Yesterday, tragically, a man was killed during an incident on the Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia. Our thoughts go out to his loved ones, and we hope that this prompts measures to prevent something like this from ever happening in the industry again. Goliath in its recently repainted form, along with Fury 325, are the inspiration of our name, “Aqua Coast” — two roller coasters we love painted aqua blue. This hits extremely close to home and has weighed heavy on us.
In the wake of this horrible tragedy, however, a lot of people are getting a lot of things wrong, often in a race to sensationalize the story on social media.
Goliath’s Restraints Were Insufficient
Goliath is a “hypercoaster" manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, a popular model around the world. All the B&M hypercoasters use the same clamshell-style restraints. The first coaster using them, Apollo’s Chariot, was installed in 1999. This is the first time ever that a person has died due to being improperly restrained on a B&M ride — including on other sorts of coasters they’ve designed.
When working properly, the restraints are unquestionably perfectly fine. But in this case, they clearly were not working properly, and it is critical that this investigation discern why.Â
I Felt Like I Was Going to Fall Out Riding It
Yes, that’s literally the point. This is what is called “ejector airtime,” and it’s considered one of the most desirable thrilling features of high-end rollercoasters. B&M hypercoasters make a very deliberate tradeoff: they avoid elements that would need shoulder restraints like twisting upside down to focus on going over hills fast with only the clamshell holding you down, enabling you to really feel moments of weightlessness.
It’s completely understandable to not enjoy this sensation! Many people simply do not enjoy specific kinds of amusement park rides — or amusement park rides in general — and that is fine. Just understand what you experienced was intentional and extremely well-engineered to be safe.
I Grayed Out Riding It
Goliath has a banked spiral in the middle of the ride that’s very intense, which is where this undoubtedly happened. Briefly graying out is not at all dangerous, though Six Flags should better warn riders that this might happen, as most find it to be an unpleasant and scary sensation.
That said, the reason you gray out there is because your body is being pushed intensely into the train. This makes it slightly harder for blood to reach your brain, but this element would not fling you out of the train. It’s going over the hills without functioning restraints where that risk lies.
That Ride Has Done This Before
No. The only serious incident prior to this on Goliath was in 2006, when a man died due to a pre-existing medical condition while on the ride. This is literally the first time ever that someone has ever died not just on Goliath but on any B&M ride ever due to not being properly restrained.
These Parks Go With the Lowest Bidder
No, that’s not how this business works. Coaster companies offer portfolios of models that parks can choose from. The track layout is usually custom — though Six Flags saved money in the 90s by copy & pasting the same Batman & Superman layout over and over across the country — but the engineering of the trains, track, brakes, etc. are the same.
B&M coasters draw coaster enthusiasts who are happy to spend a lot of money at parks. Six Flags Over Georgia built four in the span of a decade: Batman, Superman, Georgia Scorcher, and Goliath. Their rides are especially thrilling and, until now, their safety record entirely unblemished. The roller coaster that keeps winning the equivalent of Best Picture every year is basically just a taller, faster Goliath, down to having the same restraints — Fury 325 at Carowinds.
Goliath cost $20 million to construct — $32 million when adjusted for inflation. This was a premium product built by a very deliberately chosen team.
He Was Too Fat
Almost assuredly not. There was a case of someone being ejected from Six Flags New England’s Superman in 2004 because the restraints were unsafe for someone of his size, but that does not seem to be what happened here.
(To be clear, Six Flags New England’s Superman is not one of the duplicated B&M Superman rides mentioned above. It’s an Intamin hypercoaster — a ride similar to Goliath but by a different company with different restraints. Yes, it’s confusing. Six Flags even has three separate rides named “Goliath” across its parks that are all entirely different!)
Six Flags Over Georgia is a Dangerous Park
It’s my home park and the one I grew up visiting, and I don’t want to fully let it off the hook. There is a very high likelihood that this ultimately was a failure of the team there. In general, their operations often leave a lot to be desired, even compared to other parks in the same chain. Rides dispatch slowly and have a lot of downtime. There are a handful of dedicated and wonderful people there who love their jobs, but they are spread too thin.
They absolutely should staff the park better, not just for safety reasons but because there’s a chicken and egg problem — it gets less funding because it fails to meet attendance goals, but people are less likely to come back if their experience doesn’t meet their expectations.
However, it should be noted that this is the first time someone has ever died from a roller coaster operating improperly at Six Flags Over Georgia. This is despite many, many millions of rides over this time. In the 00s, there were two incidents of people in the restricted, fenced-in area under Batman getting decapitated by the hanging feet of riders. There are a few cases where someone died while on a ride — such as the man on Goliath in 2006 mentioned earlier — but not due to the ride operating incorrectly.
Final Thoughts
One preventable death should always be a cause for the industry to figure out how to make sure it will never happen again. But it isn’t a reason to panic either.
Modern theme parks are an extremely safe hobby — you should be much more worried about the drive there than the rides! — and we gain nothing good by fearmongering about them.