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

[Snoo]

The hardest part of all of this is just not knowing. We, as enthusiasts, just want to know to put some rhyme or reason to this tragedy for a ride many of us have been riding for decades.

I will say, from a personal standpoint, I've been ask more about rollercoasters this week then I have in years. Trying to dispel wild crazy rumors has rekindled some of the love I've always had for the crazy backend side of things.

 

[cookie]

Candymonium opened on Friday with a Hersheypark spokesperson saying B&M hasn’t identified any basis for closing their other hypers:

“Candymonium plans to operate when Hersheypark opens to the public on Friday, October 16. Our thoughts remain with the guest’s family and everyone affected by Monday’s incident at Six Flags Over Georgia. Before making this decision, we had Candymonium thoroughly inspected. Our ride inspection team, which includes state-certified ride inspectors, and an independent external ride safety inspector each confirmed that the ride is operating as intended and that Candymonium remains safe to operate. We have also been in contact with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, which oversees Amusement Park operations in the Commonwealth regarding our decision to operate the attraction. We also consulted with the ride’s manufacturer. Based on the information presently available, the manufacturer has not identified an engineering basis to recommend shutting down similarly designed coasters solely because of the incident in Georgia. Candymonium was custom-built to its own specifications, with multiple redundant safety systems, including a seatbelt at every seat in addition to the lap restraint. Safety is the foundation of everything we do, and we take that responsibility seriously.”

https://www.abc27.com/local-news/hersheypark-opens-candymonium-coaster-following-six-flags-coaster-death/

 

[Bowser]

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.)

It reopened today but was definitely closed the past few days.

 

[bratcurry]

Candymonium opened on Friday with a Hersheypark spokesperson saying B&M hasn’t identified any basis for closing their other hypers.

Candymonium also has seatbelts. Goliath at SFMM has reopened as well (Source). That's already 3 of the previously closed Hypers coming back, so it's getting likelier this was an odd issue which can be ruled out rather easy with further inspection or it's maintenance-related.

 

[Matt N]

Does Hollywood Dream have seatbelts? If that doesn’t, that would further suggest that it’s currently not believed to be down to anything inherent with the clamshells themselves.

Of course, we should emphasise “currently” at this stage, but I’d imagine that any genuinely serious hazard with the clamshells would not see these rides reopening.

 

[Bowser]

Does Hollywood Dream have seatbelts? If that doesn’t, that would further suggest that it’s currently not believed to be down to anything inherent with the clamshells themselves.

Of course, we should emphasise “currently” at this stage, but I’d imagine that any genuinely serious hazard with the clamshells would not see these rides reopening.

Hollywood Dream doesn't have seat belts (unless they've been added in the last year or so since my visit).

An issue with the restraint design always seemed unlikely to me considering they've been operating for decades with hundreds of millions of rides.

 

[Matt N]

An issue with the restraint design always seemed unlikely to me considering they've been operating for decades with hundreds of millions of rides.

I’ll admit I agree, and rides beginning to reopen would give further credence to this view, but the circumstances of the incident are to say the least incredibly bizarre, which leads to me believe nothing can be truly 100% ruled out…

 

[spicy]

Yeah as the other Hypers start to reopen it is safe to assume Six Flags & B&M now know what occurred and others are not affected. This points the finger at SFOG.

 

[dontbesuchamcbr]

EP left Silverstar open every day. There is absolutely no chance that they or any other park knows the reason for this mortal incident. I understand that coasters with seatbelts reopened, but I cann't understand how you can open a B&M Hyper without seatbelts. If they say that their maintenance is perfect, they imply that this mortal incident must have occurred because of lack of the right maintenance, which is Impossible to say at this moment.

EP is my Home Park, and I am shocked at how Mack makes his decisions.

 

[Lucy]

Yeah as the other Hypers start to reopen it is safe to assume Six Flags & B&M now know what occurred and others are not affected. This points the finger at SFOG.

Yeah, I agree - and perhaps it points towards a maintenance issue? But not going to really speculate until an official statement is made.

Even so, it is such a sad occurrence and my condolences to the family of the man involved.

 

[spicy]

EP left Silverstar open every day. There is absolutely no chance that they or any other park knows the reason for this mortal incident. I understand that coasters with seatbelts reopened, but I cann't understand how you can open a B&M Hyper without seatbelts. If they say that their maintenance is perfect, they imply that this mortal incident must have occurred because of lack of the right maintenance, which is Impossible to say at this moment.

EP is my Home Park, and I am shocked at how Mack makes his decisions.

See, I’d say the opposite.

Mack has complete confidence in the exceptional calibre of their maintenance operations and is confident that Silver Star can continue to operate without disruption.

This confidence is underpinned by the consistently low levels of downtime and the park’s stellar safety record.

 

[dontbesuchamcbr]

See, I’d say the opposite.

Mack has complete confidence in the exceptional calibre of their maintenance operations and is confident that Silver Star can continue to operate without disruption.

This confidence is underpinned by the consistently low levels of downtime and the park’s stellar safety record.

And who says that maintnace caused this? I have no doubt that the maintenance of EP is stellar. Silverstar ran every day, how on earth can EP pinpoint it down on maintenance since day one?

 

[jasone]

And who says that maintnace caused this? I have no doubt that the maintenance of EP is stellar. Silverstar ran every day, how on earth can EP pinpoint it down on maintenance since day one?

