Invertigo breaks down, strands riders for hours

Invertigo, an inverted boomerang-style ride at California's Great America, broke down yesterday afternoon, stranding 24 riders as high as 80 feet in the air for hours. CNN reports that the coaster stopped in its tracks as it was ascending one of the ride's two lift hills at around 12:15 p.m. yesterday afternoon; the last riders were removed from the ride via a fire truck basket at 5:45 p.m. "The ride was ascending to the highest point of the ride, actually where it begins, and then it just stopped," said Augie Wiedemann, deputy fire chief of the city. "We work in the off-season with park personal to prepare for things like this. You can see that in how well the rescue operation is going."