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

[Chris Brown]

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


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.

It was more of a hypothetical question. I still havent seen just how open these restraints can be whilst still being locked. The fainting thing just seems so odd, unless witnesses have seen him doubled over doing his best to hold on to an open restraint and mistaken that for him having fainted? You'd think he'd have shouted or screamed and it would have been obvious that he hadnt actually fainted. No idea.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Facts:

• The restraint is NOT in a safe locked position in the ORP

Reliable witness testimonies:

• The restraint was open when the train returned to the station (Multiple witnesses.)
• The victim 'appeared' to lean forward to try and retrieve something, possibly a phone, before the restraint opened. (Fellow passenger sat behind)
• The victim passed out before the restraint came open (Relative riding with the victim.)
• The victim had some sort of medical condition that either through his own choice, or on the advice of staff, prevented him from riding other rides. But he was told Goliath was safe for him (Relative.)

That's all the information we can really speculate around to my knowledge... But it is really starting to look like a potential classic Swiss cheese model to me...

I don't think we can reliably say he was a true enthusiast, the relative seemed to skirt around the idea, suggesting he liked coasters, but couldn't actually ride many these days, and was excited to be back on Goliath. To quote 'He was like, "rest assured, I'll be there Monday," because he hadn't been able to do so, So I do believe, even if he wasn't an enthusiast, he was extremely excited to ride rollercoasters.' So, maybe I'm wrong, but I just can't see a man being cautious over safety, who hadn't been able ride much due to his health, deliberately leaving too much restraint space...

Now we have more info though, if I had to speculate there are still multiple possibilities (probably all possibilities are still on the table) But some more likely ones...

• Maybe rider passes out due to pre existing medical condition, exerts too much force on an already compromised restraint that, for whatever, is not as safely secured as a clamshell would be under normal operation, be that for maintenance reasons or operational errors...
• Maybe rider passes out and exerts enough force to break an already developing stress fracture in the main bar...
• Maybe, as somebody else suggested, restraint was open the whole time, and he does pass out from trying to hold himself into the the seat, and is ejected after passing out. (less likely imo, given the force needed to hold yourself in would be, I imagine, quite high.)

We're still nowhere near knowing what happened, but I think we are starting to get some possible ideas to consider.

 

[jasone]

Just trying to consider the facts/info we do know:

The relative in the interview above said Hassan didn’t or couldn’t ride the other coasters in the park. He didn’t confirm whose decision that was but he did say Hassan tried to ride.

He also said his niece, who was sat next to him said he passed out mid way through the ride, before the restraint was unlocked. This fits with him being ejected at the end of the ride, not nearer the beginning.

This interview with people behind him on the train suggest there was an issue with the restraint not locking properly in the station - https://www.instagram.com/reel/DecHj4Cj7LJ/?rpxt=N3VhbWI1bDNlaHV5 - they said he said it keeps clicking weird, locking and unlocking, locking and unlocking.

The relative confirmed it was Hassan’s first ride on Goliath. Even if he was interested in roller coasters, it doesn’t appear that he would be the type of die hard enthusiast to try and leave space between him and the restraint. Maybe that is just my opinion. But the restraint certainly looks too far open for a train to leave the station in the onride photo. It looks like it’s opened at least somewhat compared to when he left the station, and that would fit what his niece also said.

To me this is starting to look like a perfect storm, where multiple factors have all aligned in a freak tragedy. A potential faulty restraint (we don’t know whether that’s due to design, maintenance or operator error or all of the above) and potentially someone who shouldn’t have been riding due to illness, medical condition, body type etc. While I don’t think the passing out is the cause, as a restraint should still hold someone in despite that, i doubt that it’s a complete coincidence.

 

[SaiyanHajime]

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!))

They had seatbelts BEFORE the incidents? I did not realise! I thought that was a post accident thing.

Was it seatbelt under restraint rather than seatbelt holding restraint?

