Banshee roller coaster screams through first test run at Kings Island

© Kings Island

KINGS ISLAND, Ohio – With engineers, technicians, construction workers, managers and park general manager watching, the longest inverted roller coaster in the world, “Banshee,” screamed its way through its first test run Saturday at Kings Island. With seven stomach-churning inversions, the 4,124-foot long Banshee also ties another inverted roller coaster record. Designed exclusively for Kings Island by Switzerland-based Bolliger & Mabillard, Banshee features the following succession of breath-taking thrills: a 167-foot lift hill, 150-foot curved first drop, a dive loop, a vertical loop encircling the lift hill, a zero-gravity-roll, a pair of batwing inversions, outside loop, spiral, in-line roll and carousel, all at speeds up to 68 mph. Banshee makes its highly-anticipated public debut when Kings Island opens for the 2014 season April 18.