A teenage girl fell out of a slow-moving Great Escape gondola at Six Flags in Lake George, NY over the weekend, and was dangling and screaming for at least 90 seconds, maybe more, before she dropped into a gathering crowd, to lots of cheers and applause.
A man ready to photograph his own family riding in another gondola caught this video. You can hear him shouting, “They’ll catch you! They’ll catch you, honey, go ahead!”
According to The Washington Post:
It was then that the girl plummeted to the ground, hitting a tree branch before being caught by several people below. The video showed onlookers cheering after the girl was caught and then the girl being carried away, limp.
The girl who fell was a 14-year-old park guest visiting from Greenwood, Del., according to a statement from the Warren County Sheriff’s Office. She was treated by park emergency medical staff first, then taken to a local hospital and finally flown by helicopter to Albany Medical Center. She remains in stable condition with no serious injuries, police said.
A 47-year-old man visiting the park from Schenectady, N.Y., was also taken to a local hospital for a back injury he suffered as he tried to catch the girl, police said.
Accidents on rides at amusement parks in the United States are rare, with only one in 16 million. And luckily this one had a happy ending.