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

[jscll]

I imagine this is unrelated. I know queue times and general posted six flags wait times are taken with a grain of salt, but Titan seems to still be open at over texas (or was until quite literally 3 minutes ago lmao, though I gotta imagine if it was related they would have shut it down sooner. So it's probably over texas being over texas). Unless there's some variance in the two's trains/restraints that would constitute only closing one in response to an accident on a B&M

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Dispite having a box spine, Titan is not a B&M; it is a Giovanola. Even though Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabillard did previously work for Giovanola, the only similarity in restraint design is they both use racheting restraints.

 

[horsesboy]

Got to think we are looking at simething breaking during the course of the ride as I can't imagine that a not fulky locked restraint would stay partially closed throughout the ride including several higher force elements only to fail at the end of the ride. This makes me think possible metal fatigue or something else that just finally reached it's breaking point at that moment.

 

[Zachary]

I assume this is for Goliath? Speaking from experience this not true for every B&M.

I had no idea there were still any B&Ms running without sensor-based restraint verification systems. If you can elaborate on which ride you're referring to having experience with, I'd be very interested to know! Hopefully it at least has a seatbelt for measurement?

IF (BIG IF!) Goliath somehow doesn't have an electronic restraint verification system, I guess it's possible the restraint was never actually lowered adequately to begin with and this could be a Ride of Steel/New Texas Giant situation?

Any former Goliath ops out there?

 

[Tacky3663]

The more I read about this and the more I hear from people with firsthand knowledge of the ride model, the more it is seeming like a complete failure of the restraint mechanism. How that happened and why it occurred are likely to be the most important questions in unraveling this mystery.

Negligence on the parks side 100% if you ask me

The odds of a complete restraint failure on a B&M without severe negligence is basically zero….

 

[Tacky3663]

This incident was a specific park problem if you ask me….The operations at Six Flags Over Georgia have been incredibly lax and shady over the past few years cause management just seemed to not give a shit

I’ve seen pictures of ride ops on their phones. Someone claimed that somebody was sleeping on the job at Superman the other day.

I’ve heard rumors of management rushing maintenance projects for peak season.

I’m almost certain that this has something to do with Park negligence

 

[amperedragon]

This is horrific, and the tragedy is paramount. But the details we do have are also so inexplicable - based on the existence of the photo (FWIW I think @Zachary’s shift to a link was the right compromise here) and the eyewitness reports, this happened at the very end of the ride. Trying to understand why a restraint failure would happen there and not earlier is extremely hard to wrap one’s head around.

The end of Goliath has a couple hills with really strong negative forces, then has one that abruptly shifts away from the parabolic motion of most camelbacks in order to make the turn into the brakes. My best guess is the jerk at this moment caused the restraint to pop, then the combination of negative and lateral forces in the turn tossed the rider out of the train. IIRC, this is right around the point where the photo is taken, which would match up with what is depicted in the images we have available.

Negligence on the parks side 100% if you ask me

The odds of a complete restraint failure on a B&M without severe negligence is basically zero….

I don't want to jump to that conclusion just yet, but it would probably be a one in a billion chance this could happen without something improper on the park's side contributing. Is it possible there was a defect in the locking component that caused it to fail at this specific moment while holding up during prior cycles that day? Absolutely. Is it probable such a defect would be able to go unnoticed long enough to fail catastrophically in this manner? Unlikely if best practices are being followed.

 

[MrBradferd]

I wonder how long the clamshell coasters will be closed. How long were the straddles closed? Months wasnt it? I had plans for Carowinds next week. Those im sure are long gone.

 

[Python_Survivor]

I had no idea there were still any B&Ms running without sensor-based restraint verification systems. If you can elaborate on which ride you're referring to having experience with, I'd be very interested to know! Hopefully it at least has a seatbelt for measurement?

Speaking outside of B&M, some Universal and Disney Rides (VelociCoaster, Everest, etc) are still mechanical based and can be dispatched without checking in theory.

 

[horsesboy]

I was at magic mountain when it happened. After hearing that BM hypers were getting closed I popped over to Goliath, and was both surprised and not surprised to see it chained off

I was on the platform waiting to ride Twisted Timbers the day Steel Vengeance blew through it's break run and had it's collision. It took less then hslf an hour from the incident happening an KD being ordered to pause Timbers operation. An that was an innocent with no injuries. The liability on waiting is just way to high in these cases.

 

[A_Sad_Squirrel]

I had no idea there were still any B&Ms running without sensor-based restraint verification systems. If you can elaborate on which ride you're referring to having experience with, I'd be very interested to know! Hopefully it at least has a seatbelt for measurement?