I can't find a decent report on Stanley Mordarskey - the man with cerebral palsy who came out of SFNE's Ride of Steel. There's a footnote on Wiki saying the attendant did not check he was secured, but it goes to a paid article. I would SPECULATE that the attendant did not secure his seatbelt and that it was due to some awkwardness surrounding his disability. Supposedly this was a large man, but that shouldn't be relevant to my point. I believe a seatbelt would reduce the likelihood of a person being thrown.

James Hackemer, who lost his life to Darien Lake's... He had limb difference. He did not have knees, which are essential for being securely held. So I'm gonna write that one off as being entirely the fault of procedure or training at the park. He shouldn't have been allowed to ride. Full stop. No argument.

((hehe hi James))

suggestions like "maybe the host didn't check the restraint" could cause serious harm to those ride ops,

Good thing I'm not doing that at all and it is in fact the people who are refusing to entertain reality that are doing that.

Humans humaning is always the fault of the park as a company. It is never the fault of any individual. Even in cases where there is intentional harm comitted by a single individual, it should not have gone unoticed and there should be procedure in place to make it impossible. No accident ever, is ever, will never be the fault of a teenager checkign restraints.

You are the one who keeps saying that it is. Not me lol.

 

[SaiyanHajime]

Just trying to consider the facts/info we do know:

The relative in the interview above said Hassan didn’t or couldn’t ride the other coasters in the park. He didn’t confirm whose decision that was but he did say Hassan tried to ride.

He also said his niece, who was sat next to him said he passed out mid way through the ride, before the restraint was unlocked. This fits with him being ejected at the end of the ride, not nearer the beginning.

This interview with people behind him on the train suggest there was an issue with the restraint not locking properly in the station - https://www.instagram.com/reel/DecHj4Cj7LJ/?rpxt=N3VhbWI1bDNlaHV5 - they said he said it keeps clicking weird, locking and unlocking, locking and unlocking.

The relative confirmed it was Hassan’s first ride on Goliath. Even if he was interested in roller coasters, it doesn’t appear that he would be the type of die hard enthusiast to try and leave space between him and the restraint. Maybe that is just my opinion. But the restraint certainly looks too far open for a train to leave the station in the onride photo. It looks like it’s opened at least somewhat compared to when he left the station, and that would fit what his niece also said.

To me this is starting to look like a perfect storm, where multiple factors have all aligned in a freak tragedy. A potential faulty restraint (we don’t know whether that’s due to design, maintenance or operator error or all of the above) and potentially someone who shouldn’t have been riding due to illness, medical condition, body type etc. While I don’t think the passing out is the cause, as a restraint should still hold someone in despite that, i doubt that it’s a complete coincidence.

Can we get some soruces on those other points because woah woah woah.

Also for Nicky's points above. I've seen a lot parroted - like that he lunged for his phone - but never the source.

 

[MidlifeCoasterCrisis]

They had seatbelts BEFORE the incidents? I did not realise! I thought that was a post accident thing.

Was it seatbelt under restraint rather than seatbelt holding restraint?

I would think the existing seat belts on B&M hypers/gigas would be able to keep you safe if the clam shell failed. They go around you completely and are not the ones that simply attach to the lap bar. The only 2 forces you really need to be protected against are negative Gs and braking deceleration. Positive Gs push you into the seat and lateral Gs push you into the side of the seat. Plus, most turns are also banked, which converts some of that force to positive Gs anyway. B&Ms don't even hit -1G on the air time hills. So, the seat belt would only have to withstand less than the rider's body weight. As for braking, trim brakes only slow the train a small amount. So, that only leaves the MCBR and the final brake run. Why do people keep insisting that the seat belt wouldn't be a sufficient backup? Am I wrong in my thinking?

 

[jasone]

Can we get some soruces on those other points because woah woah woah.

I’ve put both sources in the thread. One in the post you quoted, the other in my previous post which is the interview with the family member.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

They had seatbelts BEFORE the incidents? I did not realise! I thought that was a post accident thing.

