Test dummies fall out of rollercoaster and land on roof of nearby hotel

A rollercoaster sparked a safety scare after test dummies flew out of its seats during a ride and crashed onto the roof of a nearby hotel.

The drama saw two water-filled mannequins drop out of the GaleForce coaster at Playland’s Castaway Cove in Ocean City, New Jersey, on April 20 and land on the Ebb Tide Suites next door.

That impact damaged the building’s shingles and plywood, but theme park vice president Brian Hartley insisted the coaster is safe.

He said the dummies sprang undetected leaks, causing them to empty out during the test, and fall out of their seats after losing their shape and rigidity.

Hartley explained that the incident happened during the coasters daily safety tests, and continued: ‘Obviously it’s not something that would ever happen with a person in it.

‘You know you don’t lose rigidity in a person. The lap bar comes down. You’re secured in there.’

He told NBC Philadelphia: ‘The lap bar did not fail. Nothing failed on the ride at all.

‘Safety is our top priority. It’s something we do every single day. We’re checking the rides in and out.

‘We’re going to have to do a better job at checking those tubes and making sure there’s no leaks obviously, before we send them out.’