A man who tried to warn a North Carolina amusement park about a huge crack in the ride's support beam said staff were 'nonchalant' and had 'no urgency' to fix it

• Jeremy Wagner said employees seemed "nonchalant" about a crack in a roller coaster's support beam.
• "I felt there was no urgency in any of the employees," Wagner told CNN.

A man who spotted a large crack on a North Carolina roller coaster's support beam said the amusement park's staff were unconcerned when he warned them about it.

"I felt there was no urgency in any of the employees," Jeremy Wagner, who brought his children to Carowinds amusement park on Friday, told CNN on Tuesday.

"Even after they had me AirDrop the video, the guest-services person walked off and said, 'I'll send this to somebody.' And they just turned around and walked off, you know, nonchalant," Wagner continued.

The local news station WCNC reported that Carowinds temporarily shut down its flagship roller coaster on Friday. Carowinds told WCNC that it shut the ride down "after park personnel became aware of a crack at the top of a steel support pillar."

Carowinds communications director, Courtney Weber, said in a statement to Insider on July 6 that "the park's maintenance team and representatives from the ride's manufacturer, Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers Inc., have conducted a thorough inspection of the entire track, support columns and foundation."

Weber said Carowinds intends to replace the existing support column with a new one, which is expected to be delivered next week.

"While we regularly inspect the coaster, we are planning to implement additional inspection procedures to ensure we are making every effort to promptly identify and address future potential issues," Weber told Insider.

Weber said the new measures will include the regular use of drones to "access and inspect hard-to-reach areas."

Wagner told The Washington Post on Tuesday that he was relieved that the ride had been closed for repairs as he was concerned that the crack could cause the roller coaster to derail.

"It could have come unhinged and just went like a steamroller through the parking lot, plowing over pedestrians and cars and anything in its path," Wagner told the Post.

On June 25, a roller coaster in Stockholm partially derailed, injuring nine and killing one person. The Swedish government has since launched an investigation into the incident, per the Associated Press.

The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions says on its website that "amusement rides in the U.S. are extremely safe." The association added that the "chance of being seriously injured on a fixed-site ride at a U.S. amusement park is 1 in 15.5 million rides taken."

"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," Weber told Insider. "We will share an update on the reopening of the ride when a date has been finalized."

Editor's note: July 7, 2023 — This story has been updated with responses from Carowinds.