Six Flags Over Georgia Goliath Incident (12-Oct-2026)

[SaiyanHajime]

I think people are not discussing the human influenced possibilities out of respect, because at this stage those theories would just be speculation, and that's not fair when you're talking about potentially blaming humans with no evidence whatsoever...

But I will say this, a lot of those potential human influenced causes have huge question marks over them when you ask why nothing happened until the ORP section of the ride. If, for whatever reason, the restraint, it's position and / or the rider were not safe to ride in the first place, then the question of why nothing happened until the ORP section will need to be answered.

I don't think acknowledging humans human is blaming them. Humans humaning is why we have procedures to mitigate.

Just for a really blunt straightforward example... If it turns out a staff member straight up didn't check his restraint, I wouldn't blame them for the accident. Because it shouldn't be possible to not check them. It shouldn't be possible for the bar to fail. It shouldn't be possible for the bar failing to lead to someone falling out. I know this is extreme and everything is possible, but you get the gist of my point I'm sure.

 

[SaiyanHajime]

It's never happened on a B&M and that's the manufacturer. I don't have an issue with seatbelts, it's unnecessarily adding them after a freak accident. Roller coasters are 99.999% safe, nothing is 100%.

A seatbelt can't save you from a flying shoe or phone knocking you unconscious. Until there's an official report, I don't see the point of jumping on the "seatbelts for all" bandwagon.

Sorry I've forgotten how to multi quote

I disagree - like I said in my post, a seatbelt literally can reduce the risk of you being stuck by a lose article.

Their primary safety function is slowing down safety checks. They encourage staff to spend more time with each guest and make them more likely to notice.

Like everything, it's not about absolutes. It's about mitigating.

There's no good argument NOT to add seatbelts, as much as that sucks because slower operations is obviously lame. But lives - even one - is more important. Sorry.

 

[Hudson_Woodlief]

I would watch this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14Hm8o41M8A

He makes very good points from a paramedic perspective.

 

[MannekenPis]

I don't think acknowledging humans human is blaming them. Humans humaning is why we have procedures to mitigate.

Just for a really blunt straightforward example... If it turns out a staff member straight up didn't check his restraint, I wouldn't blame them for the accident. Because it shouldn't be possible to not check them. It shouldn't be possible for the bar to fail. It shouldn't be possible for the bar failing to lead to someone falling out. I know this is extreme and everything is possible, but you get the gist of my point I'm sure.

Absolutely, no safety critical feature should depend on the careful attention of an underpaid teenager.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

I don't think acknowledging humans human is blaming them. Humans humaning is why we have procedures to mitigate.

Humans human... agree... But in this high profile case, suggestions like "maybe the host didn't check the restraint" could cause serious harm to those ride ops, without any evidence to suggest that is in fact the case... Just because you can use common sense and ask "how is that even down to a youngster?" Doesn't mean everyone can... Likewise, suggestions like "maybe he was too big" could seriously upset family and friends if it just isn't true...

It's best we wait for more information, and only really discuss what we do know... I'm not even saying people have to wait for official investigation reports, although that would be preferred... But at least wait for some kind of information or evidence to suggest that maybe x, y or z happened... At the minute we have people suggesting things when we just have no evidence (yet) to back up those suggestions...

 

[pvnks]

Out of curiosity, will we ever know? The HSE are quite open book with its findings for UK incidents, is it the same for those stateside?

 

[lukpac]

Surprisingly informative interview of a ride op and enthusiast from TMZ of all places:

Former Six Flags Operator Explains How Goliath Restraint Could've Opened on Fatal Ride | TMZ

A former Six Flags Over Georgia operator says it's possible to push a restraint on a ride like Goliath open ... though it would take a tremendous amount of f...

www.youtube.com

 

[Chris Brown]

Surprisingly informative interview of a ride op and enthusiast from TMZ of all places:

Former Six Flags Operator Explains How Goliath Restraint Could've Opened on Fatal Ride | TMZ

A former Six Flags Over Georgia operator says it's possible to push a restraint on a ride like Goliath open ... though it would take a tremendous amount of f...

www.youtube.com

Jesus Christ, that last 20 seconds or so…

I really hope this guy, a supposed enthusiast, tried to follow up, clarify or even retract his statement that if someone pushed hard enough they can just open the restraints. Hoping he’s just been done dirty by some editing / cutting.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Surprisingly informative interview of a ride op and enthusiast from TMZ of all places:

Former Six Flags Operator Explains How Goliath Restraint Could've Opened on Fatal Ride | TMZ

A former Six Flags Over Georgia operator says it's possible to push a restraint on a ride like Goliath open ... though it would take a tremendous amount of f...

www.youtube.com

Nice kid, well spoken, but he is either talking out of his ass, or he just tripped up under pressure... There are at least 4 pawls, (pins as he put it) and good luck generating the thousands of pounds of force needed to force a fully working and locked restraint open on your own...

