Woman Injured On El Toro At Six Flags Great Adventure

JACKSON, NJ — A woman was injured Friday when she was hit in the face with an unknown object while riding the El Toro wooden roller coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure, park personnel said Saturday.

Kristin Siebeneicher, a spokeswoman for Six Flags Great Adventure, on Saturday said the woman was treated by park medical staff and then taken to a local hospital for further evaluation after the incident on Friday.

She did not know where on the ride the woman was injured, but reports said the ride completed its full cycle and returned to the station. The woman was treated as soon as the ride was back at the station, Siebeneichersaid.

"The safety of our guests and team members is our highest priority," she said. "Our medical staff responded immediately."

She had no information on what the object was that struck the woman and said she could not disclose the extent of the woman's injuries.

"For privacy reasons we never release any personal information about our guests," she said.

Six Flags closed the ride for the remainder of Friday in order to do a full inspection, Siebeneicher said.

"State ride inspectors gave us permission to reopen the ride (Friday) night, but we kept it closed to complete another inspection in daylight," she said. "Following this morning's review, our safety and maintenance experts determined that the ride is safe for operation."

The ride was reopened after Saturday morning's inspection, she said.

El Toro, a wooden roller coaster with 4,400 feet of track and nine hills, opened in 2006 and ranks as one of the tallest and fastest wooden coasters in the world, the park says on its website. The ride's first hill climbs to nearly 19 stories and drops 176 feet at a 76-degree angle, the park says, and attains speeds of 70 miles per hour.

The park bans riders from carrying loose items on most rides, for safety reasons, according to the park's website:

"Loose articles of any kind (including but not limited to purses, backpacks, and beverage containers) may not be taken past the queue entrance and cannot be left on the load/unload platform of the following rides: SUPERMAN: Ultimate Flight; BATMAN: The Ride; El Toro; Kingda Ka; The Dark Knight Coaster; BIZARRO; Nitro. Cell phones, pagers, or other small items must be secured in cargo pockets, zippered jacket pockets, or waist packs*. All loose articles which cannot be secured must be left in a locker or with a non-rider prior to entering the queue line.*Waist packs are not permitted on El Toro."

Photo: El Toro, with Kingda Ka in the background, by Paulm27 - Own work, via Wikipedia, licensed under Creative Commons 3.0