r/news • • 7h ago

Visitor dies after accident on Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia

https://www.waff.com/2026/10/12/visitor-dies-after-accident-goliath-six-flags-over-georgia/
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u/Safe-Winter9071 6h ago

I used to work at six flags great adventure and the coaster (skull mountain) I worked on literally would not launch unless the restraints were in place. Like you could try but the system wouldn't work. That was in 2009 so idk if its different for newer coasters.

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u/Jodabomb24 1h ago

I can assure you it is not different for newer coasters.

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u/Jedibug 5h ago

For what it's worth it was a brand new computer system and ride. So I'm not sure. All I have is my own experience

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u/Safe-Winter9071 5h ago

Yeah I don't doubt your experience at all, just saying that if the ride was able to launch at all without all the restraints locked, there was something seriously wrong with it. And yeah if the ride ops still let it go, thats a huge training problem cause they were beating that in our heads not to do things like that when I worked there.

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u/WhoLetTheDoggsOutt 39m ago

I’ve also worked at an amusement park and would have people tell me their lap bar had come unlocked during the ride. I always found it was actually just a tad loose and their body was rattling against it, giving the impression that it was unlocked and they could fall out. I think there is a mental component a lot of the time where people are afraid of it failing to lock and they think that’s the case.

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u/Pandas_dont_snitch 5h ago

Six flags great adventure had someone die on a roller coaster when I was a little kid.  Maybe that and the haunted house made that park take things more seriously 

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u/ThatEcologist 3h ago

Wait what ride? I remember the haunted house but not the coaster death.

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u/KarateKid917 3h ago

Ride was called Lighting Loops. Was an old Arrow shuttle coaster. Was removed a couple of years after the death and another injury. 

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u/ThatEcologist 3h ago

Omg I remember my parents talking about that ride. I didn’t realize someone died on it. Yikes.

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u/SpacemanSpiff99 14m ago

Same with Dark Knight... I worked there the year that opened, and worked that, Buccaneer, and Sky Ride most of the time.

My thinking is maybe there was only one click, and it was down enough to set the all clear but not down enough to hold them in. Nitro has the same setup. On Nitro I know there (at least used to be) little strips marking the bottom to make sure the bar was down enough. Maybe for this it was on the brink, enough to get the okay from the sensor, but just not enough.

We stopped going to Great Adventure a bit before the merger because I could tell they just weren't taking care of things the right way, and that's even with NJ's strict theme park rules. It just didn't feel safe anymore.

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u/ThatEcologist 3h ago

I swear I almost died on Skull Mountain. I was sitting with my mom when I was like 8. The lap bar was secured to her lap, but because I was to tinier than her there was a gap between the lap bar and my lap. When we went down the hill I swear I almost flew out. And I don’t think it was 8 year old me being dramatic!

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u/Odd_Local2790 3h ago

My cousin and I used to ride together.

He was five years younger than me.  This got to be a problem with solid var restrains as I hit middle school.

More than once I grabbed him around the waist and held on.  At the time, I was too young and stupid to think that I should maybe ask an adult if us riding next to each other was safe.