk down along the tracks to the ground.
(Video from Charles Nielsen of Jersey City of one of the rides stuck at Great Adventure, with his two daughters on board.)
(Some information from the Associated Press)
