Man jumps out of moving roller-coaster after safety belt fails

Man jumps out of roller-coaster before big drop An Arizona man says he jumped off a roller-coaster and onto an emergency staircase after his lap bar unlocked during the ride.

Terrifying video shows an Arizona man jumping out of a roller-coaster with seconds to spare after he says his safety belt failed right before the big drop.

The man, identified only as "Ricky," was at the Castles N' Coasters amusement park in Phoenix with his family on Nov. 24. While on the double-looping roller-coaster "Desert Storm," he heard a click noise and noticed his lap bar released as the ride took passengers up a hill.

That’s when he made what may have been a life-saving decision to jump off the ride and onto an emergency staircase as the coaster was in motion.

“We were right about to the top when that happened,” he told local media. “So I had a split decision to either decide to stay on the roller-coaster and hope I stay in, or get out.”

While the incident was terrifying, Ricky says he’s thankful it happened to him and not a child.

“I’m thankful it was me because if it was one of the 10- or 11-year-old that were going through that, I don’t know that they would have jumped out of a moving roller-coaster to save themselves," he said.

Back in 2021, first responders had to help 22 people off the same ride after it became stuck.

Castles N’ Coasters has not yet responded to the incident.