Six Flags permanently retires X2 rollercoaster amid brain-injury claims

Six Flags has decided to permanently retire X2 at its Magic Mountain park in Valencia, California. The rollercoaster had been closed since 12 July, after two women were taken to hospital following separate rides that month. [4] [5]

Park president Brian Oerding said X2 had consistently passed numerous safety tests, but that the company believed closing it was the right decision after guests’ confidence was affected. [4]

Dordick Law Corporation said on 24 September that it had filed three lawsuits that week and had been retained by more than 100 further clients alleging traumatic brain injuries after riding X2. More than 300 people had contacted the firm about various injuries, the lawyers told CNN. Those contacts are a broader group than the clients alleging brain injuries. [2] [7]

Two women who rode X2 on 5 and 11 July underwent emergency brain surgery, CNN reported. It said their treating doctors attributed the injuries to rapid acceleration and deceleration during the ride. Six Flags also settled a wrongful-death lawsuit in August involving a 22-year-old man who died the day after riding X2 in 2022; the medical examiner identified blunt head trauma as his cause of death. [8] [5]

In a separate injury case, a defence expert argued that X2’s forces were insufficient to cause a traumatic brain injury. A California appeals court ruled in February that the claimant’s account of hitting her head and experiencing immediate symptoms raised an issue for trial, overturning a judgment in favour of the manufacturers. [3]