Six Flags Permanently Closes X2 Roller Coaster After Brain Injury Reports

One of Southern California’s most talked-about thrill rides won’t be coming back.

Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, announced on Tuesday, September 29, that it has permanently retired its X2 roller coaster, according to a message from park president Brian Oerding posted on the Six Flags website.

“After almost 20 years, we have decided to permanently retire X2,” Oerding wrote.

He pointed to the ride’s loyal fan base. “Since X2 opened in 2008, it has welcomed more than 16 million guests and earned a passionate following among ride enthusiasts,” he shared in the statement. “We recognize the special place X2 holds in the coaster community, and we are grateful to our team members who operated and maintained it throughout its run.”

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

The statement didn’t mention specific incidents, but X2 had been closed since July 12.

As Globe previously reported, X2 reached speeds of 76 mph and featured seats that rotated 360 degrees, flipping riders as the coaster moved along the track, according to the ride’s now-removed official website.

In July, two women lost consciousness after riding X2 just six days apart and later underwent surgery for similar brain hemorrhages, The Hollywood Reporter reported, citing a CNN investigation. The second woman remained in a coma, per the outlet.

Three neurosurgeons who treated the women concluded to CNN that “the severe brain injuries requiring emergent neurosurgical attention were the result of a traumatic rapid acceleration-deceleration event experienced while on the X2 ride,” per The Hollywood Reporter. The investigation also found more than a dozen reports of injuries and hospitalizations connected to the coaster.

According to The U.S. Sun, X2 was also at the center of a lawsuit over the death of Christopher Hawley. Hawley, 22, collapsed after getting off the ride in June 2022 and died the following day, the National Enquirer reported.

Six Flags Magic Mountain and ride-train supplier S&S Worldwide reached settlements with Hawley’s parents, FOX 11 reported in August. The financial terms were not made public. Attorneys for S&S Worldwide maintained in court documents that the coaster trains operated “exactly as intended and exactly as designed and constructed,” per the outlet.