Dominator doesn't have restraint sensors. Every restraint wide open? It will send as long as the train is locked.

 

[Jonesta6]

Got to think we are looking at simething breaking during the course of the ride as I can't imagine that a not fulky locked restraint would stay partially closed throughout the ride including several higher force elements only to fail at the end of the ride. This makes me think possible metal fatigue or something else that just finally reached it's breaking point at that moment.

If it were a restraint lock failure, which in itself would be rare, wouldn't the odds of the redundant backup lock failure occurring be even higher?

The only way I could think that'd realistically happen is if the first lock broke on an earlier cycle and wasn't noticed before the fateful cycle where the backup also broke.

But even then - wouldn't it be likely that restraint would be noticeably harder to close and/or sound wrong if the ratcheting mechanism broke?

Additionally, isn't it a chain-wide standard to inspect (daily visual/physical and yearly NDT) and replace these components regularly (by wear, cycle count, or timing depending on the component), in addition to whether the local regulations require?

Again, not saying it's not possible and I presume it will be properly investigated. But logically it seems to be unlikely.

 

[I305Evan]

I had no idea there were still any B&Ms running without sensor-based restraint verification systems. If you can elaborate on which ride you're referring to having experience with, I'd be very interested to know! Hopefully it at least has a seatbelt for measurement?

IF (BIG IF!) Goliath somehow doesn't have an electronic restraint verification system, I guess it's possible the restraint was never actually lowered adequately to begin with and this could be a Ride of Steel/New Texas Giant situation?

Any former Goliath ops out there?

While not a hyper/ ride with lapbars, Dominator at KD only verifies if the restraint release plunger is locked or unlocked. (I'vd not heard of any updates to this at least) So the restraint release can register as locked on PLC, but the restraints could be unlocked on the train itself. Also, the train could be locked, but the restraint could be fully open.

 

[horsesboy]

If it were a restraint lock failure, which in itself would be rare, wouldn't the odds of the redundant backup lock failure occurring be even higher?

The only way I could think that'd realistically happen is if the first lock broke on an earlier cycle and wasn't noticed before the fateful cycle where the backup also broke.

But even then - wouldn't it be likely that restraint would be noticeably harder to close and/or sound wrong if the ratcheting mechanism broke?

Additionally, isn't it a chain-wide standard to inspect (daily visual/physical and yearly NDT) and replace these components regularly (by wear, cycle count, or timing depending on the component), in addition to whether the local regulations require?

Again, not saying it's not possible and I presume it will be properly investigated. But logically it seems to be unlikely.

It was supposed to be standard practice to visually check support joints every day yet Fury still had one completely break an go unnoticed till a guests recorded it. Just saying.

 

[StarPony]

This is truly horrifying, my heart is with everyone involved.

I don't know if I've ever heard a story of a restraint completely unlocking during the ride, it's really scary. I just hope it never happens again.

 

[horsesboy]

Seen multiple reports that appear credible that B&M fid issue an immediate stop operations order on all clsmshell coaster this evening.

 

[SixFlagsIssues]

Speaking outside of B&M, some Universal and Disney Rides (VelociCoaster, Everest, etc) are still mechanical based and can be dispatched without checking in theory.

All of the following is about MAGIC MOUNTAIN'S Goliath. NOT the Over Georgia one.
From my understanding Goliath at Magic Mountain has a seatbelt as verification and can dispatch with restraints up. Proof of this is from this onride and an Operator I talked to

 

[Tacky3663]

Dominator doesn't have restraint sensors. Every restraint wide open? It will send as long as the train is locked.

That is an accident waiting to happen

 

[Python_Survivor]

Seen multiple reports that appear credible that B&M fid issue an immediate stop operations order on all clsmshell coaster this evening.

Hollywood Dream: The Ride at Universal Japan is currently operational.

 

[mtorange]

Before I share this next thing, please know that my heart is also with the SFOG community this evening and the victim’s family after this unfortunate tragedy.

I wanted to share this photo showing the immediate impacts that this tragedy may have on the future of the Six Flags chain. Stock is down more than 10% in after hours trading, which is a stark sign that many investors are looking to jump ship after another safety-related incident in the past month alone.

Mods, if there is a better place to share this, please feel free to move it. I’m honestly split on if this is the right place/time to talk about it, but also think it’s relevant to the overall discussion.

 

[mugnezz]

All of the following is about MAGIC MOUNTAIN'S Goliath. NOT the Over Georgia one.
From my understanding Goliath at Magic Mountain has a seatbelt as verification and can dispatch with restraints up. Proof of this is from this onride and an Operator I talked to

Goliath at Magic Mountain is by Giovanola; it is not a B&M.