Six Flags Entertainment Corporation announced plans Friday to add seat belts to its Goliath roller coaster and similar rides across its parks following a fatal incident at Six Flags Over Georgia earlier this month.
The announcement by Six Flags Chief Executive Officer John Reilly follows the Oct. 12 death of 42-year-old Hassan Kariem. Police and witnesses said Kariem was ejected from the Goliath coaster and struck other riders before falling to the ground, CBS News reported. Four other visitors sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the incident.
Goliath has remained shut down since the fall. Reilly stated that in addition to keeping the Georgia attraction closed pending safety clearances, eight other rides located at five different parks have been temporarily halted out of an abundance of caution, according to WSB-TV. Independent inspection specialists and engineers have been brought in to review procedures across the company\’s entire portfolio of theme parks.
Investigators Focus on Restraints and Maintenance
State officials and outside experts are examining whether mechanical failure, human error or a design flaw contributed to Kariem\’s ejection. The Swiss-built hypercoaster, designed by Bolliger & Mabillard, climbs 200 feet into the air and hits speeds reaching 70 mph. Riders sit secured by a padded clamshell lap bar rather than over-the-shoulder restraints or separate seat belts.
Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John F. King is heading the state inquiry. King said investigators will not rush their findings or leave questions unresolved. A March 16 inspection of Goliath found no code violations, though records noted park personnel needed to replace mechanical bushings. While bushings absorb shock and align moving parts, a person familiar with park operations told CBS News that those specific components were located on wheel assemblies rather than restraint mechanisms and were replaced as suggested.
“If two parts disconnected (e.g., a latch came undone), it is a different thing than if one part broke (e.g., a crack failed catastrophically),” Kathryn Woodcock, an attraction safety specialist and professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, told CBS News.
Staff Training Under Scrutiny
The tragedy has also brought attention to staffing practices and operational routines at the park. Former ride operators told CBS News that Goliath was often subject to intense pacing to keep guest lines moving. Harper Henderson, an 18-year-old former employee who became a trainer at age 17, told CBS News that pressure to staff busy rides sometimes led to abbreviated training sessions where quiz answers were shared to speed up onboarding. Henderson said she resigned in July 2025 over discomfort with those practices.
Park officials defended their standards, telling CBS News that ride operators undergo rigorous classroom and hands-on preparation before working unsupervised. Richard Pretlow, president of Six Flags Over Georgia, said personnel receive extensive training to run and maintain attractions, and the company stated every ride receives daily documented inspections.
The company noted its parks will remain open with more than 220 operational roller coasters while the multi-park safety audit and state investigations continue.
