CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Drop Zone ride at Carowinds was shut down Friday after N.C. Department of Labor officials found a fraying cable on one of the seats.

Inspectors were called out to the park after an accident at the Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville on Thursday. A teenage girl's feet were sliced off on the Superman Tower of Power. The ride, similar to Drop Zone, lifts passengers 177 feet straight up, then drops them nearly the same distance at speeds reaching 54 mph.

"Out of an abundance of caution, we decided to send two inspectors Friday morning to see if the rides at Carowinds met 100 percent of our manufacturers' specifications," said Jonathan Brooks, NCDOL Elevator and Amusement Device bureau chief. "We found that one set of cables was deteriorating from the inside out, so we condemned it and shut it down."

Brooks said NCDOL inspectors had inspected the same ride in March and found no problems at the time. Brooks said cables normally are replaced yearly.

"There was nothing that we found that represented a real threat to rider safety, but we just wanted to be absolutely sure that the public was safe," Brooks said. "Under North Carolina law, amusement rides in our state have to be 100 percent within manufacturers' specifications. We believe it represents a great safeguard for the public, and that's why we shut the ride down."

Brooks said replacement cables should be readily available and are expected to be replaced by Monday.

Six Flags and another company shut down seven other thrill rides similar to the Superman Tower of Power and Drop Zone and state inspectors were called out to the Kentucky park.

It was unclear at what point in the ride the 13-year-old was injured Thursday, said Wendy Goldberg, a Six Flags spokeswoman. The girl was taken to a hospital, where her condition was not immediately available Friday.

Six Flags shut down similar rides at parks in St. Louis; Gurnee, Ill.; and near Washington as a safety precaution, Goldberg said. She said Six Flags Over Texas, near Dallas, also has a Superman Tower of Power, but it is not the same ride.

There had been no reports of injuries on the ride before Thursday, she said.

"Millions of people have safely ridden this ride in our parks," Goldberg said.

Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. is the company that shut down Drop Zone and other drop tower rides for inspection at Carowinds and four other of its amusement parks, company spokeswoman Stacy Frole said. Frole described it as a precautionary measure.

Intamin AG, a Swiss company, made all the rides but did not supply all the parts, said Sandor Kernacs, president of the company's American operations, Intamin Ltd. in Glen Burnie, Md.

The four other Cedar Fair rides that were shut down are at Kings Island near Cincinnati; Canada's Wonderland, in Toronto; Kings Dominion in Doswell, Va.; and Great America in Santa Clara, Calif.

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