Six Flags retires X2 rollercoaster after brain injury lawsuits

Six Flags Magic Mountain has permanently closed X2 amid lawsuits alleging riders suffered severe brain injuries on the California rollercoaster.

The theme park said it had decided to retire the ride after nearly 20 years.

X2 had been closed since July 12 after two riders suffered life-threatening brain injuries less than a week apart.

Magic Mountain president Brian Oerding said: “While X2 consistently passed a multitude of safety tests, we have decided to close the ride because we believe it’s the right thing to do.

“Ride safety is a cornerstone of our business, and when we see guest confidence affected, we take it seriously.”

The rollercoaster opened as X in 2002 before being redesigned with lighter trains and reopening as X2 in 2008. Its seats rotate 360 degrees as riders travel through drops, twists and inversions.

Six Flags said more than 16m people had ridden X2 since its 2008 reopening.

More than 100 people allege that the ride caused lasting brain injuries, according to a CNN investigation.

It also identified more than a dozen reports of serious injuries and hospital admissions associated with X2 over nearly two decades, including two deaths.

CNN reported that two riders suffered brain haemorrhages after riding the coaster in July.

Pamela Guillen said she became confused and disorientated after riding X2 during a visit to Magic Mountain with her family in July.

She later woke in hospital and learned that she had suffered a traumatic brain injury and undergone emergency surgery.

Guillen said: “Everything went blank. My next memory is waking up in the hospital about two weeks later.

“I had suffered a traumatic brain injury and needed emergency brain surgery to stop the bleeding and had to be intubated. I was in a coma. I spent almost a month at the hospital.”

Six days later, Naomi Greer-Wilkinson, 25, rode X2 and lost consciousness shortly afterwards, according to her family’s attorneys.

She was taken to hospital and underwent emergency brain surgery. Her family said she remained in hospital and was unable to breathe independently at the time of a report last week.

A third recent plaintiff, Michael Wick, also alleges that he suffered a brain injury after riding X2. His attorney said Wick underwent two brain surgeries and is now unable to practise law because of a disability.

The recent lawsuits follow the death of Christopher Hawley, 22, in 2022.

According to his family’s lawsuit, Hawley lost consciousness shortly after getting off X2 and died the following day after suffering severe brain bleeding.

His parents sued Six Flags, Magic Mountain and S&S Worldwide, the company associated with the ride’s trains. The family reached a settlement in August, according to KTLA.

Court records cited by the Los Angeles Times also show that Hilda Farias, 28, died after riding X2 in 2010 after developing a brain bleed.