Another Windseeker ride stalls; riders stranded for hours
"It basically got stuck."
- Knott's Berry Farm spokeswoman Jennifer Blazey
KTLA
(September 19, 2012) - At Knott's Berry Farm theme park in Buena Park, California, a circular swing ride called the Windseeker stalled, leaving twenty people stranded 300 feet in the air for nearly four hours. Park officials said that the ride's safety system engaged, causing the ride to come to a complete stop.
The evacuation, which took three hours and forty minutes, is one of the longest on record for any amusement ride.
Riders were given a free t-shirt.
On September 7, the same ride stalled and left 15 people stranded for about three hours.
In July, the Windseeker ride at Carowinds theme park in Charlotte, North Carolina stalled and left 25 riders stranded hundreds of feet in the air for nearly three hours.
In June, the Windseeker ride at Cedar Point Park in Sandusky, Ohio left 29 riders stranded 150 feet in the air for more than an hour when it stalled.
All six of the Windseeker rides operating at parks throughout the Cedar Fair chain were ordered closed temporarily by Cedar Fair, pending an internal investigation.
KNBC
UPDATE: It has been determined that the ride system was not defective and that the stalls were not caused by a design flaw or other flaw. The ride systems were found to be operating as designed