News Rider Dead After Being Thrown from Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia

[telamark]

Plausible to assume now that Over Georgia's future is now in question as a major investment in the portfolio of the chain, right?

It's ridiculous to ignore the problems that park has had over the past few years. This completely tanks Six Flags PR across all parks, and with the-already disastrous media circle that just happened with X2, a fatality captured and spread on the internet of a family man who died in an accident that just seems baffling and incredibly off to think about how it occurred is a huge nail in the coffin..

 

[Le Moose]

Were any North American Hypers open today? Feel like I heard someone say Mako might have been, but not sure where I saw that.

A news channel in Orlando said that it was closed. I want to say SeaWorld put out a statement about it.

 

[MaxxForceFan]

Plausible to assume now that Over Georgia's future is now in question as a major investment in the portfolio of the chain, right?

It's ridiculous to ignore the problems that park has had over the past few years. This completely tanks Six Flags PR across all parks, and with the-already disastrous media circle that just happened with X2, a fatality captured and spread on the internet of a family man who died in an accident that just seems baffling and incredibly off to think about how it occurred is a huge nail in the coffin..

They still have to complete the purchase of the park and Six Flags White Water for more than $332.6 million.

8-K

 

[MakoMania]

Mako was closed again today.

 

[horsesboy]

We’re any North American Hypers open today? Feel like I heard someone say Mako might have been, but not sure where I saw that.

Yes but the ones that were are not B&Ms.

 

[mtorange]

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[CarolinaCoasters]

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Yikes

 

[GASM]

Yes but the ones that were are not B&Ms.

I believe Magnum was also dealing with some sort of downtime prior to this, so if it isn’t open tomorrow (park was closed Monday through today) then I wouldn’t read much into it.

Not that an Arrow hyper would be affected in theory, but considering a Giovanola hyper is also closed, who knows.

 

[Zachary]

Good ol' Six Flags Over Georgia. 9 years ago with video proof on Dahlonega Mine Train:

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Presumably this one was a failure to check the restraint prior to dispatch? Thank goodness the kid had an adult with them...

Also got to love how they dispatched the train with the guy in the front row holding a phone filming.

This park has been playing with fire for so, so long.

 

[rswashdc]

Ehh. It would have likely needed to be VERY advanced (and likely easily identifiable via inspection) for the restraint tube to enter failure territory, no?

It would be like a Fury situation where regular inspection would have prevented the total failure.

If the area is heavily painted over and the crack started from the inside, it could be hard to pick up during inspection and not look like anything out of the ordinary. There have been aircraft failures of sorts, so it wouldn't be unprecedented given enough cycles on the train.

Obviously everything is speculative at this point until photos or a report is circulated showing the train and restraint mechanism.

 

[mtorange]

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For what it’s worth, they’ve also changed the name of the beloved show Dead Man’s Party at Six Flags Great Adventure.

We may see similar changes and tweaks at all Six Flags Halloween events this weekend.

It also makes me wonder if the Oingo Boingo song of the same name will be cut from all shows it’s in. Wake The Dead has the song in most of its versions across the chain.

 

[CoasterBroCam]

For what it’s worth, they’ve also changed the name of the beloved show Dead Man’s Party at Six Flags Great Adventure.

We may see similar changes and tweaks at all Six Flags Halloween events this weekend.

It also makes me wonder if the Oingo Boingo song of the same name will be cut from all shows it’s in. Wake The Dead has the song in most of its versions across the chain.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they cut wake the dead entirely. Not only is the entire show about a dead guy, but also, the opening number is literally the characters enthusiastically welcoming us to a “show about death”. Great show, absolutely loved it, but yeah…. Not too great now.

 

[Magic-Man]

I'm still surprised Over Georgia is open at all this week. Attendance can't be good.

 

[RocketChk]

Came across this last night, and to me, it sounds like a plausible scenario that could have happened. Supports the idea that the restraint did not pop all the way open like speculated or even moved at all from when it left the station, as Zachary showed in his post with the on-ride photo versus a fully unlocked restraint. He was locked in, just not securely.

