Fire officials rescue guests from Transformers ride at Universal Studios

Universal Orlando says ride experienced 'technical glitch'

ORLANDO, Fla. – Transformers: The Ride-3D at Universal Studios is operating Tuesday afternoon after fire officials rescued guests from the ride earlier in the day.

Orlando fire officials confirmed to WKMG-TV they were performing a "technical rescue" at Universal and safely assisted 12 passengers out of the vehicle on the Transformers ride.

No injuries were reported.

Casey Ruston, 20, who was visiting the theme park from New Jersey with her grandparents and siblings was a passenger on the ride when it suddenly broke down.

"The sounds completely stopped, like someone hit mute on the TV," said Ruston. "There was no sound, it was just us going through the ride. All of a sudden everything went black and we stopped, like at a complete halt."

Pictures from riders showed the car of the ride being stopped on a low point, so it appeared the passengers couldn't walk off of the ride themselves. Ruston told WKMG-TV the workers made it seem as though they got stuck in one of the worst places one the ride - about 40 feet up from the ground and far enough from the top that fire rescuers had to rappel down with ladders to reach the car.

"Earlier today, Transformers: The Ride 3-D experienced a technical glitch. We assisted a small number of guests off the ride. All guests are off the ride and everyone is safe and in good spirits," said Alyson Lundell, Universal Studios Public Relations Director.

Universal gave the rescued guests VIP passes and free lunch for the day.

The Universal Orlando website describes the indoor, simulation ride as "an ultra-immersive, next generation thrill ride that blurs the line between fiction and reality."