Was it seatbelt under restraint rather than seatbelt holding restraint?

I can't find a decent report on Stanley Mordarskey - the man with cerebral palsy who came out of SFNE's Ride of Steel. There's a footnote on Wiki saying the attendant did not check he was secured, but it goes to a paid article. I would SPECULATE that the attendant did not secure his seatbelt and that it was due to some awkwardness surrounding his disability. Supposedly this was a large man, but that shouldn't be relevant to my point. I believe a seatbelt would reduce the likelihood of a person being thrown.

James Hackemer, who lost his life to Darien Lake's... He had limb difference. He did not have knees, which are essential for being securely held. So I'm gonna write that one off as being entirely the fault of procedure or training at the park. He shouldn't have been allowed to ride. Full stop. No argument.

((hehe hi James))



Good thing I'm not doing that at all and it is in fact the people who are refusing to entertain reality that are doing that.

Humans humaning is always the fault of the park as a company. It is never the fault of any individual. Even in cases where there is intentional harm comitted by a single individual, it should not have gone unoticed and there should be procedure in place to make it impossible. No accident ever, is ever, will never be the fault of a teenager checkign restraints.

You are the one who keeps saying that it is. Not me lol.

Sorry, didn't mean that to come across as you've taken it, I wasn't suggesting you were doing that... Just that some people had jumped to conclusions like that before there was even any evidence of it...

I wasn't even saying that suggestions like that are wrong, as such, I was just saying that it's not right to make those kind of assumptions, or assign blame to anyone, before there's any evidence... It was more a general comment, I know you were against blaming youngsters, even if it does turn out to be some kind of human error.

Can we get some soruces on those other points because woah woah woah.

Also for Nicky's points above. I've seen a lot parroted - like that he lunged for his phone - but never the source.

I think you've missed a few posts prior to the ones you've quoted / referenced... These come from interviews. The interview with a relative on page 5 has the most info...

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]

Ryan on't tellybox

Ryan The Ride Mechanic on The Hill

This video contains no new information updates as of 15OCT26 Talking about the Goliath accident and park reopening.

www.youtube.com

 

[SaiyanHajime]

Sorry for missing the sources, caught up now I think.

God.

I think this might truly be the most shocking roller coaster accident of all time. No one - from any background - can seem to come up with a plausible explanation. Usually, we have some idea how something could have happened, even if it turns out to be false. But we literally have nothing.

I'm inclined to believe that if he did pass out, this is related. I think. Rather than a bizarre coincidence. And then the only rational conclusion I can draw is that the restraint was in some way damaged and the violent movements of an adult man who was passed out was the straw that broke the camels back. No amount of human force could open a b&m restraint, but if the bar itself was damaged, rather than the lock being faulty... Maybe. This is a wild stretch to draw, but it is an insane scenario.

Just it's just so ****ed up. I can't believe it's real.

 

[Matt N]

Sorry for missing the sources, caught up now I think.

God.

I think this might truly be the most shocking roller coaster accident of all time. No one - from any background - can seem to come up with a plausible explanation. Usually, we have some idea how something could have happened, even if it turns out to be false. But we literally have nothing.

I'm inclined to believe that if he did pass out, this is related. I think. Rather than a bizarre coincidence. And then the only rational conclusion I can draw is that the restraint was in some way damaged and the violent movements of an adult man who was passed out was the straw that broke the camels back. No amount of human force could open a b&m restraint, but if the bar itself was damaged, rather than the lock being faulty... Maybe. This is a wild stretch to draw, but it is an insane scenario.

Just it's just so ****ed up. I can't believe it's real.

I have to admit I agree, which is part of why I'm hesitant to come to too many rash conclusions. This is, even by ride incident standards, an utterly bizarre, dare I even say bordering on completely unprecedented, set of circumstances. The more I hear, the less sense the whole thing makes... hearing more about what happened and more discussion only makes me have more questions!

