QUEENSBURY, N.Y. (AP) — A teenager fell from a stopped gondola ride at an upstate New York amusement park Saturday night, tumbling into a crowd of park guests and employees gathered below in an effort to catch the victim before she hit the ground.; 
 
 The Warren County Sheriff's Office said late Saturday the unidentified 14-year-old girl from Greenwood, Delaware, is at Albany Medical Center in stable condition with no serious injuries. 
 
 The accident happened on the "Sky Ride" at Six Flags Amusement Park, about 55 miles (88.51 kilometers) north of Albany, New York, just after 8 p.m. Saturday. 
 
 The sheriff's office said in a statement that the girl was riding the attraction with a child relative, and fell about 25 feet from a stationary two-person car. The ride was stopped by an operator after word was received that there was a rider in distress, officials said. 
 
 Authorities say the girl fell from the car and struck a tree before landing in the crowd. She was treated by park emergency medical staff and transferred by ambulance to Glen Falls Hospital before being taken by helicopter to the medical center. 
 
 Officials inspected the ride and said it was in proper working order. The park said in a statement that the safety of guests is a top priority. 
 
 "There does not appear to be any malfunction of the ride, but we have closed the attraction until a thorough review can be completed," a park official said. 
 
 Authorities also said an unidentified 47-year-old man from Schenectady, New York, who was a guest at the park, was treated and released from a hospital for a back injury sustained when he attempted to catch the falling girl. 
 
 No additional information was immediately available. ||||| Matthew Howard Sr. and his family were leaving Six Flags Great Escape on Saturday night when his youngest daughter, Hayzel, stopped to dance with park staff to “Party Rock Anthem.” 
 
 A short distance away, Howard saw what he thought were long legs dangling from the Sky Ride gondola attraction, but he realized it was actually a young girl, hanging from the ride. 
 
 Howard and his daughter, Leeann Winchell, made their way underneath the gondola car and called out to the girl, trying to calm her down and reassure her they’d catch her. Moments later, the girl dropped 25 feet, into their arms. She sustained no serious injuries. 
 
 “God dropped an angel, and I caught her,” said Howard, a 47-year-old Schenectady resident. 
 
 Emergency responders arrived at the Queensbury theme park about 8:05 p.m. Saturday after receiving a call that a 14-year-old girl fell from the Sky Ride. She was taken to Glens Falls Hospital, and later Albany Medical Center, where she remained Sunday. 
 
 Recalling the incident Sunday afternoon, Winchell, 21, said it still breaks her heart to watch the videos, which surfaced online Saturday evening and have since received millions of views. 
 
 An initial investigation determined everything on the ride was in proper working order, and the state Department of Labor cleared the Sky Ride for operation Sunday morning. However, it remained closed Sunday while the park conducts an internal review, spokeswoman Rebecca Wood said. 
 
 Howard and his family took a trip to the Great Escape on Saturday, a common occurrence for the group, which often buys season passes. On their way toward the exits, his daughter Hayzel, 4, stopped to dance with Six Flags staff. 
 
 “If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have been there,” Howard said. 
 
 He saw the girl — a resident of Greenwood, Delaware, who has not been identified — clinging to the ride and to a younger relative also in the car. Video shows the gondola continued moving for a short time before a park attendant signaled to an operator to stop the ride. 
 
 A crowd began to form, with dozens of people capturing the moment on video. 
 
 Even Howard took out his phone at first, he admitted, but quickly handed it to one of his three daughters. 
 
 “I just couldn’t stand there,” he said. “I thought if I got in there, at least we could do something.” 
 
 Howard and Winchell were two of only a few people who positioned themselves to catch the girl. Another man climbed into a nearby tree to see if he could reach the girl. When it became clear that wasn’t an option, he began talking to the girl to try to calm her, and to clear branches out of her path should she fall. 
 
 Howard called out, trying to assure the girl he’d catch her if she dropped, unsure if she would trust him, he said. 
 
 On video, the girl can be seen trying to wriggle free, her neck apparently stuck in the lap bar. She dropped into the crowd seconds later, with Howard and Winchell breaking her fall. 
 
 “I didn’t care if I got hurt, this young girl has a whole life to live ahead of her,” said Winchell, who lives in Colonie. “I just wanted to make sure she was safe.” 
 
 The young girl appeared to be unconscious as she was taken away by medical personnel, first to be treated at the park, and later at the hospital. 
 
 Howard, who can be seen in the video wearing a white T-shirt, was knocked to the ground by the impact. He got up a bit dizzy, and was taken to Glens Falls Hospital for testing, but was released after about an hour, he said. 
 
 In hindsight, Howard suggested the ride should not have been stopped. The girl was hanging on well enough he felt they could have left it running for her to make it to a nearby platform, about a football field away, he said. 
 
 However, he and Winchell acknowledged it was likely difficult for park staff to communicate quickly in the heat of the moment. 
 
 “There’s a lot of negativity going on about this, that it’s the girl’s fault, it’s Six Flags’ fault, it’s security’s fault,” Howard said. “Everybody did what they could. I don’t want to see security get blamed. Who gets trained to have someone jump into their arms?” 
 
 All rides have a standard evacuation plan, said Wood, the park spokeswoman. Each spring, in partnership with local emergency personnel, the park conducts an evacuation drill on the Sky Ride, she said. 
 
 “Every situation is unique and requires the appropriate time and tools for the evacuation,” Wood said in a statement. “We are reviewing our internal procedures to ensure the safety and security of our guests and team members." 
 
 The Sky Ride is described as “a mellow-paced ride with an awesome view,” reaching heights of more than 20 feet, according to the Great Escape website. 
 
