COTALAND coaster stopped twice during opening weekend

Circuit Breaker, the roller coaster at the Circuit of the Americas’ COTALAND theme park, stopped twice with riders aboard during the park’s opening weekend in late September 2026. Organisers said nobody was injured or needed medical treatment in either incident.

Matthew Cantu has also filed a lawsuit seeking more than $1 million against Circuit of the Americas, LLC and the ride’s manufacturer, Motorsport.com reports, citing CBS Austin.

Cantu alleges that he and a companion were suspended about 130 feet in the air for more than an hour and that he suffered head, neck and back injuries. Those claims have not been tested in court.

In their account of the opening-weekend stops, organisers said 19 people were aboard on Saturday when the car halted in its vertical tilt position. They said the riders remained safely secured for about nine minutes before the car returned to a horizontal position and attendants helped them get off.

A second stop followed on Sunday. According to the organisers, riders remained secured and the car returned to its normal horizontal position in about two minutes, after which passengers exited normally.

Organisers described such operational stops as normal for modern thrill rides. They explained that sensors and safety systems can halt the coaster automatically when operating requirements are not met, with attendants carrying out checks before it returns to service.