CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The investigation into what caused a crack on Carowinds’ marquee attraction, Fury 325, is continuing, according to the N.C. Department of Labor.
Video emerged last week of unsuspecting riders on the coaster, as the cracked pillar flexed with the ride.
Since then, the ride has remained closed, as state and private inspectors check every section of the coaster.
“I don’t want to comment too much on the investigation, because it’s ongoing, but a lot of conversations right now. And information on what’s taken place, what they found out so far, what they are planning to do internally,” N.C. Department of Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson said.
Dobson, whose department oversees theme park ride inspections, said the attraction passed its annual inspection earlier this year with no ride issues.
“February of 2023 was our last inspection prior to this incident,” Dobson noted. “We did not see anything at that point in time.”
The state’s examination of Fury 325 usually includes four inspectors who spend 8 to 10 hours looking at the coaster’s electronics, hydraulics, logs and other data, according to Dobson. Additionally, the coaster passed two third-party inspections, required under state statute the same month.
“My understanding is both of those were done in February as well. And at that time, in that moment in time, there were no deficiencies,” Dobson added.
The ride closed June 30 after a video showed a crack in a support pillar, which then went viral and made national news. In an update Thursday, Carowinds said it will remove and replace the column, test at least 500 ride cycles and do other inspections to ensure safety. The crack formed along a welding line, according to the statement.
“Following the installation of the new column, and as part of our normal protocol for rides such as Fury 325, we will conduct an extensive series of tests to ensure the safety and integrity of the coaster. These will include an accelerometer test that uses sensors to measure any variation in the ride experience. After that, we plan to operate the ride for 500 full cycles, performing tests and inspections of the entire ride throughout that period. Once this phase is completed, we will ask B&M and the third-party testing firm to perform a final inspection to ensure the ride exceeds all required specifications,” Carowinds said in a statement.
In the future, the park will also use drones with cameras to inspect similar hard-to-reach areas.
“It’s important to understand that rides like Fury 325 are designed with redundancies in place to ensure the safety of guests in the event of an issue such as this,” the statement continued.
Dobson said he was satisfied with Carowinds’ response to the incident.
“For the most part, those were things that they have chosen, my understanding is, to do on their own. And, I’m very pleased with that,” Dobson said about the plan to fix, reopen and continue to monitor the ride. “I’ve been very pleased with Carowinds up to this point.”
He also assured the public his state inspectors will thoroughly scrutinize the ride before it reopens after Carowinds completes repairs and its own testing.
“I told my guys on the ground, we are not going to issue a new certificate of operation until we are as certain as we can be that this ride is safe for North Carolinians,” Dobson said.
Overall, the commissioner said these types of incidents are rare, but he said one is too many.
Neither Carowinds nor Dobson said there was any specific timeline to reopen the attraction.
“The answer I give is not to hedge, but to say as long as it takes,” Dobson said.
“The safety of our guests and associates will always be Carowinds’ top priority. Once the new support column is in place and all testing and inspections have been completed, we will work with the North Carolina Department of Labor’s Elevator and Amusement Device Bureau to prepare Fury 325 for reopening. We will share an update on the reopening of the ride when a date has been finalized,” Carowinds said in the statement.
The replacement support beam is expected to arrive next week.