A metal bracket came loose from a car on Millennium Force at Cedar Point on Friday and landed in a guest area, prompting the park to pull its towering giga coaster out of service. No guests or employees were struck, and no injuries were reported.
The ride was immediately taken out of service following the incident, according to cleveland.com. Millennium Force first opened in 2000 as the world's first giga coaster, and it still features a 310-foot-high first hill and a top speed of 93 mph, as reported by FOX 8 News. Cedar Point President Colleen Brady said the park's attractions undergo daily, weekly, monthly and annual inspections, per the same cleveland.com report.
By Saturday evening, the coaster had resumed regular operations following the completion of maintenance inspections and required safety checks, according to Attractions Magazine. Additional details about what caused the bracket to detach were not immediately clear, wlwt.com reported.
Conflicting Reports On Inspection Status
Not every outlet agrees on where things stand. A separate report from mynbc15.com said the ride would remain closed for an internal review and state inspection, even as other accounts described the coaster as already back in operation after required checks were finished. Hoodline could not independently reconcile the discrepancy.
The bracket incident is not the first time a loose part has interrupted rides at the Sandusky park this year. On June 21, a metal washer detached from the lift mechanism of Magnum XL-200, narrowly missing a guest, and that ride also temporarily closed for inspection before reopening, according to the Attractions Magazine report.
A More Serious History With Falling Parts
Cedar Point has dealt with far graver consequences from dislodged hardware before. On Aug. 15, 2021, a metal bracket detached from a Top Thrill Dragster ride vehicle and struck Rachel Hawes, causing a serious brain injury, the Attractions Magazine report noted. Cleveland.com separately reported that, five years earlier, a metal part fell from Top Thrill Dragster and severely injured a woman standing in line.
The Friday incident also arrives against the backdrop of a fatal coaster accident elsewhere in the industry. A 42-year-old man died after becoming dislodged from the safety restraints on the Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia, according to wlwt.com. In the wake of that death, Diamondback and Orion at Kings Island remained grounded, since park ownership described the coasters as similarly constructed to Goliath, the station reported.
How Ohio Regulates Amusement Rides
Ohio's Division of Amusement Ride Safety and Fairs inspects and licenses rides before they operate, verifying that they are assembled, maintained and operated according to manufacturer specifications, according to the Ohio Department of Agriculture. The department inspects every ride at least once a year, and that annual inspection is required before a ride can operate each season, per WHIO citing the Ohio Department of Agriculture in its I-Team investigation. Cedar Point has said its own routine safety measures include daily ride inspections covering tracks, wheels, seatbelts and ride-control computers, the same investigation found.
Midseason operational inspections in Ohio must be recorded on a department-developed form, with a copy provided to the ride's owner once the inspector completes it, according to the Ohio Administrative Code. For now, what exactly caused Friday's bracket to come loose remains unknown, leaving riders and park officials alike to await any further findings.
