2 injured by coaster at Great America

Two people were injured in a roller coaster accident at Great America amusement park in Santa Clara, park officials said Saturday.

On Friday night, “a Great America associate was struck by a train returning to the station of the Flight Deck roller coaster. A guest riding the coaster reported a hand injury,” amusement park officials said in a statement. Both individuals were taken to a hospital for treatment and evaluation. Further details on the incident were not provided.

“Safety is at the heart of everything we do and remains our highest priority. We are working closely with local and state authorities to investigate this matter. Flight Deck will remain closed until the investigation is complete,” the statement said.

KGO TV, citing unnamed witnesses, reported that an employee at Great America was struck in the head by a rider on the Flight Deck roller coaster. The attraction — formerly called Top Gun — is an inverted roller coaster where riders’ legs hang free.

There have been five fatal accidents since Great America opened in 1976. The last death occurred in 2007 when a 4-year-old boy drowned in the wave pool. In 1999, a 12-year-old boy fell to his death from the Drop Zone ride. The year before, a 25-year-old man died after he climbed over a security fence to retrieve a hat and was struck by a Top Gun roller coaster rider’s dangling foot.

A 9-year-old boy died in 1989 after falling under a fiberglass log on a water ride, and in 1980 a 13-year-old boy died when two trains collided on the Willard’s Whizzer roller coaster.