Six Flags closes nine coasters after fatal fall in Georgia

One guest died and several others were injured on the Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia on Monday afternoon, and the company has since shut nine similar coasters at six of its other parks.

The man started levitating in the air sideways ... We made direct eye contact with him.

Cobb County Police said the incident happened shortly before 4 p.m. on October 12 and that officers assigned to the park, along with uniformed patrol officers, responded. Detectives from the department's Major Crimes Unit are investigating, and police did not say how the man died or how many people were injured.

What police have said

The Cobb County Department of Emergency Communications confirmed the death to NBC News but gave no further details. Cobb County Police told the network that multiple park-goers were injured, though it was not clear how. The park, about 10 miles west of downtown Atlanta, operates on weekends in October and was open Monday for the Columbus Day holiday, a time when many Atlanta-area schools take Fall Break, CNN reported.

In a statement, Six Flags Over Georgia said it was deeply saddened by the guest incident and that its thoughts were with the family, friends and loved ones of the guest. The park said its team and local authorities responded immediately and that it is cooperating fully with the police investigation. It is also providing support to guests and team members affected.

Goliath opened in 2006 and was designed and built by Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers of Switzerland. The coaster reaches a top speed of 70 mph and an elevation of 200 feet, according to the Six Flags website, with a 170-foot first drop, a second drop of 175 feet and forces reaching up to 4 Gs. Atlanta News First reported that the ride uses restraints sitting across riders' laps rather than over the shoulder.

The nine rides closed are Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America, Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain, Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure, Leviathan and Behemoth at Canada's Wonderland, Fury 325 and Thunder Striker at Carowinds, and Orion and Diamondback at Kings Island, a company spokesperson told NBC News.

The coaster stopped near the top of the lift hill, stranding riders high above the ground. Ben Edwards, who was among nearly 20 people trapped on the 200-foot incline, told Atlanta News First he saw mechanics and paramedics running below and knew something bad had happened. Many were stuck for at least an hour, and the park later shut down, with guests told to leave.

The ride and its restraints

Goliath is classified as a hyper coaster, a steel ride at least 200 feet tall. The ride runs 210 seconds and has no inversions. Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider wrote Monday that he could not recall a previous example of a rider falling from a Bolliger & Mabillard roller coaster.

Bolliger & Mabillard hyper coasters run at parks across North America, among them Apollo's Chariot at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Candymonium at Hersheypark, Mako at SeaWorld Orlando and Diamondback at Kings Island, according to Theme Park Insider. The site also reported that it was unclear whether the additional injuries in Georgia resulted from the incident itself or from the evacuation that followed.

A couple who were on Goliath told WXIA they watched the man strike the coaster three times, and the woman said workers had checked their safety harnesses before the ride began. Another rider told the station the man fell onto a girl two rows ahead of her and appeared to be riding with his son, while his wife and daughter watched from the ground.

One witness told WXIA that the man appeared in the souvenir photograph the ride takes of each train. Another said he hit the car three different times before falling onto the roof of a haunted house attraction below. Atlanta News First reported that footage showed the man who died on a nearby roof.

Rahim Hakmati, a season ticket holder, told CNN he arrived as large groups of people were leaving and heard someone say a person had fallen from Goliath; security was directing guests away from the coaster, which had stopped on the lift hill, and he was eventually evacuated with the rest of the crowd. He had ridden Goliath the night before and noticed nothing unusual, he said.

Closures across the chain

Six Flags said it had temporarily closed similar attractions across its parks out of an abundance of caution, adding that the safety of its guests and team members remains one of its highest priorities.

Shares of Six Flags Entertainment fell more than 10% in after-hours trading Monday following reports of the incident, CNBC reported, a reversal from the regular session, when the stock closed 4.5% higher. The shares are down 22% so far this year.

In September, Six Flags was named in multiple lawsuits by riders who said they suffered brain injuries on the X2 roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain. That ride has been closed since July 12, a day after attorney Christopher Bulone said one of the plaintiffs suffered catastrophic brain injury, NBC News reported. CNN reported that the closure followed its investigation into reports of injuries and deaths tied to the ride.

Magic Mountain President Brian Oerding said in a Sept. 29 statement that X2 was being retired because it was the right thing to do, after guest confidence in the ride's safety had been affected.

Riders question the lap bars

Caleb Sedam and Brandon Casper, visitors from Indiana, were in the train car behind the one the man fell from and told Atlanta News First they had watched him board. The two said the ride uses only a lap bar to secure riders, and that they had ridden similar coasters without feeling unsafe. Both said the incident made them question that type of safety mechanism when there is no second one.

Cobb County's response

Lisa Cupid, chairwoman of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners, called the incident a terrible tragedy and said the county is working closely with the amusement park and other appropriate partners as the investigation proceeds. She said authorities would release more information as it is confirmed.

I cannot imagine the horror the patrons and employees witnessed today, and my heart aches for the family who lost a loved one.

Cupid said the park draws visitors from across the county, the state and the Southeast, and that she looked forward to learning more as the investigation unfolds. She asked residents to keep the family of the man who died, those who were injured and the park's employees in their thoughts.

Atlanta News First reported that the park has had other incidents. A tree that fell during a storm in July injured four people, and in June the SkyScreamer swing ride paused for 10 minutes, leaving riders dangling hundreds of feet in the air. In May 2018, a ride caught fire, injuring park employees and one guest.

Six Flags said it would not share additional details out of respect for the family's privacy. Officials told Atlanta's Channel 2 Action News that four other people were hurt, and the man has not been identified. Police have given no figure for the injured, and the cause of the incident remains under investigation, Atlanta News First reported.

Details not yet released

Police have not said what caused the man to come out of his seat, and the department has not described the injuries to the other riders. Six Flags did not say whether Goliath or the nine closed coasters would reopen, or how long the closures would last.