Local police and state inspectors spent much of Thursday investigating how a 3-year-old boy fell from a roller coaster at Idlewild and SoakZone amusement park in Ligonier in one of several such incidents across the nation this week that have led to increased scrutiny of thrill rides.

No information was available about the extent of the boy’s injuries, but he was conscious before he was flown in a medical helicopter to a Pittsburgh hospital.

“He was talking,” Idlewild spokesman Jeff Croushore said. “He was alert with his family, but he was airlifted to a local hospital.”

Mr. Croushore addressed media Thursday afternoon outside the park and said the boy was injured on the Rollo Coaster, a 78-year-old attraction for riders who must be 48 inches tall if alone or 36 inches tall if accompanied by an adult.

A park statement addressed the injury by saying only “a boy riding the Rollo Coaster with his brother was injured while riding the attraction.” Mr. Croushore did not provide further details about how the boy might have fallen from the ride.

The boy fell somewhere in the middle of the ride, but authorities were still investigating exactly where and how high up the ride was at the time.

The Rollo Coaster is about 1,400 feet long and is 40 feet high at its highest point. It reaches varying speeds of between 10 and 25 mph, according to Mr. Croushore. The park’s website says the Rollo Coaster consists of two trains that carry riders “up and down along a wooded hillside then turn around in a swooping curve.”

Mr. Croushore said rides at the park are inspected daily. Idlewild will remain open, but the Rollo Coaster will be shut down during the investigation.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the boy and his family,” Idlewild said in a statement. “A full investigation has begun to determine the cause of the incident. The Rollo Coaster will be closed pending the results of the investigation. We are fully cooperating with area agencies in this investigation.”

The state Department of Agriculture, which regulates amusement park rides, said the Rollo Coaster had passed inspection Saturday by a private certified inspector.

Mary Beth Eslary, spokeswoman for the Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety, said that when the 911 center was called at 12:18 p.m., the boy had been taken to the park’s first-aid building.

“The immediate family was with the patient at the park,” Ms. Eslary said.

The child was taken to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. His family declined to comment through a hospital spokesman.

Ligonier Township police and Westmoreland County detectives are leading the investigation.

Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck said Thursday night that he did not have much information about the incident because the preliminary investigation was still underway.

“We’re just out there to gather the initial facts at this time and see if there’s going to be a criminal investigation,” he said.

He declined to speculate whether anything about the incident appeared to be criminal in nature.

David La Torre, a Cumberland County resident who runs a crisis communications firm, said he was concerned about the safety of his 4-year-old daughter Wednesday when they rode the Rollo Coaster during a family outing.

“I rode the roller coaster yesterday with my family and it’s fast. Since it’s a wooden roller coaster, it’s very jarring. But what really was surprising to me was when we got in there were no seat belts. There’s a bar that is affixed in each cart that holds you in place. We had our 4-year-old on with us and she’s small, so my wife made sure to really hang on to her, to really hold her,” Mr. La Torre said Thursday.

“You can see how a little one has room to move in there and God forbid they try and stand up or whatever,” Mr. La Torre said. “It was a safety concern for me yesterday. It was something that I noticed right away and I think the addition of seat belts would be a great benefit in the future.”

“I think the issue is really small kids and no seat belts,” Mr. La Torre added. “I don’t know how something like that passes inspection.”

Mr. Croushore did not provide a response when asked about the concerns regarding the lack of seat belts but said ride operators are trained to check the height of riders.

Idlewild, which opened in 1878 as Idlewild Park, bills itself as “the longest-operating theme park near Pittsburgh” as well as in Pennsylvania, and the third-oldest in the U.S. In 2012, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission recognized Idlewild Park with a roadside marker.

The incident at Idlewild was at least the third accident at amusement parks across the country this week.

On Sunday a 10-year-old boy was killed in Kansas City, Kan., while on the Verruckt raft ride — the world’s tallest water slide — at the Schlitterbahn WaterPark.

On Monday three children fell 30 to 45 feet from a Ferris wheel at a county fair in Tennessee; all survived.

Jonathan D. Silver: jsilver@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1962 or on Twitter @jsilverpg. Andrew Goldstein: agoldstein@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1352

First Published: August 11, 2016, 5:00 p.m.
Updated: August 11, 2016, 11:36 p.m.