Charlotte, North Carolina - The newly opened Windseeker at Carowinds suffered a major problem on July 14th. Local Charlotte news station WSOC TV reported that the Windseeker came to a stop with riders while the ride carriage was still high above the loading platform. The ride stopped at about 10 am, soon after the park opened for the day, stranding 25 riders on the ride for 3 hours.

At first, the ride got stuck near the top of the tower, stranding riders there for about an hour until crews were able to lower them down to about 30 feet above the ground, where they remained for about the next two hours before getting back to the ground. Some speculate it was probably an uncomfortable experience given the heat during the day, but no injuries or major issues were reported. In fact, when guests were finally unloaded, Carowinds had teams of EMT and medical personnel on hand, armed with bottles of water, to ensure everyone was ok and safely rehydrated.

Windseeker is a 301 ft Windseeker model from Mondial, with other such rides at a few of the other parks Cedar Fair owns, including Cedar Point, Kings Island, Kings Dominion, Canada's Wonderland, and Knott's Berry Farm. The ride holds 64 riders in a ride carriage that rotates at 30 mph, swinging the arms at a 45 degree angle. The other models have been prone to stranding riders in the past as well, but this year's models were able to learn from the mistakes of last years, such as the underdamping which caused swings to bump into one another at times. The particular version in Carowinds is the tallest ride at that park, beating out the park's nearby SkyTower by just a short margin.

Some guests are now scared to go back on the ride again, such as Shonn Hudson, who told WSOC TV "I would never go on that ride again." It wasn't reported wither Hudson was one of the stranded riders or just a member of the public commenting on the ride, but given Carowinds safety record, it seems to be a rather unnecessary fear, considering driving to the park is far more dangerous. Most seem to understand though that these are mechanical rides, and they do occassionally break, but those occurrences are rare and usually fixed quickly with minimal risk of injury.

Like any park, Carowinds stands behind their safety record, stating safety is their top priority, and understandably so, as nobody wants to go on rides that are unsafe. The park's rides are inspected daily to ensure everything is functioning properly, reducing the risk of an incident, but it's impossible to prevent them from ever happening.

The Huffington Post reports that a brake sensor on the ride engaged, causing the safety system to activate and shut down the ride to prevent any further potential incidents. After making adjustments and running test cycles, the ride reopened on Sunday.