 Howard and Winchell stopped by Albany Medical Center on Sunday morning to check on the girl, they said. They didn’t stay long, but said she was in some pain, but good spirits overall. 
 
 They’re hopeful the public will leave the young girl and her family alone to heal, they said. 
 
 “At the end of the day, whatever happened, we saved this girl’s life, and now she’s got a second chance,” Winchell said. ||||| Update at 4:22 p.m.: The family of the woman who fell to her death Friday night has identified her as Rosy Esparza of Dallas. 
 
 Update at 11:15 a.m.: Six Flags released another short statement early Saturday morning: 
 
 "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family. The investigation into the death at Texas Giant is still ongoing. We are working closely with authorities to determine the cause of the accident. The ride will remain closed. In addition, we have canceled the concert that was scheduled for today." 
 
 
 
 The park clarified that the investigation is "internal" and no other park attractions will be closed because of the accident. 
 
 The KIDZ Star USA talent search auditions on Saturday and Sunday have been cancelled. This follows the earlier cancellation of a Saturday night concert from Bridgit Mendler. 
 
 Original story: Six Flags Over Texas announced Saturday morning that the Texas Giant roller coaster will remain closed as authorities investigate a woman's fatal plunge from the Texas Giant roller coaster Friday night. 
 
 The Arlington amusement park still has released few details beyond reporting that its medical staff and city paramedics had responded immediately. The victim’s name was not released. 
 
 Besides keeping the ride closed, Six Flags has canceled a concert by singer and actress Bridgit Mendler that had been scheduled for Saturday night. 
 
 Park officials offered their condolences to the woman’s family as investigators began to study the cause of the accident, which occurred after 6:30 p.m. Although the ride was closed, the park remained open through the evening. 
 
 Early attention was beginning to focus on witnesses’ reports that the woman’s safety restraint may have come undone. 
 
 Carmen Brown of Arlington was waiting in line as the victim was being secured in for the ride. She said she believed that the woman’s son was on the ride with her. 
 
 Brown said the woman had expressed concern to a park employee that she was not secured correctly in her seat. 
 
 “He was basically nonchalant,” Brown said. “He was, like, ‘As long as you heard it click, you’re fine.’ Hers was the only one that went down once, and she didn’t feel safe. But they let her still get on the ride.” 
 
 She said the victim fell out of the ride as it made a sudden maneuver. 
 
 “The lady basically tumbled over,” she said. “We heard her screaming. We were, like, ‘Did she just fall?’” 
 
 Investigators were interviewing witnesses on the ride, some of whom reported that the woman had been thrown from the roller coaster as it rounded a turn. Arlington police declined to comment on the accident. 
 
 Hysterical passengers had to wait to disembark as the train stopped short of the platform. 
 
 John and Darlene Putman of Rockwall said they were in line to board the roller coaster as the train in which the woman had been riding returned. 
 
 John Putman told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he heard two people screaming, “‘My mom! My mom! Let us out, we need to go get her!’” 
 
 Reports from park visitors began spreading rapidly on social media online, drawing worried parents and others to the gates to check on family members. 
 
 Joshua Paul Fleak posted on Twitter that he believed that the woman’s restraint had come undone. 
 
 “Just witnessed someone fly off of the Texas giant two seats in front of me,” he said. “… Coaster turned and she was gone.” 
 
 The Texas Giant opened in 1990 as the world’s tallest wooden roller coaster but was closed in November 2009 to convert it to a steel-and-wood hybrid. 
 
 Although the rebuilt ride incorporates some of the original structure, it includes 4,700 feet of new track. 
 
 When it reopened in April 2011, the expanded coaster offered a smoother ride and a higher top speed of 65 mph. It features a 79-degree drop and three turns sharper than 90 degrees. 
 
 Friday’s accident was the second ride fatality for a guest at the park since it opened in 1961. 
 
 In 1999, Valeria Cartwright of West Helena, Ark., drowned when a Roaring Rapids raft capsized. Ten other people were injured in that accident. 
 
 In March 2006, passengers on the park’s Texas Tornado ride reported injuries when the ride slowed rapidly and several of its swings collided. 
 
 In another amusement park accident Friday, a boat on a thrill ride at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, rolled backward down a hill and flipped over in water when the ride malfunctioned, injuring all seven people on it. 
 
 Six Flags Entertainment Corp. emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2010 after the company said it needed to shed $1.8 billion in debt. In April, the company posted record revenue. 
 
 Staff writer Robert Wilonsky contributed to this report. 
 
 Related video: Carmen Brown describes Texas Giant rider's fatal fall
– A teenager fell from a stopped gondola ride at an upstate New York amusement park Saturday night, tumbling into a crowd of park guests and employees gathered below in an effort to catch the victim before she hit the ground. The Warren County Sheriff's Office said late Saturday the unidentified 14-year-old girl from Greenwood, Delaware, is at Albany Medical Center in stable condition with no serious injuries. The accident happened on the "Sky Ride" at Six Flags Amusement Park, about 55 miles north of Albany, New York, just after 8pm Saturday, reports the AP. "There does not appear to be any malfunction of the ride, but we have closed the attraction until a thorough review can be completed," a park official said. The sheriff's office said in a statement that the girl was riding the attraction with a young relative, and fell about 25 feet from a stationary two-person car. The New York Daily News refers to Facebook video that shows the girl first dangling from the ride and screaming; people are recorded yelling, "Her neck is stuck," and then telling the girl they'll catch her. Authorities say she struck a tree branch before landing in the crowd. She was treated by park emergency medical staff and transferred by ambulance to Glen Falls Hospital before being taken by helicopter to the medical center. Authorities also say an unidentified 47-year-old park guest from Schenectady, New York, was treated and released from a hospital for a back injury sustained when he attempted to catch the falling girl.