We don't know whats happening behind the scenes. But I doubt EP or B&M would want Silver Star to open if they thought there was even a chance it was an issue. If I had to list my top 5 parks for how i perceive maintenance and operations, Europa would surely be in there. Obviously that is just my opinion. But, I doubt they would make the decision recklessly.

 

[SaiyanHajime]

And who says that maintnace caused this? I have no doubt that the maintenance of EP is stellar. Silverstar ran every day, how on earth can EP pinpoint it down on maintenance since day one?

Because quite frankly, no other option is feasible.

Nothing is ever absolutee, but if a restraint was open when it should not have been possible on a type of ride restraint with a proven flawless safety record, we just have to assume it's SFOGs fault at a local level. Nothing else adds up.

When you hear hoofbeats, think horses not zebras. Unless you're in Africa. Or the zoo, I guess.

 

[dontbesuchamcbr]

We don't know whats happening behind the scenes. But I doubt EP or B&M would want Silver Star to open if they thought there was even a chance it was an issue. If I had to list my top 5 parks for how i perceive maintenance and operations, Europa would surely be in there. Obviously that is just my opinion. But, I doubt they would make the decision recklessly.

I had no doubt about the safety at EP too, until this week! They clearly could not know on tuesday (or any other day) what caused this, but they decided to open Silverstar anyway.

They might just think, it was opened the last 24 years with exaktly the same maintenance as always and nothing happened, so why should we closed it now?

But what if thats exactly what SFOG did? What if in a few weeks we will find out, that maintenance did not cause this and that SFOG did nothing wrong? I am not saying that this will be the result, but it could be.

There is still an chance, that there is something wrong with the design of the restraint system, but Mack don't give a damn about that, as long as they do their maintnace as usual.

 

[dontbesuchamcbr]

Because quite frankly, no other option is feasible.

Nothing is ever absolutee, but if a restraint was open when it should not have been possible on a type of ride restraint with a proven flawless safety record, we just have to assume it's SFOGs fault at a local level. Nothing else adds up.

When you hear hoofbeats, think horses not zebras. Unless you're in Africa. Or the zoo, I guess.

Asumptions aren't good enough for me when it comes to safety that effects the life of guests.

And every safety record is stellar until its not, it doesn't matter if that happens after 20 days or 20 years.

I don't care about anything else than knowing exactly what caused this. And for know we and all the Parks with B&M Hypers (outside of SF maybe) definitely don't know what caused this.

 

[jasone]

I don't think you should change your mind about a parks safety based on not closing their coaster because of this. Again, we don't know how much is already known behind the scenes. It might have been quite clear that its an issue that does not affect Silver Star and therefore they felt it was safe to open it. I imagine they have been in touch with B&M in the meantime and have been advised they also believe its safe.

I would agree the more information that comes out, coupled with B&Ms perfect safety record, that it sounds more of a maintenance or operational issue, than a design flaw. Again, may be wrong, but the fact Hershey are opening Candymonium also supports that.

 

[roomraider]

Asumptions aren't good enough for me when it comes to safety that effects the life of guests.

And every safety record is stellar until its not, it doesn't matter if that happens after 20 days or 20 years.

I don't care about anything else than knowing exactly what caused this. And for know we and all the Parks with B&M Hypers (outside of SF maybe) definitely don't know what caused this.

But you're making assumptions too, so many of them, I mean for starters you are assuming you know better than the entire trained team looking after a ride.

Do you know for sure they don't know the reason?

Since you're making assumptions Let's make a hypothetical.

It's fully possible every park was told a gear failed almost straight away by B&M. Then every park would need to check those for stress fractures, hence the varied amounts of downtime at different parks, maybe EP checked them very recently and don't need to again and didn't close SS. Perfectly normal and acceptable.

The simple fact is we don't know.

 

[dontbesuchamcbr]

Candymonium has seat belts, Silverstar doesn't. Kinda changes everything when it comes to an rejected guest from a coaster.

And again, I don't care about what EP might have known just hours after the incident, that Nobody else knows and if B&M had nothing better to do in this extrem time than communicating with EP that everything is fine. It rather bringst up the question, why they didnt call Seaworld and tell them everything is alright with Maco too?

Or would they rather prevent of making any official statements towards their customers in a time like this? What has B&M to lose, if Silverstar is closed for a few weeks and reopens, because it was always safe?

 

[Matt N]

It’s worth remembering in this debate that Hollywood Dream, which initially closed, has also now reopened and doesn’t have seatbelts. While nothing is confirmed and we should keep an open mind, that possibly provides our strongest proof yet that B&M does not believe the clamshells themselves were an issue.

Surely if B&M suspected that there was even the slightest whiff of an inherent issue with the clamshells, they would have recalled all clamshell coasters worldwide and told them all to shut? Manufacturers have recalled all examples of a model before in considerably less dire circumstances, and there’s no way that B&M would tolerate even the slightest chance of there being an inherent safety issue on operating coasters if there was one. That leads me to believe that they likely think the inherent clamshell design is fine.

As for why Mako and the like have remained closed, different US states probably differ in their safety approaches, and I also imagine the fact that Mako and the like are in the USA possibly contributes to their continued closure. I feel like news outlets and such may make a quicker link to the incident in America itself than outside of it, and no park wants a PR nightmare as a result of an incident that didn’t happen at their park regardless of how safe the ride may actually be. I think the link will be much, much more easily made in the USA than outside of it, hence the USA parks need to handle opening/reopening potentially more delicately than those in Europe and Asia.