Six Flags Says Goliath Will Return With Seat Belts After Georgia Death

Six Flags Says Goliath Will Return With Seat Belts After Georgia Death

A death on Oct. 12 forces the first concrete safety pledge

On Oct. 12 at about 3:58 p.m., Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem, a 42-year-old Atlanta teacher and father, was ejected from the Goliath hypercoaster at Six Flags Over Georgia in Austell and killed. In a letter to guests and passholders on Friday, Oct. 23, Six Flags President and CEO John Reilly said the company is "reinforcing safety precautions at our parks and taking additional measures, including adding seat belts on Goliath and other coasters with a similar restraint." Goliath itself, he said, remains closed "pending necessary safety reviews and clearances." It was the company's first clear signal that the ride is expected to reopen, rather than retire.

What investigators say happened on the ride

According to the Cobb County Police Department's Major Crimes Unit, Kariem was ejected from the moving train, struck other riders, and fell beneath the attraction, where he was found "unresponsive and not breathing" and pronounced dead at the scene. Several fellow riders were hurt, including four minors, with non-life-threatening injuries. Family members said Kariem had come to the park with his partner, her daughter and her niece, and was seated beside his partner's niece, who was not physically injured. His school described him as a "cherished member" of the charter-school community. Relatives said they will hold funeral services once the investigation is complete.

No cause named yet; two investigations are running

The Cobb County police and Georgia's Office of the Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner are both investigating. Officials have not established either a mechanical malfunction or operator error as the cause. The state has said Goliath was last inspected in March with no warning signs at the time. The park briefly closed after the death and reopened to visitors on Oct. 16, with Goliath held out. Reilly said Six Flags has "engaged independent engineers and ride inspection specialists to comprehensively review current safety procedures across our entire portfolio of rides and attractions, across all of our parks." An industry outlet noted the death was the first ever on a Bolliger & Mabillard coaster involving a passenger falling from the ride.

The hardware question: lap bars without seat belts

Goliath, built by Bolliger & Mabillard, opened in 2006 and stands about 200 feet tall with top speeds around 70 mph, using individual clamshell lap-bar restraints. Local TV reporting, citing the company, said Six Flags operates nine B&M hypercoasters: six already pair the lap bars with seat belts, while three, including Goliath, do not. That split is why the seat-belt retrofit is the centerpiece of the response. Six Flags describes hypercoasters generally as steel coasters over 200 feet tall that prioritize airtime and speed over inversions, often with large camelback hills; its site lists Goliath as a roughly 210-second ride.

Nine similar coasters idled across North America

Out of what the company called "an abundance of caution," Goliath plus eight other rides at five additional parks remain temporarily closed, according to the latest company statement. The day-after list covered nine similar hypercoasters across six parks: Nitro at Great Adventure, Raging Bull at Great America, Behemoth and Leviathan at Canada's Wonderland, Goliath at Magic Mountain (built by Giovanola, not B&M, and already reopened Oct. 15), Fury 325 and Thunder Striker at Carowinds, and Orion and Diamondback at Kings Island, some topping 300 feet and 90-plus mph. The breadth of the shutdown shows the company treats the question as fleet-wide, not confined to one train in Georgia.

Reopening hinges on passing inspection

No reopening date has been given. Three things come next: the findings of the police and state inquiries; the independent engineering review of procedures across all parks; and the physical retrofit of seat belts on Goliath and its sister coasters. Goliath previously recorded a fatality in July 2006, when a 45-year-old man with a heart condition was found unresponsive after riding; the ride was inspected and reopened. A rider ejection death is a different category of failure, and clearance this time will rest on documented review, not elapsed time.