Six Flags temporarily closes some roller coasters nationwide after man dies falling from ride in Georgia

Atlanta (CNN) — Six Flags said it has temporarily closed nine rides across the country after a man died and several others were injured Monday in a roller coaster incident at an amusement park in Georgia.

Police did not say how the man died or how many people were injured, but witnesses say a man fell from the Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia, around 10 miles west of downtown Atlanta.

“He fell and hit the car three different times” before falling onto the roof of a haunted house attraction below, a witness told CNN affiliate WXIA.

The 210-second ride reaches a top speed of 70 mph and an elevation of 200 feet, according to the Six Flags website.

The park, one of the largest in Georgia and a popular attraction for families and kids, operates on weekends in October but was open Monday for the Columbus Day holiday – a time when many schools in the Atlanta area celebrate fall break.

Nine roller coasters across six other Six Flags have been temporarily closed “out of an abundance of caution,” a Six Flags spokesperson said Monday evening.

Detectives from the Cobb County Police’s Major Crimes Unit are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident, police said in a statement.

“We are deeply saddened by the guest incident at our park today,” Six Flags Over Georgia said in a statement. “Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with the guest’s family, friends, and loved ones.”

Monday’s incident comes nearly two weeks after Six Flags Magic Mountain in California announced it would permanently close its world-famous ride X2, following a CNN investigation that documented reports of serious injuries and deaths associated with the ride.

Riders describe horror of incident

Police said the incident occurred shortly before 4 p.m. and officers assigned to the park, as well as uniformed patrol officers, responded to the scene.

A couple who were also on the Goliath told WXIA they saw the man strike the coaster three times.

“We were having a great time and to just screaming ‘Oh my God, what is happening?’ ” the woman said. She said workers checked their safety harnesses before the ride.

Another witness who was also on the ride told WXIA the man fell onto a girl two rows ahead of her. She said the man appeared to be on the ride with his son, while his wife and daughter were watching from the ground.

“He’s in our Goliath pictures. The picture that they take and that you keep,” the witness said.

Rahim Hakmati, a Six Flags Over Georgia season ticket holder, told CNN he arrived at the park just as large groups of people were leaving. Hakmati said he heard someone say a person had fallen off Goliath. When he approached the ride, he saw security directing people away from the roller coaster, which had stopped on the lift hill.

Eventually, he and other guests were evacuated from the park.

“What makes this even crazier is that we were at Six Flags the night before and rode Goliath ourselves. We didn’t notice anything unusual or experience any problems with the ride that night,” Hakmati said.

Passengers of the car behind, which had stopped at a steep incline high above the ground, were evacuated and guided down a stairway along the Goliath coaster tracks around 5 p.m., aerial video from WXIA showed.

Two other roller coasters at Six Flags theme parks in Illinois and California share the same name and are categorized as “hyper-coasters” –– rides made of steel with an elevation of over 200 feet. All three coasters were built by different manufacturers.

CNN has reached out to the manufacturer of the Goliath ride in Georgia, Bolliger & Mabillard.

Cobb County Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said Monday the county will work closely with the theme park and other partners as the investigation continues.

“I cannot imagine the horror the patrons and employees witnessed today, and my heart aches for the family who lost a loved one,” she said.

“Six Flags Over Georgia is a significant part of our tourism landscape, drawing visitors from across our county, our state, and the Southeast,” she added, noting that authorities would release more information as it is confirmed.

“In the meantime, please keep in your thoughts the family of the deceased, those who were injured, the employees and leadership of Six Flags, and our community. We are all grappling with how something so devastating could happen at a place that has given generations of families such happy memories.”

Roller coaster safety under scrutiny

While the circumstances of Monday’s death are unknown, it comes just several weeks after Six Flags announced it would close one of its most famous roller coasters, the X2, at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California after a CNN investigation exposed a long history of life-altering injuries and deaths related to the ride.

Allegations that the X2 injured riders date back more than a decade but had been largely kept under wraps until CNN’s investigation this summer revealed more than a dozen reports of serious injuries and hospitalizations associated with the ride, including at least two deaths. In July, two women ended up in the same Santa Clarita emergency room with brain injuries after riding X2 just six days apart.

The ride was the marquee attraction at Six Flags Magic Mountain for nearly two decades and has long drawn roller coaster enthusiasts from around the world for its so-called 4th-dimensional quality, featuring seats that rotate 360 degrees around the track as trains reach speeds of nearly 80 miles per hour for roughly two minutes.

In three lawsuits filed in September, three riders who suffered life-threatening injuries this year — including 26-year-old Naomi Greer-Wilkinson who remains in a coma — allege that Six Flags had ample notice of the ride’s alleged dangers and should not have continued operating it.

Attorneys for the theme park have consistently defended the X2 in court when sued by riders or their families over injuries, arguing that a sign warns passengers that “there are inherent risks in the participation in or on any amusement ride or attraction.”

After the ride’s closure, Brian Oerding, President of Six Flags Magic Mountain, wrote in a blog post that while the X2 has “consistently passed a multitude of safety tests, we have decided to close the ride because we believe it’s the right thing to do.”

He added, “Ride safety is a cornerstone of our business, and when we see guest confidence affected, we take it seriously.”

In 2024, Six Flags merged with Cedar Fairs, making it the largest amusement park operator in the United States.

This story has been updated with additional information.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

CNN’s Amanda Jackson, Ryan Young and Mark Faccio contributed to this report.