WildCat still closed after Friday injuries

May 23, 2008

By Annie Zelm, The Sandusky Register

  A Cedar Point roller coaster remains closed after it became a little too wild last week, causing minor injuries.

Riders on the WildCat late Friday experienced what is known as a "roll back," meaning the train didn't make it up the lift hill and rolled back down, slamming into another train.

Nine guests were treated for bruises and sprains at a first aid station in the park, and one was taken to Firelands Regional Medical Center, a Cedar Point spokesman said.

"We closed the ride immediately, and it will remain closed until the cause of the incident has been determined," spokesman Bryan Edwards said. "We pride ourselves on safety here."

No significant damage was done to the trains, which were removed from the coaster for the investigation.

A spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Agriculture, which inspects amusement park rides, said an 8-inch margin of error on the track is believed to be theculprit.

"It's the type of ride a chain pulls, releases, and then gravity takes over," spokeswoman Cindy Brown said. "Within that 8 inches on the track, conditions were not right for gravity to take over, and the ride just slid back."

Brown said inspectors are working to correct the error.

The WildCat, a small steelcoaster with a 50-foot lift hill, has operated in the park since 1979. Officials said they completed daily inspections of the ride the morning the incident occurred, and itoperated all day withoutproblems. It recently passed an annual inspection with theagriculture department.

Such an occurrence on any coaster is rare, Brown said. Cedar Point maintains an excellent safety record, having no ride malfunctions that required hospitalization within the past six years, she said.

A minor incident did occur last May on another roller coaster, Magnum XL-200. One of the coaster's trains failed to stop completely in the braking area and continued to roll into the holding area where a second train sat.

The train was traveling less than 10 mph when it bumped the train ahead of it. One guest was taken to Firelands Regional Medical Center, and two other guests were treated for minor injuries at the first aidstation.

Take a ride on the WildCat on YouTube