A North Carolina man whose viral video prompted the closure of North America’s “tallest” and “fastest” giga roller coaster spoke out on his shocking discovery.
Jeremy Wagner was at the Carowinds amusement park outside of Charlotte with his family over the weekend when he noticed the defect in the Fury 325 giga roller coaster and took video footage of it. He joined “Fox & Friends,” Monday, to discuss his eye-opening detection that led to the ride’s screeching halt.
“What caught my attention was I was looking up, and I saw… what looked to be a crack, and I saw light through the other side,” Wagner told Steve Doocy Monday.
“And I’m like, okay… you can see all the way through that,” he continued. “So it’s not halfway cracked. It’s completely cracked… you can see light through it, and that’s what caught my attention.”
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Wagner said his family was on that ride earlier in the day before he noticed the crack in the support pillar of the roller coaster while people were on the ride.
“I went out about 30 minutes early to cool down the truck and I told them, I said, ‘Hey, y’all ride some more rides and text me on your way out.’ So they texted me and I pulled up front to wait on them,” Wagner said. “And I was just taking in the engineering of the rollercoaster. It was just incredible… I just happened to look up, and I’m like, ‘that’s not normal…’ Then the car came through and it moved as much as it did. And I’m like, ‘dude… I got to let somebody know about this.’”
According to the amusement park’s website, Fury 325 is the “the tallest, fastest, longest giga coaster in North America.” (Credit: Jeremy Wagner)
He said he notified several people of what he had witnessed, but had little luck in getting anyone to take action despite the severity of his concerns.
Wagner said he notified a parking attendant of his concern but knew he needed to act further upon leaving the park.
“I called Carowinds to see if the ride was still open,” Wagner said. “I wasn’t going to let them know that I was the person who reported it.”
“I called Charlotte Communications… to talk to someone at the fire department, and he said, I’ve got their direct number to security, and he called me back within 5 to 10 minutes, telling me, ‘Mr. Wagner, I spoke to security,’” he continued. “‘They have shut the road down for investigation.'”
A Carowinds spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the park’s maintenance team is conducting an inspection of the ride while it’s closed.
“Carowinds closed Fury 325 after park personnel became aware of a crack at the top of a steel support pillar,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “The park’s maintenance team is conducting a thorough inspection and the ride will remain closed until repairs have been completed. Safety is our top priority and we appreciate the patience and understanding of our valued guests during this process. As part of our comprehensive safety protocols, all rides, including Fury 325, undergo daily inspections to ensure their proper functioning and structural integrity.”
The roller coaster reaches speeds of up to 95 mph and has a peak height of 325 feet, which is followed by a “dramatic 81-degree drop.”
Fox News’ Adam Sabes contributed to this report.
