A Phoenix, Arizona, man jumped from a moving roller coaster at Castles and Coasters on Sunday after the safety latch became unlocked, authorities said.
The man chose not to reveal his identity in an interview Wednesday. NBC News. Video footage accompanying the interview showed the man getting off the Desert Storm roller coaster at Castles and Coasters with just seconds to spare. I saw him jump out of his seat and onto the fire escape before the roller coaster began its deep drops and big loops.
“It was just an adrenaline rush and I didn't want to die that day,” he said. arizona family news. “As soon as the lap bar went up, I just jumped off without thinking.”
According to reports, the man said he was celebrating his niece's birthday at an amusement park. NBC12 News. He claimed that while riding the double-loop roller coaster, the safety lap bar suddenly unlocked. The lap bar was the only protection he had during the ride, according to NBC News.
“I think the worst thing for me was knowing that my kids were there and it could have been one of them,” he told the news outlet.
“The lap bar went down and in my case it clicked twice, so it was a click, click. And, you know, I checked it and it was latched,” he said. said.
The man said everything seemed to be working normally at first, but then things took a dramatically dangerous turn.
“When you start climbing, you hear the click, click, click of the chains that make a normal roller coaster go up,” he recalled.
“I was getting to the top and I heard a click that wasn't the same as the chain going up, so I checked the lap bar again and it came off,” he told NBC News. “I only had a few seconds to decide whether to keep riding or get off. I just wanted to get out of it, so I just started going down.”
“I only had seconds to act.”
A man was riding a roller coaster on his birthday at Castles and Coasters theme park in Arizona when he noticed the safety bar was unlatched.https://t.co/l5vfitvEIv pic.twitter.com/Dh2vAqdtQG
— Sky News (@SkyNews) November 27, 2024
Video showed the roller coaster falling just seconds after he was seen exiting the ride. Despite the sudden disembarkation, the ride operator did not stop the ride and the roller coaster continued to operate as scheduled, he claimed. The operator said he did not notice the situation until the man was on the ground.
“She should have seen the car and when she saw me getting out of the car, she should have been able to press the emergency release button,” the man told NBC News.
The newspaper said state law requires private insurance companies to check rides annually, and officials have no direct oversight of amusement park safety.
The man told NBC News he filed a report after the incident but was not given a copy and feels further action is needed.
“I think all the amusement parks, where basically people's lives are in their hands, need to be better regulated,” he told NBC News. (Related: Video shows Six Flags attendees suspended in mid-air by nature)
“I think the most appalling thing was their negligence, their complete carelessness throughout,” he concluded.
