Six Flags Shuts Nine Coasters After a Fatal Goliath Ejection

Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem, a 42-year-old Atlanta teacher, was found unresponsive under Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia after police say he was thrown from the ride.

Cobb County officers reached the Austell park at 3:58 p.m. on Monday, October 12. Officials said four other people were injured. By that night Six Flags had shut nine similar coasters at six other parks, treating one fall as a problem that might not stop at one train.

Police Say He Was Ejected and Struck Other Riders

The Cobb County Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit said preliminary interviews with witnesses and park employees show Kariem was ejected from the ride, struck other patrons, and fell beneath the attraction. Officers working at the park found him not breathing, secured the scene, and called detectives. His next of kin were notified on Tuesday, October 13, when police released his name.

Preliminary information gathered through witness and employee interview indicates Kariem was ejected from the ride and struck other patrons before falling beneath the attraction.

Cobb County Police Department Major Crimes Unit, October 13 statement

Witnesses on the train described a longer, uglier sequence than the police line. One rider said he fell and hit the car three different times, and that the drop showed up in the ride’s souvenir photo. Logan Conner, who was on Goliath with his fiancée, said the man came out of his seat, struck the train more than once, and then the ride stopped. CiCi Nelson, waiting in line, said the train came back with an empty seat, a loose safety bar, and a girl covered in blood.

Police placed the body beneath the ride. Riders said he landed on a nearby haunted house roof during the park’s Fright Fest overlay. Conditions of the four people taken to a hospital have not been released. Anyone with information was asked to call the Major Crimes Unit at 770-499-3945.

THE HOURS AFTER THE FALL

1. October 12, 2026, 3:58 p.m.: Officers at Six Flags Over Georgia find Kariem beneath Goliath, unresponsive and not breathing.
2. October 12, 2026, evening: The park closes for the rest of the day. Six Flags pauses nine similar coasters at six other parks.
3. October 13, 2026: Police name Kariem. Georgia’s insurance and safety fire office opens a full review. Bolliger & Mabillard says it is investigating.

A train stopped on the lift hill after the drop, and crews brought riders down four at a time. Ben Edwards, visiting from Canada and stuck on that 200-foot climb, said park operators “need to do better.” A husband and wife on the same dispatch said workers had checked their restraints before the train left the station.

CCPD is investigating the death of Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem, 42, who was ejected from a roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia on October 12, striking other patrons before falling.

Anyone with information should call 770-499-3945.

Full release available on our Facebook page. pic.twitter.com/jUUeuEWqru

— Cobb County Police Department (@CobbPoliceDept) October 13, 2026

Nine More Coasters Went Dark the Same Night

Six Flags said it closed the other rides “out of an abundance of caution.” It did not say what “similar” meant. The list is almost a catalog of the company’s tallest lap-bar hypercoasters, including former Cedar Fair parks folded in after the 2024 merger, and it left Goliath in Georgia as the tenth train in the chain sitting idle.

THE NINE RIDES SIX FLAGS PAUSED

Eight of those nine were built by Bolliger & Mabillard, the Swiss firm that also built Goliath in Georgia. The outlier is Magic Mountain’s Goliath, a Giovanola hypercoaster that shares a name and a silhouette, not a factory. Six Flags confirmed that Titan, another Giovanola hypercoaster, stayed open. Raging Bull, which opened in 1999, is the oldest train on the list. Fury 325 at Carowinds is the tallest and fastest. Great America told local reporters it had no timeline for bringing Raging Bull back.

Robert Niles, a longtime theme park writer, called the halt a needed check on whether a design or maintenance flaw could show up on the same kind of ride somewhere else. The company has not said what inspection will be required before any of them move again.

Goliath’s Lap Bar Has No Backup

Goliath is a steel hypercoaster with no inversions. The 200-foot Goliath hypercoaster opened on April 1, 2006, reaches 70 mph, and runs 4,480 feet of track, with a 170-foot first drop and a 175-foot tallest drop. Two trains of nine cars seat four across, 36 riders at a time, for a listed hourly capacity of 1,220. The park rates it a 4 on a 5-point thrill scale and requires riders to be at least 54 inches tall. Those figures match Goliath in the coaster database and the park’s own ride page, which now carries a closure notice.

Each seat uses an individual clamshell lap bar that sits on the thighs and waist. There is no over-the-shoulder harness. Brian Avery, a University of Florida lecturer in ride safety and risk management, said B&M has a stellar record, then pointed at the missing second device.

If you have your primary fail, what are you left with? Yeah, nothing. And it’s an impossible feat to stay contained if it did fail, because of the forces, the speed.

Brian Avery, University of Florida ride safety lecturer

Avery called the single bar a design choice from a hazard assessment, the kind of hardware that lets a hypercoaster throw riders into airtime instead of locking the torso down. He still wants a backup on the table. Niles said he could not recall a prior case of a rider falling from a B&M coaster. Theme-park regulars have spent years describing Goliath’s clamshells as having extra play at the hills, the same give that makes the ride famous, and one former rider said a bar had popped up on him at that stretch years ago. That folklore now sits inside a death case whether or not a hinge failed on Monday.

In July 2006, months after Goliath opened, a 45-year-old man died after losing consciousness on the ride. An autopsy tied that death to a heart condition. Inspectors found the coaster itself in working order and it reopened. Monday’s case is the first time this train has been accused of letting a rider leave the seat.

