Bird Halts Roller Coaster, Strands Riders Upside Down

Not cool, bird
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 20, 2016 5:44 AM CDT
Bird Halts Roller Coaster, Strands Riders Upside Down
Visitors at the Happy Valley amusement park take one of the rides in Beijing, China, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009.   (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Roller-coaster riders at one of Beijing's major amusement parks were left hanging upside down for almost 20 minutes when a bird stood on one of the ride's safety sensors. The Happy Valley Amusement Park said it took 18 minutes to bring the 26 riders to safety via a maintenance channel on Saturday afternoon, reports the Beijinger. Not scary enough? The site notes that passengers were stranded near the ride's peak height—nearly 100 feet in the air. No one was injured, though there were unsurprising reports of nausea, dizziness, and shock. The roller coaster was back in operation later in the day, reports the AP.

In a statement, the park said that a bird had landed on the sensor and in doing so activated an emergency procedure, immediately stopping the roller coaster as it traveled upward. Ironically, the Happy Valley park describes the ride on its website as "facing down, you can experience the feeling of flying like a bird." (More roller coasters stories.)

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