Ride turns into walk for thrill seekers after Britain’s tallest rollercoaster stops because of strong winds
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Guests descending from the Big One rollercoaster in Blackpool, after operations were halted on April 11.
PHOTO: @DANBLUEEFC/TWITTER
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For some people, riding a rollercoaster is a way of having fun. But what happens when the theme-park attraction they are on stops midway?
On Tuesday, Britain’s tallest rollercoaster in Blackpool town stopped metres from the 72m summit due to strong winds.
Riders had to disembark the Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach amusement park and be escorted down the ride’s steep emergency stairs.
One of the riders, identified by British tabloid The Sun as 23-year-old Leo Mcmullin from Glasgow, filmed the incident as it happened.
Mr Mcmullin, who waited in line with his friends for two hours to get on the ride, said in the video that they “need to get (off) this rollercoaster”.
The ride remained closed for the rest of the day due to “high gusts of winds”, said a spokesman for the amusement park, according to local media reports.
The Big One stopped “due to sudden changes in weather conditions”, added the spokesman, noting that riders were reassured and escorted from the ride by staff.
This week, Storm Noa is sweeping across Britain, with gusts of over 95.6kmh recorded on the Isles of Scilly in the south-west part of the country.
Despite the incident, some people have commented that the riders did not panic. A Twitter user known as Richie posted an image showing them making their way down calmly.
“It was cold, raining and quite windy. Staff did (a) great job getting everyone down though,” he said.
The whole operation of the riders being escorted down was very orderly and safe, according to Ms Georgina Harrison, manager of King’s Boutique hotel which has decking with views of the Big One, in a report by The Guardian.
“We can see everything that happens on the Big One, and I was surprised to see this,” she added. “It does happen occasionally.”
In May 2022, some riders were stuck on the same ride after it malfunctioned.
The Big One opened in 1994 as the tallest and steepest rollercoaster in the world.
Currently, the world’s tallest rollercoaster is Kingda Ka, with a summit of 139m, at Six Flags Great Adventure amusement park in New Jersey in America.
