What to know about Six Flags Over Georgia roller coaster Goliath
One person died and several others were injured in “an incident involving a roller coaster” at Six Flags Over Georgia, Cobb County Police said Monday evening.
Police have not confirmed the ride that was involved in the incident, but a Channel 2 Action News helicopter spotted an evacuation of the Goliath roller coaster, which was halted on a hill as riders climbed down, the TV station reported.
Six Flags has since temporarily closed similar rides at parks across the U.S. and Canada as a precaution, the station reported, including:
- Six Flags Great America - Raging Bull
- Six Flags Magic Mountain - Goliath
- Six Flags Great Adventure - Nitro
- Canada’s Wonderland - Leviathan and Behemoth
- Carowinds - Fury 325 and Thunder Striker
- Kings Island - Orion and Diamondback
Here’s what to know about Goliath:
The coaster debuted in April 2006. It was Six Flags Over Georgia’s biggest attraction since the park’s opening in 1967, when the Dahlonega Mine Train was its big thrill.
Goliath was built by Bolliger & Mabillard of Switzerland, creator of Six Flags’ Batman, Georgia Scorcher and Superman coasters. The ride was a record $20 million investment.
A 2005 Atlanta Journal-Constitution story reported that “the teal, orange and silver steel monster will rise 200 feet from the former location of the Great Gasp parachute ride and become the park’s new icon.”
Goliath “will send riders plunging down hills with drops of up to 175 feet at speeds of up to 70 mph. It has no loops — just hills, twists and turns.”
The story added that the ride “will cross above trees, walkways and buildings, winding out above the lake in front of the main entrance, then back up the hill in the middle of the park. The track is almost a mile long, with four drops of more than 100 feet. In comparison, the park’s Great American Scream Machine’s first hill is 105 feet tall.”
The ride used a Y-shaped lap restraint and clocked in at about 3 minutes, 30 minutes.
At the time, several dozen members of the American Coaster Enthusiasts greeted the announcement with cheers and applause.
Robert Ulrich, ACE’s Southeast regional representative, said club members had been waiting for a ride like Goliath. “It looks like Goliath will deliver. We can’t wait to find out for ourselves next year.’’
In an AJC story published in March 2006 right before the ride’s opening, Melinda Ashcraft, who was Six Flags’ general manager, said of the ride, “It’s wonderful. Guests can see and feel the ride everywhere in the park.”
‘’Goliath is the right combination of speed, height and airtime,’’ said Walter Bolliger of Bolliger and Mabillard Consulting Engineers, referring to the feeling riders experience as they float off their seats when Goliath crests its hills. “It’s very comfortable, very smooth.”
Just months after its opening, a 45-year-old Alabama man died after suffering a heart attack at the very end of the ride, the AJC reported at the time.
An autopsy indicated that the death of the man, Michael Corry, “resulted from natural causes, probably related to a pre-existing heart condition that he may not have been aware of,” said Cobb medical examiner’s office investigator Mike Gerhard.
A Six Flags spokeswoman said at the time that the man “was conscious and alert during the ride; it was after the coaster came to a stop that he became unconscious and was unable to get off. Our paramedics responded immediately.”
He was pronounced dead on arrival at a Cobb hospital.
Six Flags went without another new roller coaster until 2010, when Dare Devil Dive debuted with a 10-story vertical lift and a first drop that dives beyond vertical as it plunges.