When you say that the restraint was damaged, what I'm thinking here is; how on Earth could a restraint be so damaged as to override a functional restraint locking mechanism that would supposedly require inhuman levels of force to override? I can't even begin to fathom that...

I so desperately want to hope (if hope is possible in a set of circumstances like this) that it was a New Texas Giant/Superman scenario of someone who shouldn't have been allowed to ride being allowed to ride and the actual restraints themselves functioned correctly... but that seems increasingly unlikely the more I hear...

Incidentally, when was the last time that we actually had a fatality as a result of an incorrectly functioning restraint opening horror film-style? All recent fatalities I can think of post about 2000 have been as a result of the hardware itself functioning correctly and people operating the hardware operating it incorrectly under inadequate procedure (Drenched at Oakwood was the staff failing to ensure that restraints were properly secured, Superman was someone without legs being allowed to ride, New Texas Giant and the Orlando drop tower were people who were above manufacturer-recommended size guidelines being allowed to ride)... when was the last time that a restraint failure resulted in a fatality? I'm struggling to think of a recent one...

The even stranger thing is that this happened on a B&M, who have had an absolutely stellar safety record up to this point with no fatalities related to something the ride itself actually did and even minimal to no record of much more minor incidents relating to the actual ride functioning... everything about this incident is utterly, utterly bizarre.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

All recent fatalities I can think of post about 2000 have been as a result of the hardware itself functioning correctly and people operating the hardware operating it incorrectly under inadequate procedure (Drenched at Oakwood was the staff failing to ensure that restraints were properly secured, Superman was someone without legs being allowed to ride, New Texas Giant and the Orlando drop tower were people who were above manufacturer-recommended size guidelines being allowed to ride)... when was the last time that a restraint failure resulted in a fatality? I'm struggling to think of a recent one...

The even stranger thing is that this happened on a B&M, who have had an absolutely stellar safety record up to this point with no fatalities related to something the ride itself actually did and even minimal to no record of much more minor incidents relating to the actual ride functioning... everything about this incident is utterly, utterly bizarre.

Let's not forget this could still be entirely human caused... We don't 'know' anything for sure yet.

But yeh... You're both right, this 'feels' very different... As Ryan pointed out, we would normally see other parks reopening their variants by now if it was looking like the issue was human caused...

 

[CanobieFan]

They had seatbelts BEFORE the incidents? I did not realise! I thought that was a post accident thing.

After the (non fatal) fall from the Six Flags Darien Lake Superman in 99, it received seat belts. In 2000 Millennium Force and the two other Superman's (NE/A) opened with the same seat belt.

Was it seatbelt under restraint rather than seatbelt holding restraint?

It was across the lap, but post NE 04 accident, but only for a short while, the ride had both a new style seatbelt across the lap *and* a belt from the restraint itself to the side of the seat, much like seen on Premier rides (flight of fear, joker, freeze)

 

[SaiyanHajime]

That former employee was doing so well until he stops talking about park procedure and moves onto mish mash of old wives tales and enthusiast knowledge gap filling. Anyone who's worked at a park has heard similar sounding Chinese whispers.

Pin slipping is definitely a thing that definitely happens... But it happens on rides with far fewer redundancies. Those kind of rides that are small, forceless and have near zero risk of death if their restraints fail. Rides who's restraints are deterrents for standing more than anything.

Vibration is a known cause of pins slipping, though... And whilst it's almost certainly nothing, there is a note here about vibration dampeners needing replacement on Goliath. It's been a while since I rode it but Nitro do rattle something fierce. https://attractionsmagazine.com/six...al&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

The chance of it happening on a ride as modern and large as b&m is surely next to zero, though? Because not only are the components made to a much higher calibre, it's got MULTIPLE redundancies that would all need to fail together. I find it next to impossible to believe.

Which can only mean those parts must have been failing period to the incident and we're somehow overlooked past when they should have. That, or some insane short term damage was done, somehow.

