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

[northdetective]

I remember these - went on Nitro opening year. Didn't create issue at all and worked super fine. Wonder if B&M will need to reimplement if it indeed is a manufacturer issue vs. staff/user error?

They seem super unobtrusive compared to a regular seatbelt given that they attach to the restraint instead of going around the rider's body, and I would assume the belts lock in length in a way that keeps the primary restraint in place, instead of traditional seatbelts which don't do much if the main restraint unlocks. I heard they were removed to speed up loading, but if we have to see redundant/failsafe restraints return, it looks like a good option to me

 

[MAZ]

I have been riding these things since they were introduced in the 90’s. The clamshell restraint has always been my favorite of all. This is truly frightening. Even as a 50 year old, I still make trips to ride these things. I haven’t posted here in years, but it’s the first place I visited when I found out about this. I can’t find any record of this type of restraint ever failing. Ever. But I truly believe that is what has happened. There is always a first time for everything. For a design of this nature to work flawlessly for thirty years, protecting literally millions and millions of riders over and over, its failure crushes me. My heart hurts for this man’s children and family. Sadness is all I feel for this whole situation.

 

[SixFlagsIssues]

I feel like I need to share how widespread this news is. It's been like 24 hours, and BOTH of my parents have independently said something about it. We are quite far from Georgia and neither of my parents are coaster enthusiasts.

 

[GASM]

My best friend is no coaster enthusiast (she wants to like them but also lives nowhere near a park and our Carowinds trip this year was poorly timed after her accident) and she’s the one that told me while we were at the mall yesterday.

We (thankfully, until now) hadn’t had an incident like this stateside in the era of everyone being glued to their phones and social media being as prevalent as it is now. This was bound to reach circles that the New Texas Giant and Ride of Steel ejections never did.

 

[horsesboy]

Not going to lie this one just kinda hits differently then what the Orlando Freefall and other previous incidents do. Not sure if it's because it was a B&M which was the company I viewed as more or less the gold standard for coasters. Not sure if it was because it was a coadter I had ridden only two months ago. Not sure if it was because I can see significant similarities between myself and him. But this one just kinda hits in a way where I have been walking around not sure how to feel or react to it for the last 24 hours.

 

[tursiops]

Closing all coasters for a few days is a small price to pay. I wouldn't want my family on one until it's been vetted to be safe. The poor fellow who passed didn't look that big. At 6'4" I've had restraints pushed down. No longer will i do that. I used to love Apollo's and Mako, but I don't know when I'll trust riding them again, without a lap belt or belt attached to the restraint. That's just me, everyone is different.

 

[Daveslot]

By far the fairest and most well written article about this tragedy:

On the Strange and Tragic Accident at Six Flags Over Georgia | National Review

I find it almost impossible to believe that this was a restraint failure. But the details are certainly peculiar.

www.nationalreview.com

 

[zdesigns]

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former b&m mechanic shares his thoughts on this.

 

[ThoosieTube]

By far the fairest and most well written article about this tragedy:

On the Strange and Tragic Accident at Six Flags Over Georgia | National Review

I find it almost impossible to believe that this was a restraint failure. But the details are certainly peculiar.

www.nationalreview.com

So refreshing to read an article where the person actually knows what they’re talking about! I highly encourage everyone to give it a read

 

[northdetective]

I don't really understand what is to be gained by having what is already known regurgitated by a conservative journalist who has no documented connection to the amusement industry but I guess it's pertinent new information that B&Ms are famously safe if today's ur first day as a thoosie. How did u all find the usage of "Ceteris paribus" in context ?

 

[Daveslot]

I don't really understand what is to be gained by having what is already known regurgitated by a conservative journalist who has no documented connection to the amusement industry but I guess it's pertinent new information that B&Ms are famously safe if today's ur first day as a thoosie. How did u all find the usage of "Ceteris paribus" in context ?

I didn't realize one's political leanings had anything to do with roller coaster fandom or technical expertise, but you be you.

 

[fingerblaster22]

I don't blame Six Flags for shutting down all the B&M hypers in the chain, but I would sure love to know who made the call.... Was it the CEO or did someone lower in the chain make that call.

I ask because at least in the NJ area, its all over socials that Nitro is closed because its the same manufacturer, and I am sure its the same throughout the rest of the country for other rides. The short term damage reputation damage to Nitro and related rides is high, and who knows how long term it will be.

The fly on the wall....... Someone from maintenance/engineering at SFOG was on the scene pretty fast after the accident relaying what they could see to corporate. They knew pretty fast whether the restraint was completely open, showed signs of failure, still locked ect. If they moved the train right into the station, security probably pulled up the footage up for viewing real quick.

Point being, obviously a death is bad enough, but if the initial assessment from maintenance in the minute afterwards was 'holy fuck' the locking mechanism blew apart it would certainly be a reason B&M hyper/giga's with clamshells were halted across the chain.

