Customers were suspended high in the air on the flagship new ride at Barry Island Pleasure Park during a power outage. The ride 'Aerospace' was stuck for about half an hour from around 6pm on Saturday. The £3million attraction, which arrived in July and lifts thrill-seekers to heights of 214ft, is the amusement park's biggest and most expensive ride.
Speaking about the "trip" mechanism protecting the power transformer, the park's owner Henry Danter said: "We had a new transformer in and there was a trip on it. I don't think the trip was set high enough. Maybe all the rides went on at the same time and it wasn't set high enough for the new rides that had come in. We've got a bigger trip going in next Wednesday or Thursday."
One person who was in the amusement park at the time said the people on the ride were "petrified". Mr Danter said: "People get petrified on these rides anyway — that's the kind of rides they are. They are white-knuckle rides. Some people said afterwards, 'Oh that was a long ride.' A lot of people saw the humour in it."
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He added that only four people were on the ride and that it was stuck for no more than half an hour. Other rides also stopped as all the power went off on-site.
Mr Danter said: "We did put a generator on straight away to get people off." He added that engineers gave the go-ahead to "put the trip back in" and that "it was all over" by 6.45pm.
Asked if the affected customers got a refund, he said: "I think what was said was, 'Come back any time you want to, get a free ride or a wrist band.' Exactly what was said I'm not sure, but we will look after them.
"These things happen. It's unfortunate but we go forward. There's no question about safety, it's just the trip came out. It was all done safely. Safety is paramount."
Aerospace, which was created at the KMG Ride factory in the Netherlands, can seat up to 32 people. It takes riders at speeds of up to 75mph. You can read more Barry stories here.
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