I hope we get a proper report out of Georgia.

 

[Bowser]

Whilst the two coasters in Europe have been operating, Hollywood Dream in Universal Japan has been closed since the incident.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Whilst the two coasters in Europe have been operating, Hollywood Dream in Universal Japan has been closed since the incident.

Has it actually? Or is this information coming from a post circulated a day or two ago which was posted by a USJ parody account? Only their website doesn't list it as temporarily closed... (Maybe that's because they're taking it day by day... But just want to be sure.)

 

[AndyCBR]

New to this forum and interested in this incident. I have ridden a B&M Hyper before (Mako) and really enjoyed it.

I'm a Mechanical Engineer and interested in what the failure was here.

I think it is clear the lap bar ended up in the retracted position during the ride based on most credible witness reports and the on ride photos. And based on the safety systems in place, the train had to have signaled all restraints engaged in order to be sent on the ride.

A youtuber (Ryan the ride mechanic) has some interesting photos and cross sectional diagrams of a similar B&M hyper locking mechanism on his recent video.

It seems like a robust system with multiple locking pawls (two pair per seat, so 4 total locking pawls). However, any mechanical system can fail with lack of maintenance and service.

For those who have some experience with greasy heavy equipment, grease can turn into a surprisingly hard solid over time if not cleaned and refreshed periodically. It can also get dirty and accelerate wear of metal components if not cleaned and refreshed.

1) Pure speculation on my part but could overdue maintenance be a factor? If the cogs fill with solid grease and prevent full engagement of the pawl, you lose some of the mechanical force and redundancy of the system. There is only a spring trying to push the pawl down to lock it, not a secondary actuator. Add in a little wear on the pawl teeth and the holding force could go down dramatically. This would align with some eyewitness reports that the lap bar had trouble staying locked even before the train left.

2) I've also seen some theories that old grease buildup can "fool" the proximity sensor for the locking pawl position and make the sensors detect the position as further engaged than it actually is. IE the sensor detects the latched position, even if the it is not down far enough.

3) The same youtube poster I referenced above also posits some type of metallurgical failure from fatigue/weld heat affected zone of the lap bar arm itself. This would allow the lap bar to be "up" while the locking system could have stayed in the locked position.

 

[roomraider]

New to this forum and interested in this incident. I have ridden a B&M Hyper before (Mako) and really enjoyed it.

I'm a Mechanical Engineer and interested in what the failure was here.

I think it is clear the lap bar ended up in the retracted position during the ride based on most credible witness reports and the on ride photos. And based on the safety systems in place, the train had to have signaled all restraints engaged in order to be sent on the ride.

A youtuber (Ryan the ride mechanic) has some interesting photos and cross sectional diagrams of a similar B&M hyper locking mechanism on his recent video.

It seems like a robust system with multiple locking pawls (two pair per seat, so 4 total locking pawls). However, any mechanical system can fail with lack of maintenance and service.

For those who have some experience with greasy heavy equipment, grease can turn into a surprisingly hard solid over time if not cleaned and refreshed periodically. It can also get dirty and accelerate wear of metal components if not cleaned and refreshed.

1) Pure speculation on my part but could overdue maintenance be a factor? If the cogs fill with solid grease and prevent full engagement of the pawl, you lose some of the mechanical force and redundancy of the system. There is only a spring trying to push the pawl down to lock it, not a secondary actuator. Add in a little wear on the pawl teeth and the holding force could go down dramatically. This would align with some eyewitness reports that the lap bar had trouble staying locked even before the train left.

2) I've also seen some theories that old grease buildup can "fool" the proximity sensor for the locking pawl position and make the sensors detect the position as further engaged than it actually is. IE the sensor detects the latched position, even if the it is not down far enough.

3) The same youtube poster I referenced above also posits some type of metallurgical failure from fatigue/weld heat affected zone of the lap bar arm itself. This would allow the lap bar to be "up" while the locking system could have stayed in the locked position.

