AUSTIN (KXAN) — Nicholas Thomas had already been on “Circuit Breaker” multiple times — but this moment was different.
“Maybe it’s just a little delayed,” he thought. “One second turns into two seconds turns into three seconds and that’s when I realized, like, oh, we’re stuck now.”
‘An amazing job’
Thomas and 18 other riders stared straight down at a 90 degree vertical drop Saturday — the official grand opening for the Circuit of the Americas’ new theme park, COTALAND — more than 100 feet in the air. The ride was halted unexpectedly for nine minutes, according to spokesperson Megan Fazio.
“They did an amazing job at keeping everybody calm and getting us down,” said Thomas, a roller coaster enthusiast and Houston ride operator who is seen in video waving from the ride’s front seat.
“Definitely not a malfunction,” he said. “It’s a safety system acting as they’re supposed to.”…