Ride inspection experts expect the investigation into the
who fell from a Georgia roller coaster this month to examine if maintenance issues, design flaws or human error led to the incident at Six Flags Over Georgia.
asserted
issues → expect → Georgia
The Goliath has been closed since 42-year-old
died after witnesses say he was ejected from the ride.
asserted
he → close → ride
John F. King, Georgia's Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner, who is leading the investigation, said investigators will not "cut corners, rush to conclusions, or leave questions unanswered without making every effort to resolve them.
asserted
investigators → lead → them
"
"Our team has been on the ground working day and night to ensure that every relevant detail receives the attention it deserves," he said in a statement last week.
asserted
he → work → statement
A spokesperson for the park said in a statement to CBS News that "our thoughts remain with the family and loved ones affected by the tragic incident in Georgia."
"Nothing is more important to Six Flags than the safety of our guests and team members, and we remain focused on supporting ongoing investigations alongside state authorities and the ride manufacturer," the spokesperson said.
asserted
spokesperson → say → authorities
A March inspection of the Goliath roller coaster found
or deficiencies, King said.
asserted
King → find → deficiencies
The inspection report did include a note indicating that staff "need to replace bushings" — a piece of the puzzle inspectors are sure to home in on, experts said.
asserted
experts → include → puzzle
Bushings are parts designed to reduce friction and absorb shock in various mechanical assemblies.
asserted
Bushings → design → assemblies
Six Flags has opened five Goliath
at across North America in the last 25 years.
asserted
Flags → open → years
The coaster, which opened in 2006 in Georgia, can reach speeds of up to 70 miles per hour on towering tracks that rise 200 feet.
asserted
that → open → tracks
It was designed by Bolliger & Mabillard, a Swiss-based roller coaster manufacturer.
asserted
It → design → Bolliger
For Kariem to have been ejected from the ride, ride operators and roller coaster engineers suggested either a mechanical malfunction, operator error — for instance, failing to properly check and secure the restraint — or a combination of both, could have played a part.
uncertain
malfunction → eject → part
Rides and their restraints are supposed to be inspected by park maintenance each morning, they said.
asserted
they → suppose → maintenance
The park spokesperson said, "Safety is our ethos and is at the heart of everything we do at Six Flags."
asserted
we → say → Flags
"Every ride undergoes documented safety inspections before opening each day, supported by comprehensive maintenance programs designed to meet or exceed industry safety guidelines," the spokesperson said.
asserted
spokesperson → undergo → guidelines
"Our ride operators complete a comprehensive, multi-stage training program that includes classroom instruction, hands-on training and supervised, on-the-job experience with additional instruction and evaluation provided whenever necessary."
asserted
that → complete → instruction
When riders board the Goliath, they are buckled into the ride's 36 seats using a padded clamshell lap bar, a U-shaped restraint that is typically locked in place over a rider's thighs and waist.
asserted
that → board → thighs
Ride operators check restraints to make sure they're locked before the ride begins.
asserted
ride → check → restraints
Daniel, a self-described "big roller coaster nerd" who also operates a Goliath at another park, said the coaster is designed so staff can use a control panel with various buttons and a screen to operate the ride.
asserted
staff → describe → ride
Daniel, who asked to use his middle name because he is still employed, said it was likely that ride operators used two orange buttons on the control panel to open and close the car restraints.
asserted
operators → ask → restraints
When the sensors detect that every single restraint is closed, two green mushroom-shaped buttons at the bottom start blinking.
asserted
buttons → detect → bottom
That means that operators can press on them to dispatch the ride, he said.
asserted
he → mean → ride
Goliath inspection records obtained by CBS News, dating back over a decade, show a smattering of 20 quickly resolved violations between 2016 and 2021, and none since.
asserted
records → obtain → 2016
However, Troy Richardson, an engineer with experience building and inspecting roller coasters, said the March inspection's note about bushings could be significant.
uncertain
note → build → bushings
Bushings are used to keep mechanical pieces in restraints, chassis joints and wheel bogies, positioned correctly amid the repeated friction and bumps of a roller coaster ride.
asserted
Bushings → use → ride
Even a small defect in a bushing can be a major problem, said Richardson, the founder and CEO of MIT Experts, which provides forensic consulting in amusement park litigation.
asserted
which → say → litigation
"A bushing, if it's slightly off a little bit, now the pin won't go into the hole or it's a little bit loose in the hole," he said.
asserted
he → go → hole
Richardson added that the manufacturer of the roller coaster most likely laid out a maintenance and replacement schedule for each part in an operation manual.
asserted
manufacturer → add → manual
A key question investigators will ask, Richardson said, will be if staff adhered to those instructions.
asserted
staff → ask → instructions
A person with knowledge of the park's operations said the bushings identified in the March inspection were located on the ride's bogie assemblies, which connect the vehicle to the track, and unrelated to the restraint system.
asserted
which → say → system
They were changed as recommended, the person said.
asserted
person → change → ?
Another expert, Kathryn Woodcock, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Themed Experience and Attractions Studies, said investigators will want to know "what exactly is not the way it is expected to be.
asserted
it → say → Studies
"
"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)," Woodcock said.
asserted
Woodcock → disconnect → ?
Woodcock described the tricky process behind determining when to replace parts.
asserted
Woodcock → describe → parts
"It is not automatically better to replace a part too early," Woodcock, a professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, wrote in an email.
asserted
Woodcock → replace → email
She said the likelihood of failure in roller coaster parts often falls along a "'bathtub curve,' where failure is most common at the start of use due to possible manufacturing defects, and then if it does not fail then, the failure likelihood is very low for a length of time — which depends on its material and shape and loading — when failure likelihood increases again.
asserted
likelihood → say → material
"In charge of some very important systems"
Six Flags operates nearly three dozen parks across North America, with more than 47 million guests and 95,000 employees in 2025, according to SEC filings.
uncertain
Flags → operate → filings
At Six Flags Magic Mountain in California, the death of 22-year-old Christopher Hawley after he rode the X2 roller coaster in 2022 prompted questions about ride maintenance and inspection, said Timothy Loranger, an attorney who represented Hawley's family.
asserted
who → ride → family
"What I did see in having talked to people who maintained the rides, I did not come away from those conversations feeling confident that they were competent in their jobs, I felt like they didn't have appropriate training," Loranger said.
asserted
Loranger → see → training
"They were in charge of some very important systems and maybe didn't really even understand what they were doing."
Six Flags Magic Mountain settled the wrongful death lawsuit with Hawley's family.
asserted
Mountain → understand → family
…and 26 more, not listed.
The Aporia
