Six Flags shuts X2 rollercoaster after riders report brain injuries

Six Flags settled 2022 wrongful-death lawsuit over X2 rider

The X2 rollercoaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain has been shut down since July 12, 2026, after two riders reported suffering brain injuries within days of each other, according to a CNN investigation reported by The Guardian. The rollercoaster, which sends riders plummeting and twisting hundreds of feet while seats rotate 360 degrees and reach speeds of up to 76 mph, had been advertised by the park as a rite of passage for daredevils.

In July, Pamela Guillen, a Hawaii resident, boarded the X2 with her daughter, who had been eager to ride it, according to CNN. Guillen said her head banged against the seat’s headrest as the ride jerked her around. She lost consciousness, CNN reported, and was transported to a hospital, where a CT scan revealed a severe subdural hematoma and brain compression. Guillen told CNN she now deals with headaches and takes medications to prevent seizures.

“I’m taking it a day at a time to not overwhelm myself and to not go into a dark hole of mourning who I was and what I was able to do before this,” Guillen told CNN.

Days after Guillen’s ride, Naomi Greer-Wilkinson, a Los Angeles resident, also rode the X2 and lost consciousness, according to CNN. She was hospitalized with a traumatic brain injury and remains in a coma.

A spokesperson for Six Flags confirmed in a statement that the rollercoaster has been closed since July 12. The spokesperson declined to comment on CNN’s reporting. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health did not immediately respond to The Guardian’s request for comment.

CNN’s investigation found a history over the last two decades of injuries reported by people who had recently ridden X2, including two people who died. The outlet also focused on shortcomings in the process by which state officials had inspected the ride, reporting that the testing data Six Flags handed over to inspectors was informed by safety standards from a committee composed of theme park operators and ride manufacturers.

Six Flags has separately faced litigation over the X2. On Thursday, the company settled a wrongful-death lawsuit brought by the family of Christopher Hawley, a 22-year-old who died in 2022 from a brain injury allegedly linked to the X2, according to KTLA. The terms of the settlement remain undisclosed. Six Flags had denied the allegations.

“We want to make sure that that ride isn’t going to kill somebody else,” William Hawley, Christopher’s father, told the Orange County Register earlier this year.