VALENCIA, CALIFORNIA: The Six Flags Magic Mountain's X2 rollercoaster in Valencia, California, received massive backlash after several incidents involving ER admissions and fatalities came to light. In total, the X2 rollercoaster was responsible for sending over a dozen individuals to the emergency room and killing two people in the last two decades. Media attention surrounding the Six Flags X2 coaster brain injury incident grew considerably after two incidents forced its closure.
Two Accidents Force Emergency Halt of Six Flags X2 Roller Coaster
In mid-July 2026, authorities shut down the attraction after two distinct incidents left both passengers critically injured within six days of each other. According to the available data, in the first accident, Pamela Guillen, aged 40, was severely hurt due to the repeated banging of her head against the headrest of the roller coaster, leading to traumatic brain damage, subdural hematoma, and two weeks of medically-induced coma for surgical procedures. Less than a week later, Naomi Greer-Wilkinson, 25, fell unconscious right after disembarking from the roller coaster.
Neurosurgeons who treated each individual, along with investigative neurosurgeons, determined that extremely abrupt decelerations of brain tissue impacting the skull bone had led to each injury. The ride reportedly operated till its closure in the evening of July 12, after these incidents occurred. Questions have been raised about whether there may have been any connection or correlation between when the initial event took place and the eventual shutdown.
Two incidents have recently brought considerable attention to the roller coaster; however, the company has faced similar incidents in the past, as reported by internal documents leaked by CNN. An autopsy report released in 2010 revealed that a 28-year-old mother had suffered fatal injury due to the bursting of her aneurysm due to extreme forces generated while riding on X2.
A 22-year-old college graduate was said to be physically fit when he got on the ride and passed away due to hemorrhagic brain trauma in 2022. According to internal documents obtained by CNN, there have been more than 70 cases of head and neck injuries sustained by riders of X2 in the three years leading up to 2022.
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Court filings have revealed that Six Flags management has sought court orders to maintain the confidentiality of internal medical incident reports and first aid logs. These moves are being made out of fear of bad publicity and preconceived prejudices forming among prospective jurors who could serve on juries hearing lawsuits against the company related to the ride incident.
“X” debuted in 2002; however, the attraction was later renovated and reopened under the name “X2” in 2007. “X2” utilizes highly unusual engineering techniques not commonly used within the amusement park sector. “X2” belongs to the category of fourth dimension roller coasters, whose trains are composed of seats that swing left and right perpendicularly, providing passengers with an opportunity to turn around fully through 360 degrees.
This innovative coaster model developed by Arrow Dynamics includes conventional motions of the roller coaster combined with two inversions. This unique experience involves traveling close to head-over-heels positions and even upside down. This particular attraction allows for practically any maneuver possible within the limits of imagination by its creators. The only other roller coaster globally that has the same exact layout is Eejanaika located at Fuji-Q Highland in Japan.
According to amusement park consultants, conventional safety analysis techniques used in nearly all US states involve evaluating safety in two or three linear dimensions. The experts have pointed out that the standard safety test conducted is entirely inadequate in assessing dynamic loads experienced by passengers when rotating about axes perpendicular to the direction of movement and accelerating their heads through rotation of the headrests.
This means that there may be significant deficiencies in how regulatory agencies evaluate ride safety. There might also be gaps in the regulatory structure regarding assessing novel attractions such as X2 rides.