Stuck on the Cyclone? Rollercoaster can be stopped due to weather, car spacing issues

If you find yourself stuck on the Cyclone rollercoaster at Sandspitin Cavendish, P.E.I., it is probably just safety systems kicking in to protect you, says Sandspit Entertainment president Matthew Jelley.

On Tuesday, a visitor to the park caught video of a Sandspit maintenance worker climbing up on the Cyclone to give a car a push to restart it. Jelley told CBC News the car was stopped by automatic safety systems.

"By design, the emergency system makes sure all cars on the track stop, and in this case we had a car stop on the top of the first hill," he said.

"While it's regrettable that a customer stopped on the ride, that is how the ride is designed to help prevent cars from getting too close together."

Sensors on the track detect where all the cars are, and a computer system will shut the ride down if cars are spaced less than nine seconds apart, he said.

On Tuesday, a car did not exit the brake house quickly enough, and required a slight adjustment to its brakes after the incident. Jelley said the ride's systems are checked after any emergency shutdown.

Speed weather dependent

Weather wind, rain, and even temperature can change the speed of the ride's cars, and that can change the spacing of the cars.

Jelley said the time of every ride is monitored so operators can keep track of how often to send out cars.

In some weather conditions, the decision is made to shut the ride down for safety reasons.

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