 

[spicy]

Jesus Christ, that last 20 seconds or so…

I really hope this guy, a supposed enthusiast, tried to follow up, clarify or even retract his statement that if someone pushed hard enough they can just open the restraints. Hoping he’s just been done dirty by some editing / cutting.

What the hell was that all about.

He was knowledgeable about the restraint mechanism and was a good enough interview.

Then right at the end makes that wild statement about being able to push the restraint open. Bizarre..

 

[lukpac]

What the hell was that all about.

He was knowledgeable about the restraint mechanism and was a good enough interview.

Then right at the end makes that wild statement about being able to push the restraint open. Bizarre..

My guess is he probably just didn't get out "...but that's far more force than a human is capable of providing" in time.

 

[Matt N]

Having thought about it more; going back slightly to the seatbelt discussion, I do think seatbelts are a feasible and sensible option, if anything needs to be added additionally at all.

Yes, they may fractionally slow down throughputs and I’m slightly sceptical of how beneficial they would really be in the event of a genuine restraint failure, but they are an additional layer of redundancy beyond the phenomenally high number that are already there and with rides like Fury 325 and Orion still seemingly doing pretty well throughputs-wise even with seatbelts, I’m sceptical that the throughput effect would be that severe, even if it would be sad to see the end of some of those potentially top-tier dispatch times.

We may yet find that nothing additional needs to be added to B&M Hypers at all. It all depends on where fault is found to lie, I guess. It could be in operational procedure, it could be in maintenance of Goliath by Six Flags Over Georgia, it could be in B&M’s design, it could be a combination of all three and god knows what else. We simply don’t know, and as I said before, I am incredibly hesitant to jump to any rash conclusions or play armchair engineer or armchair judge, jury and executioner until we at very least know more about what happened.

One thing I would say, however, is that not every B&M Hyper worldwide has yet closed (to my knowledge, Shambhala and Silver Star, at very least, are still operating), which to me would suggest that B&M does not currently have reason to believe that the clamshell design itself is to blame or presents any inherent risk. Surely if B&M believed that there was even the slightest whiff of an inherent risk, the clamshells would be recalled wholesale and those rides wouldn’t be open either? Although emphasis should be placed on the word “currently” there… this is a new, fast-moving and decidedly peculiar set of circumstances (even by ride incident standards, this is a curious one), and I don’t think we can yet conclude anything.

If I were to keep an eye on anything, I would be keeping an eye on what happens with other B&M Hypers in America and around the world, and if or when some of the closed coasters reopen and in what state. That could be quite telling with regard to B&M’s findings on the inherent clamshell design.

 

[CanobieFan]

People being thrown from rides is extremely rare, but has it EVER happened on a ride with a seatbelt?

Yes. Superman Ride of Steel at SFNE....and Ride of Steel at DL (non-SF years) both tossed riders to their death and had seatbelts. (And with the DL ride...the time it tossed a rider, prior to having seatbelts added, the rider survived)


((Also, hey Joey!))

 

[jasone]

Haven’t posted on this until now. What an awful tragedy and my heart goes out to the family and friends of Hassan.

This popped up in my algorithm, an interview with a family member who does talk really calmly and clearly about the accident and some of the things discussed in this thread.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Haven’t posted on this until now. What an awful tragedy and my heart goes out to the family and friends of Hassan.

This popped up in my algorithm, an interview with a family member who does talk really calmly and clearly about the accident and some of the things discussed in this thread.

That is so hard to watch... A reminder if we needed one that we're talking about somebody who by all accounts was a beautiful human being... And a nice family, who were already struggling with other events beyond their control, now suffering more. Thoughts really are with them.

A key point from the witness statement in that video, from his relative who was riding with him, was that he fainted long before the restraint broke, was rising up and down as he crested hills, and on the 3rd or 4th airtime hill the restraint came undone, and at the that point he fell out.

That's the first credible clue we have had apart from the photo... I'm not about to pick holes in the witness statement of a 13 year old grieving relative who was sat right next to him.

It's worth also mentioning that the fainting could also explain why another rider sat behind him who gave a statement thought he'd lent forward to catch something before the restraint came undone. :/

EDIT: (I'm still watching only halfway through) Looks like he was aware of a previous health condition, that had led to him either choosing not to ride, or being told he couldn't ride, other rides at the park... But he'd allegedly been assured he could ride Goliath safely. No idea what that medical history was, but you have to assume watching the video that it relates to the fainting.