I thinks fairly safe to say all those are possible failure points as far as I know. But we just won't know until the report comes out.

It seems clear there was some kind of mechanical/sensor failure for the ride to be dispatched and then the bar to become unlocked. Just what it is who knows. It's like aircraft crashes. They're so rare that when they do happen they are almost always a confluence of unusual events that just happened to cause an unexpected reaction. It's going to be interesting for sure

 

[cookie]

Has it actually? Or is this information coming from a post circulated a day or two ago which was posted by a USJ parody account? Only their website doesn't list it as temporarily closed... (Maybe that's because they're taking it day by day... But just want to be sure.)


View attachment 43512

According to the park app it’s currently open as I’m posting this:



queue-times.com does have an odd gap in data between Wednesday and yesterday so maybe it was down for a few days (this doesn’t seem to have been a site error since every other attraction at the park still recorded queue times):

https://queue-times.com/parks/284/rides/7077?given_date=2026-10-14#day

https://queue-times.com/parks/284/rides/7077?given_date=2026-10-15#day

https://queue-times.com/parks/284/rides/7077?given_date=2026-10-16#day

 

[Nicky Borrill]

New to this forum and interested in this incident. I have ridden a B&M Hyper before (Mako) and really enjoyed it.

I'm a Mechanical Engineer and interested in what the failure was here.

I think it is clear the lap bar ended up in the retracted position during the ride based on most credible witness reports and the on ride photos. And based on the safety systems in place, the train had to have signaled all restraints engaged in order to be sent on the ride.

A youtuber (Ryan the ride mechanic) has some interesting photos and cross sectional diagrams of a similar B&M hyper locking mechanism on his recent video.

It seems like a robust system with multiple locking pawls (two pair per seat, so 4 total locking pawls). However, any mechanical system can fail with lack of maintenance and service.

For those who have some experience with greasy heavy equipment, grease can turn into a surprisingly hard solid over time if not cleaned and refreshed periodically. It can also get dirty and accelerate wear of metal components if not cleaned and refreshed.

1) Pure speculation on my part but could overdue maintenance be a factor? If the cogs fill with solid grease and prevent full engagement of the pawl, you lose some of the mechanical force and redundancy of the system. There is only a spring trying to push the pawl down to lock it, not a secondary actuator. Add in a little wear on the pawl teeth and the holding force could go down dramatically. This would align with some eyewitness reports that the lap bar had trouble staying locked even before the train left.

2) I've also seen some theories that old grease buildup can "fool" the proximity sensor for the locking pawl position and make the sensors detect the position as further engaged than it actually is. IE the sensor detects the latched position, even if the it is not down far enough.

3) The same youtube poster I referenced above also posits some type of metallurgical failure from fatigue/weld heat affected zone of the lap bar arm itself. This would allow the lap bar to be "up" while the locking system could have stayed in the locked position.

I'd thought about a similar theory earlier whilst thinking back to a previous Ryan video I watched a long time ago.

There is actually a known phenomena with coaster restraints whereby human hair builds up and combines with grease inside the rack / ratchet and pawl system and causes issues like those you mention. That same bloke, Ryan, talked about it in an unrelated video many moons ago... I'm guessing this mostly affects over the shoulder restraints, as he talks about loose hair getting caught in the restraint leading to this...

However, it does make me think that your theories, whilst wildly speculative at this point, with what we know so far, are plausible

According to the park app it’s currently open as I’m posting this:

View attachment 43514

queue-times.com does have an odd gap in data between Wednesday and yesterday so maybe it was down for a few days (this doesn’t seem to have been a site error since every other attraction at the park still recorded queue times):

https://queue-times.com/parks/284/rides/7077?given_date=2026-10-14#day

https://queue-times.com/parks/284/rides/7077?given_date=2026-10-15#day

https://queue-times.com/parks/284/rides/7077?given_date=2026-10-16#day

Thanks cookie.