24 Passengers Stuck on Six Flags Roller Coaster for 5 Hours

The Joker’s Jinx roller coaster at Six Flags America played quite the prank on 24 passengers Sunday when it stalled near the top of the ride, trapping passengers for five hours.

The riders, 17 adults and seven children, boarded the roller coaster in Prince George’s County around 2:30 p.m., according to CBS Baltimore. Little did passengers know at the time, that the ride would last much longer than anticipated.

“They [were] in a divot of the track, so they are in a place where they can’t really go forward or backward without power,” Prince George’s County Fire Chief Marc Bashoor told CBS Baltimore.

Some riders were sitting at the highest point of the 79-feet high roller coaster, NBC Washington reports. Passengers were given water and umbrellas to shield them from the sun while rescue crews arrived and prepared to bring them down.

In a written statement, Six Flags said the ride stopped as it was supposed to.

“The ride has a sophisticated, computerized safety system that can cause such ride stoppages,” the statement says, according to CBS Baltimore. “While we are not yet sure what caused the stoppage, the ride performed as it is designed to.”

Prince George’s County firefighters rescued all 24 passengers by setting up a 105-foot tower ladder to reach the track, The Washington Post reports. Some fencing around the ride was removed to provide access to the train cars. Passengers were placed in safety harnesses and lowered from The Joker’s Jinx in a bucket.

“It was not very hard to keep the victims calm,” rescuer Owen Hardy told the Post. “There really were no frantic individuals and all seemed to be in good spirits. I think they were just relieved to see us come to their aid.”

None of the passengers or rescuers were injured. The ride will remain closed until a thorough investigation proves it safe for operations.

Photo Credit: Screenshot from Marc Bashoor Twitter @PGFD_Chief