He looked up to see a girl dangling about eight metres off the ground from a slow-moving gondola ride. Her little brother sat next to her in the two-person pod, crying hysterically for help, saying he couldn't hold on.

Mr Howard and his 21-year-old daughter, Leeann Winchell, positioned themselves under the girl as the ride stopped and security came running. A crowd of onlookers gathered, many filming, others calling for help.

"I said, 'It's OK to let go – I'll catch you, honey. I'm not going to let you fall,"' said Mr Howard.

The girl lost her grip and fell to where Mr Howard, Ms Winchell and others were waiting. The two took the brunt of the girl's fall, collapsing to the ground themselves. The two and some other good Samaritans carried the girl to where emergency workers later arrived to help her.

Mr Howard was treated and released for a minor back injury after the rescue.

"I couldn't let that little girl die," Mr Howard told the Associated Press on Sunday. "No one wants to put himself underneath a body like that, but I couldn't stand by and watch."

The 14-year-old girl from Greenwood, Delaware, was taken to Albany Medical Centre in a stable condition with no serious injuries.

Ms Winchell, who is applying to be a nurse, said she and her father had visited the girl on Sunday at the hospital and she was in good spirits. Her little brother was shaken but uninjured, she said. The girl didn't know how she had fallen out of the ride.

"I'm just glad we could be there to help," Ms Winchell said. "We were in the right place at the right time."

The accident happened on the Sky Ride at Six Flags Great Escape Amusement Park, about 89 kilometres north of Albany, New York. The ride was stopped by an operator after getting word of a rider in distress.

On Sunday, park officials said the ride had been cleared for operation, but would remain closed.

AP