Entertainment
A former Goliath operator walks through how the coaster's lap bar might have failed
A one-time ride operator at Six Flags Over Georgia says the Goliath lap bars are hard to defeat but a huge amount of force could pop one open.
A man who once ran rides at Six Flags Over Georgia says a Goliath restraint could come open in theory, though only under an enormous amount of pressure.
Brycen Whatley is a coaster fan who used to work at the park outside Atlanta. He spoke Thursday about how Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem may have come out of his seat before his deadly fall.
How the lap bars work
Whatley says Goliath will not leave the station until every arm restraint is lowered at least three clicks. Those restraints use a pin-and-gear system that holds each rider in place.
The rare failure he described
He pointed to something called pin slipping, when the pieces that lock the restraint shift out of place. In his experience it tends to hit a single latch, if it happens at all. He called a full release very unlikely.
Still, he said a restraint could give way if someone put tremendous force on it. Rare, in his view, but possible.
His connection to the ride
Whatley no longer works at the park and was not on duty the day Kariem died. He did operate Goliath along with several other rides during his time there.
Investigators have not said what caused the death. Kariem was thrown from his car, hit the track several times and ended up beneath the coaster.
Whatley's takeaway is that coasters come packed with safety systems but no ride is completely risk free.
