A man riding a double-loop roller coaster that was about to take a steep drop heard a strange sound coming from his seat, only to realize his safety lap bar had unlatched. So, with no time to waste, he jumped out of his seat from the coaster's highest point — and survived, thanks to his quick, strategic thinking.
But instead of apologizing profusely for not ensuring that his safety bar had been secured, the ride operator allegedly scolded him.
"We start the climb, and you hear the click of the chain of the normal roller coaster," said the man, who was riding Desert Storm at Arizona's Castles N' Coasters not-so-amusing amusement park near Phoenix, via WSB-TV. "We get just about to the top and I hear a click different from the click of the chain taking us up, and so I checked my lap bar one last time — and it released."
"As soon as the lap bar went up, I just didn't really think about it, I just jumped out," he continued, explaining that he had spotted a set of emergency stairs and had to take his leap of faith while he had the chance. "It was just adrenaline, and I didn't want to die that day." (See video below by CTV News.)
The man, who wished to remain anonymous, says the ride operator had eyeballed his safety bar when he got onto the ride but did not manually check it. "I pushed up on mine. She looked. She walked away," he said.
But after his harrowing experience, instead of apologizing for her mistake, the operator reportedly yelled at the passenger. "I told you to check it!" she shouted. The man then broke down in tears, which he blames on adrenaline.
From WSB-TV:
"I think the worst part is having the kids there and knowing it could have been one of them," the man told the station. "It shouldn't cost your life to have fun."
He said he filed an incident report along with witnesses with Castles N' Coasters officials but did not receive a copy.
Arizona does not have a government office that oversees theme parks or amusement rides, but the state requires property owners to have rides inspected each year and to have insurance. …
NBC News, KSAZ, KPNX and KPHO contacted the park but none received a response.
Previously: Guy on roller coaster catches stranger's phone in mid-air!
