COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Hassan Kariem’s 13-year-old niece told her family she saw Kariem lose consciousness before falling from the Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia.
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Joshua Nelson said Ashlyn Webb from Channel 2 her daughter was riding Goliath next to Kariem when she saw what happened.
“His words were that he passed out, and then they went up and down,” Nelson said. “She said he got up again and his latch, I guess, broke or came loose and he fell.”
The account is among witness statements investigators are expected to review as part of their effort to determine the cause of Kariem’s fatal fall.
Dennis Spiegel, a veteran theme park consultant, is a former president of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions who spent more than 50 years in the entertainment industry. Spiegel said it was too early to know what caused Kariem’s fall.
Spiegel says investigators will likely look at everything and determine whether it was operator error, rider error or a failure in the engineering, mechanics or design of the ride.
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“Could something have come loose and broken, allowing the seat bar to go back up?” » said Spiegel. “They look, has the operator lowered the seat bar and correctly onto the gentleman’s lap.”
According to Spiegel, Goliath uses what’s called a clamshell abdominal restraint system with multiple locking positions designed to keep riders in place.
“There are four clicks when it goes down. Click, click, click,” Spiegel said. “And that lets the operator know, the person directing the ride, that it’s safe and in place.”
Spiegel said investigators will also look into the niece’s account that Kariem may have passed out before the fall. When asked if roller coaster manufacturers take into account the possibility of riders losing consciousness, Spiegel said yes.
Nelson, who said he worked at Six Flags when he was a teenager, wonders if his brother-in-law’s death could have been avoided.
He said Kariem had been battling health issues for years and would avoid travel whenever he needed supplemental oxygen. But this time, Nelson said, his brother-in-law finally felt well enough to enjoy the park as a family.
“He said to me, ‘Man, I can’t wait to go ride the big roller coaster,’” Nelson recalled. “He was just happy to be there.”
Authorities have not revealed the cause of Kariem’s fall and the investigation continues. Investigators are expected to review witness statements, ride operations, maintenance records and the roller coaster’s restraint system as they work to determine exactly what happened.
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