 

[witchfinder]

That was so sad and what a moving tribute to the poor guy. Also seems to dispel a lot of the early rumours about his son being on the ride with him and him attempting to retrieve a phone. Obviously there's the suggestion of some health issues, but even if you faint on a ride, you'd expect the restraint to keep you locked in safely. Just more evidence that it seems to have been a mechanical failure of some type

 

[Chris Brown]

Just a few thoughts now we know a few potential items that may have influenced things. I will mention factors which are potentially insensitive so apologies to anyone reading in advance, and I really dont want to victim blame at all, but could the below have impacted?

We know he was a coaster enthusiast, could he have left himself a large amount of room in the seat for additional airtime? There is now a witness statement saying he fainted, all this talk of not being able to get out of a Clamshell when its locked is obviously true, but, is this true if a rider has fainted and is essentially doubled over the restraint itself, and has left themselves the maximum amount of room? Could they tip forward out of the seat over the restraint with no body tension to keep them in place? Especially if the person was of a disproportionate build IE large belly but skinnier legs.

In my head, the suggestion that he's fainted is a weird one, purely on the basis of coincidence. Having a restraint fail is a 1 in whatever chance, but having a restraint pop up, during a time in which the rider has fainted, thats just wild.

After seeing the ORP and having ridden several B&M hypers I was previously convinced it must have been some mechanical failure, however, these recent additions and the fact that several B&M hypers (without seatbelts) have remained open is starting to make me question things.

 

[Hyde]

Out of curiosity, will we ever know? The HSE are quite open book with its findings for UK incidents, is it the same for those stateside?

Each state is different (who oversee safety and inspection of rides for amusement parks, fairs, etc) but yes, there will most likely be a public facing report; especially for such a public incident as this.

Here’s a sample report from Ohio over the 2022 TTD accident - 600 pages in total: https://www.scribd.com/document/559...t-Memo-Report-Attachments-Top-Thrill-Dragster

 

[spicy]

Just a few thoughts now we know a few potential items that may have influenced things. I will mention factors which are potentially insensitive so apologies to anyone reading in advance, and I really dont want to victim blame at all, but could the below have impacted?

We know he was a coaster enthusiast, could he have left himself a large amount of room in the seat for additional airtime? There is now a witness statement saying he fainted, all this talk of not being able to get out of a Clamshell when its locked is obviously true, but, is this true if a rider has fainted and is essentially doubled over the restraint itself, and has left themselves the maximum amount of room? Could they tip forward out of the seat over the restraint with no body tension to keep them in place? Especially if the person was of a disproportionate build IE large belly but skinnier legs.

In my head, the suggestion that he's fainted is a weird one, purely on the basis of coincidence. Having a restraint fail is a 1 in whatever chance, but having a restraint pop up, during a time in which the rider has fainted, thats just wild.

After seeing the ORP and having ridden several B&M hypers I was previously convinced it must have been some mechanical failure, however, these recent additions and the fact that several B&M hypers (without seatbelts) have remained open is starting to make me question things.

Agreed after reading that he had fainted during the ride I thought well the fainting surely isn't just a coincidence. That must have somehow contributed to him falling out.

But then there's the ORP with the restraint open..

Which means the only way the fainting will have contributed was that he was holding on the best he could with an open restraint until he could hold on no longer and passed out.

 

[bratcurry]

We know he was a coaster enthusiast, could he have left himself a large amount of room in the seat for additional airtime? There is now a witness statement saying he fainted, all this talk of not being able to get out of a Clamshell when its locked is obviously true, but, is this true if a rider has fainted and is essentially doubled over the restraint itself, and has left themselves the maximum amount of room? Could they tip forward out of the seat over the restraint with no body tension to keep them in place?

Why would you suggest that if the restraint is clearly unlocked?

One thing I would say, however, is that not every B&M Hyper worldwide has yet closed (to my knowledge, Shambhala and Silver Star, at very least, are still operating), which to me would suggest that B&M does not currently have reason to believe that the clamshell design itself is to blame or presents any inherent risk. Surely if B&M believed that there was even the slightest whiff of an inherent risk, the clamshells would be recalled wholesale and those rides wouldn’t be open either?

I don't know about Shambhala but the Macks put out a brief statement that their inspections are top-notch, so there's no reason for them to close the ride.

Everything about this and the Europeans seemingly not caring enough although everything points to some sort of mechanical failure contributing to this accident leads me to remember the world after the first 737 MAX crashed and nobody wanted to believe it had something to do with Boeing's design.