Thirteen People Left Stranded On Ride For Three Hours As Roller Coaster Malfunctions

Nov 11, 2020

A Sunday afternoon at the water park turned into a surprisingly harrowing experience for thirteen guests at SeaWorld San Antonio in November of 2020. While enjoying the park’s famous Wave Breaker rollercoaster, the coaster car carrying the dozen-plus visitors became stuck at one of the ride’s highest points. The rescue took nearly three hours and required the help of some of San Antonio’s firefighters to ensure the safety of the guests.

According to the park's ride description, riders on the Wave Breaker must have each been sitting solo on a jet-ski seating area as the ride maneuvered around sharp tilts and turns and climbed 60 feet into the air over half a mile of twisted, fast tracks. The ride allows any guests that stand at least 48-inches tall to ride, so the Wave Breaker is a favorite for families with older children, many of whom were a part of the ride that day.

It was just before 1 p.m. on that Sunday afternoon when the ride became stuck at one of the highest points of the ride with the passenger car leaning at an angle, according to CBS News. This left the startled passengers in a more than uncomfortable position hanging around 60 feet in the air on the coaster’s track looking over the SeaWorld park landscape.

The Wave Breaker rollercoaster is touted as SeaWorld’s Rescue Coaster. The park’s promotional material describes the ride as a thrilling experience, taking passengers on an exciting excursion, along with the adventurous SeaWorld crew, to rescue an animal who needs their help.

Some, however, noted later that the “Rescue Coaster” moniker seemed a bit ironic considering the distressing circumstances for passengers on the Wave Breaker that particular afternoon, making the riders themselves the “animals” in need of rescue.

Upon finding the malfunction, Wave Breaker operators quickly sent out a call to request for help. According to one SeaWorld representative, SeaWorld’s established routine is that any rescue attempts require coordination and cooperation with the San Antonio Fire Department.

“[Sunday] at 12:51pm the Wave Breaker roller coaster stopped during the ride. Thirteen guests were onboard," a SeaWorld spokesperson told news outlets. "Consistent with our established safety protocols we worked with the San Antonio Fire Department to safely evacuate all guests on the ride. We apologize for the guest inconvenience. The safety of our employees and guests is our top priority.”

The fire officials arrived on the scene quickly to begin the rescue in as timely a manner as possible. The frightened passengers were able to remain calm while the rescue, which park officials say typically requires hours of planning and execution, began to take place.

With the distressed passengers waiting in the afternoon sun high atop the ride, rescue plans were set into motion. These procedures required a great deal of careful precision to make sure everyone would be able to get off the ride and back to a ground-level safely. On this particular occasion, the San Antonio Fire Department used a fire truck with an attached cherry picker to bring down each of the thirteen guests from the rollercoaster one at a time over an hour-long period of time.

The rescue attempt was captured on camera by local news stations covering the event. In the footage, San Antonio fire department workers can be seen slowly climbing the ladder toward the coaster and then very carefully helping each frightened rider into the bucket and down the ladder to safety one by one.

Onlookers also watched nervously from the ground as their fellow park guests were rescued from the coaster.

Thankfully, there were no reported injuries from the incident. There was no official word from SeaWorld as to how many of the stranded passengers were adults and how many were children. Certainly, all were a bit shaken up and happy to set their feet on the ground again.

SeaWorld issued an apology to the riders for the technical problems and difficulties, though perhaps these guests will be thinking twice before climbing on board a rollercoaster again. The Wave Breaker, which has been in operation since 2017, has been a long-standing park favorite for many visitors because of its fun and thrill factors. SeaWorld has not released a reason for the malfunction of the coaster.

The story and footage of the incident quickly made the rounds on social media and local television news. As viewers watched the San Antonio Fire Department slowly evacuate each passenger one by one, many respondents pointed to this incident as the reason they would personally never dare to climb onboard a rollercoaster.

Others responded with a bit more levity wondering who it was that shed more tears throughout the experience: the children or their parents. Still, other followers of the story determined to look on the bright side, noting that at least the passengers were not stuck for three hours on a rollercoaster loop upside-down.

Although it is a harrowing tale, this unexpected wild ride of a story has a happy ending. If you have enjoyed this rollercoaster mayhem story from deep in the heart of Texas, please pass it on to any friends or family who would also enjoy the ride. Also, tell us what you think. How do you think you would have fared in this scary rollercoaster situation?