Crash test dummies launched from New Jersey roller coaster to hotel roof

May 2 (UPI) -- A New Jersey theme park said the malfunction that sent two roller coaster crash dummies crashing into the roof of a neighboring hotel was a problem with the dummies, not the ride itself.

Playland's Castaway Cove in Ocean City said the roller coaster's safety precautions were not to blame when the two water-filled dummies flew off the GaleForce roller coaster and crashed into the roof of Ebb Tide Suites next door to the park.

"This was a mishap with the water dummy itself, not with the ride in any way," a park representative told NJ.com. "There is nothing more to add."

Bryan Hartley, the park's vice president, said the dummies were not as rigid as human bodies, allowing them to wiggle free of the safety restraints on the roller coaster.

"Obviously it's not something that would ever happen with a person in it," Hartley told WCAU-TV. "You know you don't lose rigidity in a person. The lap bar comes down. You're secured in there."

GaleForce, which reaches top speeds of 64 mph, opened in 2017. Officials said the ride is tested for about two hours a day.