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A photo of Skyhawk taken this morning, Sunday, July 27, shows that a cable is missing from the left rider carriage. An accident on the ride late Saturday caused injuries to two. Photo courtesy of Themeparkmaniacs.com
(Themeparkmaniacs.com)
Sandusky, Ohio -- A New Jersey man who was at Cedar Point last night said he heard "something whip, then bang and screaming," just after a cable broke on the popular Skyhawk ride, injuring two.
Kevin Gregg, who was near the ride but not on it when the accident occurred, said at least one of the injured guests was a spectator who was hit in the mouth with wood debris.
"It didn't look too serious, but he was in pain," said Gregg, of Barnegat, N.J., who runs an amusement park fan website called Themeparkmaniacs.com.
Gregg said he saw a second guest, a girl, get into an ambulance after the accident. "She walked on her own power," he said.
In a statement early this morning, Cedar Point said two guests were injured in the accident, one of whom was transported to a local hospital for evaluation.
The fence in front of the now-shuttered Skyhawk ride at Cedar Point has already been mended, less than a day after a cable on the ride broke, injuring two. Photo courtesy Themeparkmaniacs.com
In an updated statement this afternoon, Cedar Point spokesman Bryan Edwards said that the transported guest was treated and released.
According to Cedar Point's initial statement:
"At approximately 10 p.m., a cable on one of the Skyhawk swing ride's carriages disconnected. The ride's crew immediately shut down the ride and notified the park's emergency personnel. The cable came in contact with two guests. One was treated and released at the scene. As a precaution, the other was transported to a local hospital for evaluation."
Gregg, who was standing near the roller coaster Maverick when the accident occurred, said, "After the cable broke, the ride slowed down and eventually stopped. Everyone was screaming and very scared."
He said the cable broke the fence in front of the ride – where spectators often stand as they watch the ride's two giant arms swing back and forth, up to 125 feet high and at speeds of up to 60 mph.
The cable, he said, was hanging over the ride when the ride stopped. Gregg sent two photos to The Plain Dealer this morning – one showing the shuttered ride, with a cable missing on its left carriage/arm; the other with a newly mended fence in front of the ride.
Gregg was at the park this morning and said everything, except Skyhawk, appeared to be operating as usual.
Park fans on social media this morning suspected this might be the final straw for Skyhawk, which has been sidelined with mechanical problems in the past. The ride was installed in 2006.
Edwards, the Cedar Point spokesman, said Skyhawk's problems in 2013, when it was shut down for weeks, were unrelated to the broken cable last night.