Visitors claim seats flew off the Orion at Kings Island, park said it was water weights

Some Kings Island visitors claimed to see seats flying off the park's seven Giga coaster, Orion, on Tuesday. 

The viral Facebook post had thousands of responses, with people expressing anxiety at riding Orion or visiting the park.

But did seats fly off the roller coaster?

Kings Island Director of Communications, Chad Showalter, explained what visitors actually saw going through the air. 

He said the ride was undergoing testing and the water weight bags utilized in the testing came loose, and that's what people mistook for seats. 

"On Tuesday, Orion was temporarily closed to undergo testing, which is not uncommon for new rides. Part of the testing required the park to increase the train's weight by using water weight bags. Some of these bags came loose during a test run while the train was in motion," Showalter said. 

He added there aren't any safety concerns with the ride, and Orion resumed operation on Tuesday. 

Orion opened in 2020 and is the park's largest coaster at 300 feet, and its longest at 5,321 feet.

The coaster takes riders down an exhilarating 300-foot drop before sending them on a high-speed journey over seven airtime hills at speeds of up to 91 miles per hour, making it North America's seventh-fastest coaster.