 

[SweetBabyJames]

I just need to vent a bit about this because it has stirred so much sadness and frustration in me. I used to work for Six Flags full time and kind of idolized the company for a while when I was a kid, I definitely don't idolize this company now and I am deeply saddened by this news. It is especially sad for the family and all victims involved. While I enjoy going to Six Flags, I am getting very frustrated by the company and am starting to think I will spend my money elsewhere at other parks and other forms of entertainment. It is quite alarming to me that something like this happened on a B&M. I am in the camp that hopes this is a Six Flags issue and not a B&M issue. It just sucks for B&M to have this kind of press in any case. With Six Flags stock in the toilet and operations at the legacy Six Flags parks being pretty bad, I believe it is time for the company to start making some big branding changes or just dissolve entirely. I honestly hope for the latter and somehow have the parks survive under new ownership by several different companies (preferably not publicly traded). Six Flags is clearly becoming inept when it comes to operating a theme park. I was very excited at the prospect of this merger at first, but it has now proven to be very frustrating and detrimental to both Cedar Fair and Six Flags Parks (huge disgrace to Cedar Fair parks). There's no love from corporate, that I see, coming to guests and the company just seems to be falling apart. Now that SF and CF have combined their debt, paying it off seem insurmountable especially with rising interest rates. If they sell off parks that mean less money coming in and it'll be harder to pay off the debt in the long term. It's all just very sad and disturbs me a lot.

Thank you for letting me rant here. I'm just very saddened by this.

 

[northdetective]

I didn't realize one's political leanings had anything to do with roller coaster fandom or technical expertise, but you be you.

Are there other qualifications by which I'm supposed to judge this person? Because I see nothing online about them being an authority on roller coasters but a lot about their "political leanings"

 

[Bring Back Questor 87]

As others have mentioned here, even within my own social circle, I have been seen as the coaster enthusiast to which several of my friends messaged me to get my opinions before they make trips to certain parks or ride certain rides. I have never received so many messages from people saying that they are “unsure they will ever ride another roller coaster after seeing those images.”

I think once there is a visceral attachment to an incident like this, the calculus changes for a lot of people. That man’s unfortunate death will be immortalized on the Internet forever, whereas some people seem to injure themselves on a roller coaster and then be transported to a hospital where their privacy is honored and we are unable to really know the nature of any injuries until a report has come out later. The difference here is that so many people have been able to draw their own conclusions in a very real way, and right now, the General Public doesn’t necessarily feel that there is a sense of urgency or a message of safety that has been iterated - other than closing several of the coasters with similar systems. An investigation will take some time, and there are a thousand other things that will happen in the next week or so that will divert attention away from this, but regardless, it is my hope that the well-being of the family and their privacy leading to a resolution of some sort remains paramount.

Harness monitoring systems will come into the fray, as well as seatbelts, etc. Operational modes too - it’s all on the table being an early stage. What this incident does do is make every issue at a theme park further illuminated, even if it is unrelated. Every park will need to have a plan to use the facts from the investigation (generally) of this accident to keep visitors AND employees/ops informed about their attention to safety, with human resources for those who may have been involved with this incident, and the commitment to keeping ride operators at the top of their job training.

How this will play out needs a lot more time. Heartbreaking all around.

 

[tursiops]

I'm the same age as the man who passed, so it resonates being in a similar life position. I've always trusted the now United Parks, since under Busch they were stellar. With their cutting costs and diminishing ops it now creates a concern for me. I hope they are still on top of this, but as a father there is a lot to consider, despite this being incredibly rare, when riding or your kids riding. I hope, and assume, the others are safe, but you can't remove that doubt.

 

[Mushroom]

Are there other qualifications by which I'm supposed to judge this person? Because I see nothing online about them being an authority on roller coasters but a lot about their "political leanings"

It takes like 2 seconds of googling to find that Cooke has written and spoken extensively about coasters (exhibit a, exhibit b, exhibit c). He may not know much more about coasters than we enthusiasts know, but as a senior writer for a major national publication, he seems to have far more knowledge of roller coasters than the average journalist or commentator reporting on this tragedy. I found it refreshing to see a more nuanced and knowledgeable reflection on the accident, which may in turn encourage the public to think about it with similar nuance, as opposed to many other articles which either feel sensationalized or omit key details about the safety, track record, and design of these rides.

Seemed like an unnecessary attempt to discredit him by pointing out his political leanings, but maybe I misread an implication where there wasn’t any.

 

[northdetective]

alright, Mariah Carey is just as qualified to talk about this then. I'm not discrediting him for his political views, I'm pointing out that he has no more knowledge than the rest of us and brought no new information to the table. The first sentence on his Wikipedia article is "Charles Christopher William Cooke (born 4 November 1984) is an English-American conservative journalist and a senior writer at National Review Online." Next time I'll make sure I give the very special Brit who's been to Orlando the deference he's due as just a... journalist

 

[Daveslot]

alright, Mariah Carey is just as qualified to talk about this then. I'm not discrediting him for his political views, I'm pointing out that he has no more knowledge than the rest of us and brought no new information to the table. The first sentence on his Wikipedia article is "Charles Christopher William Cooke (born 4 November 1984) is an English-American conservative journalist and a senior writer at National Review Online." Next time I'll make sure I give the very special Brit who's been to Orlando the deference he's due as just a... journalist

I'm assuming you didn't read the article. Probably because of the author or the website, abd your own bias. But if you had, you'd have read a well thought out and researched article, which referenced a published echnical paper.
We used to call this journalism.

 

[northdetective]

LOL when I find out patents exist ? It'll be a BIG day

I read the article in full. 0 new information.