Also, if -IF- he was reaching for a phone (as one of many of the rumors say) at the right time during airtime on the bunny hills, I can see where he could easily slide out if he is on the first notch. The forward/diagonal motion combined with an improperly locked restraint plus airtime.

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[mtorange]

I wouldn’t be surprised if they cut wake the dead entirely. Not only is the entire show about a dead guy, but also, the opening number is literally the characters enthusiastically welcoming us to a “show about death”. Great show, absolutely loved it, but yeah…. Not too great now.

This literally didn’t even cross my mind! Wow.
Hope they figure out a way to keep it going.

And that song is only in the KD version too…

 

[CarolinaCoasters]

Feel free to delete if this is against the rules, but i wanted to share the GoFundMe from the victim’s family here.

Donate to Support Hasaan Kariem's Family, organized by Arianna Kareim

I’m raising funds for my first cousin, Hasaan Kariem, after the devastating Six Flags in… Arianna Kareim needs your support for Support Hasaan Kariem's Family

www.gofundme.com

The family has not created a GoFundMe according to Fox 5 Atlanta. Six Flags victim's family asks you not to donate

 

[Zachary]

Came across this last night, and to me, it sounds like a plausible scenario that could have happened. Supports the idea that the restraint did not pop all the way open like speculated or even moved at all from when it left the station, as Zachary showed in his post with the on-ride photo versus a fully unlocked restraint. He was locked in, just not securely.

Also, if -IF- he was reaching for a phone (as one of many of the rumors say) at the right time during airtime on the bunny hills, I can see where he could easily slide out if he is on the first notch. The forward/diagonal motion combined with an improperly locked restraint plus airtime.

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I'm sure this woman means well and it sounds like it has been a bit since she was a ride operator, but her lack of understanding of manufacturer rules regarding minimum verification basics and how a restraint should be fitted to a rider makes this video pretty unhelpful in my opinion.

IF she is right and the coaster was dispatched as depicted in the on-ride photo, the problem wasn't that the rider was too large or that larger guests are somehow intrinsically in danger on coasters—the problem in that scenario would be that Six Flags Over Georgia is a wildly inept, wildly negligent park where a coaster can be dispatched with a restraint in an egregiously, dangerously out of manufacturer spec position/fitment.

People should not be scared of having a restraint pushed down—even by multiple people. If a restraint is in a safe riding position (meets manufacturer verification requirements and is in the lowest comfortable position closest to the part of the rider's body with which the restraint is designed to make contact), that person is safe to ride. Her fearmongering about larger or smaller riders alongside her (probably unintentional but definitely present) blame/responsibility-shifting from the park to riders is harmful, if you ask me.

 

[ConolyCoasterDesigns]

Came across this last night, and to me, it sounds like a plausible scenario that could have happened. Supports the idea that the restraint did not pop all the way open like speculated or even moved at all from when it left the station, as Zachary showed in his post with the on-ride photo versus a fully unlocked restraint. He was locked in, just not securely.

Also, if -IF- he was reaching for a phone (as one of many of the rumors say) at the right time during airtime on the bunny hills, I can see where he could easily slide out if he is on the first notch. The forward/diagonal motion combined with an improperly locked restraint plus airtime.

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One of the most glaring issues with this video is her entire focus on the word "secure". The way she uses it, especially with a focus on the clamshells or OTSRs, completely ignores the other aspects of the restraint system that are designed into the ride ie. the lateral bracing on the seats of a hyper or giga.

I dont want to discredit her time as an operator, but right now it appears that shes using the term "former ride operator" to do a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to her industry knowledge.

 

[SweetBabyJames]

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This is just an instance of people trying to profit off a tragedy. She probably whipped up something quickly to get some clicks.

 

[Jazma]

It reminds me a little of the Perilous Plunge death at KBF in 2000. There were Intamin lap bars at the time, but the conclusion was that her body mass moved enough in the G forces that caused a gap for her to slide out of. When the ride reopened, they had installed three point harnesses.