Who Inspects a Ride Like Goliath in Georgia?

Fixed-site coasters at American parks sit outside federal ride jurisdiction. Congress pulled the Consumer Product Safety Commission off permanently installed amusement rides in 1981, so Georgia writes the rules. The Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire, under Commissioner John King, licenses inspectors, issues permits, and can pull a ride.

Georgia law requires every amusement ride to be inspected at least once a year by a licensed inspector, at the owner’s expense, and new rides to be checked before they carry the public. State rules also let inspectors walk in without notice and review assembly, foundations, and operating condition. If a ride is found hazardous, the office can order a written temporary cessation of operation and hang a red tag that only that inspector may remove.

WHAT GEORGIA REQUIRES BEFORE A RIDE TURNS

• Annual check: A licensed inspector must pass the ride at least once a year, and may come more often, with the park paying the bill.
• New-ride gate: A ride cannot open to the public until that first inspection is done.
• Unannounced visits: The chief safety engineer or a designee may inspect during regular hours without warning.
• Red tag: A ride judged unsafe is ordered down in writing and cannot run until the office is satisfied.

Garrison Bennett, press secretary for the office, said the investigative team is conducting an in-depth and comprehensive review of the October 12 incident and of whether policies and procedures were followed. He said the office will not add detail while the file is open, and will release verified information when the review ends. Local television has already asked for Goliath’s inspection records. Those files are not posted online.

WHAT WE KNOW

• The ejection: Police, citing witnesses and employees, say Kariem came out of Goliath, hit other patrons, and fell beneath the ride.
• The other injured: Officials put the number at four people taken to a hospital. Their conditions have not been disclosed.
• The hardware: Goliath uses individual clamshell lap bars and no over-the-shoulder harness.

WHAT IS UNCONFIRMED

• The cause: No official has said whether a bar failed, a lock did not catch, a rider was out of position, or something else happened.
• The selection: Six Flags has not explained why those nine coasters, including a Giovanola train, were the ones paused.
• The reopen test: No park has said what inspection or manufacturer sign-off will put any of the trains back in service.

A personal-injury lawyer speaking to local investigators’ questions, Aura Taylor, said the file will likely center on the restraint and on whether daily and annual checks ran the way the law requires. Mechanical failure, a restraint failure, operator error, and some other cause are all still on the table.

SeaWorld and La Ronde Closed Matching Coasters Too

The halt did not stop at Six Flags. La Ronde in Montreal, under separate ownership, closed its own Goliath, a 2006 B&M hypercoaster with individual lap bars, and said it would keep the ride down until a review with the maker was finished. SeaWorld Orlando closed Mako, a 2016 B&M hypercoaster that stands 200 feet, runs up to 73 mph, and uses the same style of lap bar. A SeaWorld spokesperson called that a precaution.

Those copycat shutdowns are the part of Monday that will last longer than one park’s press statement. Two rival operators looked at a death in Cobb County and parked trains that share a factory and a restraint type, not a corporate parent. If the Georgia review finds a one-off, a lot of steel sat still for a scare. If it finds a class problem in the clamshell, the map of closed hypers will have been the first draft of the recall.

The Teacher Who Died on Monday Afternoon

Atlanta Public Schools said Kariem was a cherished member of Wesley International Academy, a public charter for kindergarten through eighth grade. He worked there as an IT manager, a technology teacher, and a robotics coach. The school posted his photograph as the district confirmed the loss. His family, speaking through local television, remembered him as an educator who loved Atlanta and spent his work on bringing families together.

Cobb County Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said she could not imagine the horror patrons and employees witnessed, and that her heart ached for the family. The park’s first statement, issued Monday, said the team and local authorities had responded at once and that Six Flags was cooperating. “We are deeply saddened by the guest incident at our park today,” the company said. “Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with the guest’s family, friends, and loved ones.” It added that it was supporting affected guests and team members and would not share more out of respect for the family.

Bolliger & Mabillard, founded in 1988, put out its own note on Tuesday. “We are really deeply saddened by this tragic accident. Our thoughts are with the family and those affected,” a spokesperson said. “We are actively investigating the incident, but we have no further comment until we have a better understanding.”

The death landed thirteen days after Six Flags Magic Mountain retired X2, the rotating-seat coaster that had been under a separate safety fight. That ride is a different machine from a different maker. It is the backdrop, not the cause. What Monday put on the table is a workhorse B&M hyper and a lap bar that, until this week, the industry treated as boringly safe.

Park President Says Goliath Has No Reopening Date

Richard Pretlow, president of Six Flags Over Georgia, posted a park update after the first condolence note. He said the team responded immediately and cooperated with local authorities, and that the park would not share more details out of respect for the family. Goliath, he wrote, remains temporarily closed, with no anticipated reopening date.

The ride that left the station on October 12 is still on the property, standing but not operating, while Cobb detectives, King’s office, and B&M each run their own file. Nine other trains across six parks are in the same pause. Two parks that Six Flags does not even own parked matching coasters anyway. Nobody has said which bolt, which latch, or which human check failed, if any of them did. Until someone does, the largest regional park company in the country is running without a whole class of its tallest lap-bar hypers, and Goliath’s empty seat is the reason.