Six Flags to add seat belts on Goliath coaster after rider’s death in Georgia

The Story

Six Flags says it will install seat belts on the Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia after a rider died earlier this month.

The company announced the added safety measure less than two weeks after 42-year-old Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem of Atlanta was killed following an ejection from his seat on Oct. 12.

John Reilly, president and chief executive of Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, said in a statement Friday that the company is “reinforcing safety precautions” and taking additional measures, including adding seat belts on Goliath and other coasters with a similar restraint system.

Six Flags said Goliath remains shut down while state and local officials investigate the death.

Reilly did not specify which other Six Flags coasters will receive seat belts. The company said it temporarily closed eight additional roller coasters at five other parks in the United States and Canada, and that those rides share the same manufacturer and similar restraint system.

Six Flags said it has enlisted independent engineers and inspectors to review safety procedures for all rides at its theme parks, and investigators have not said what went wrong on the Georgia coaster.

The company said nine Six Flags coasters taken offline are manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard and feature similar clamshell restraints that sit at the top of a vertical bar between each rider’s knees, locking a padded restraint into place over the rider’s lap and upper legs.

In addition to Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia, Six Flags said non-Six Flags parks SeaWorld Orlando in Florida and La Ronde in Montreal also temporarily closed one roller coaster each that uses clamshell restraints.

Six Flags said SeaWorld reopened its Mako coaster Tuesday after it had been offline for a week. It said eight coasters remain closed at Six Flags parks in Gurnee, Illinois; Jackson Township, New Jersey; Charlotte, North Carolina; Mason, Ohio; and Vaughan, Ontario.