Witnesses described Ibn Kariem rising before the fatal ejection
The Associated Press reported that the non-Six Flags parks SeaWorld Orlando in Florida and La Ronde in Montreal, Canada, temporarily closed one roller coaster each following the Oct. 12 death of Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem. The 42-year-old from Atlanta was ejected from his seat while riding Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia. The rides closed by those operators use clamshell restraints, while the nine Six Flags coasters taken offline feature similar restraints.
SeaWorld reopened Mako on Tuesday after the coaster had been offline for a week. The Associated Press emailed SeaWorld on Saturday asking whether seat belts or other safety upgrades were planned for Mako. The Associated Press also emailed a La Ronde spokesperson seeking an update on the park’s shuttered coaster.
Investigators had not said what went wrong on the Georgia coaster. Witnesses told the Associated Press they saw Ibn Kariem rise up out of his seat and fall headfirst back into the cart before being ejected. Some people who rode Goliath before him that day said they had concerns about its restraints.
All nine of the Six Flags coasters taken offline — Goliath and eight additional coasters — were manufactured by the Swiss company Bolliger & Mabillard. The rides feature similar clamshell restraints that sit at the top of a vertical bar between each rider’s knees. The bar locks a padded restraint into place over the rider’s lap and upper legs.
The U.S. patent granted to Bolliger & Mabillard for the restraint system in 2001 says it’s designed to make each rider feel “that he is seated on a flying carpet or that he is at the controls of a kind of flying scooter, while still guaranteeing optimum security.”
In addition to Goliath, eight coasters remained closed at Six Flags parks in Gurnee, Illinois; Jackson Township, New Jersey; Charlotte, North Carolina; Mason, Ohio; and Vaughan, Ontario. Six Flags had not said when those coasters were expected to reopen.
Six Flags announced on Friday that it would install seat belts on Goliath and on other coasters with a similar restraint, less than two weeks after the Oct. 12 death. John Reilly, president and CEO of Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, said in a statement Friday: “We are reinforcing safety precautions at our parks and taking additional measures, including adding seat belts on Goliath and other coasters with a similar restraint.”
Reilly did not specify which other Six Flags coasters would get seat belts, and the announcement did not provide a complete list of affected rides. Reilly’s statement said Six Flags had enlisted independent engineers and inspectors to review safety procedures for all rides at its theme parks.
Goliath remained shut down while state and local officials investigated the Oct. 12 death. The Georgia attraction was still unavailable as Six Flags announced the seat-belt installation and continued reinforcing safety precautions at its parks.
Russ Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia.