The Aporia · Six Flags shuts California roller coaster at centre of lawsuits

Six Flags shuts California roller coaster at centre of lawsuits

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The Straits Times. (2026, September 30). Six Flags shuts California roller coaster at centre of lawsuits. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/six-flags-shuts-california-roller-coaster-at-centre-of-lawsuits

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Quick Summary

Six Flags Entertainment has permanently closed the X2 roller coaster at its Magic Mountain Park in Valencia, California, following lawsuits alleging brain injuries caused by the ride. The company stated that although the X2 passed numerous safety tests, closing it was necessary due to concerns about guest confidence. Since opening in 2008, over 16 million people have ridden the X2, which featured rotating seats flipping riders forward and backward at speeds up to 76 miles per hour (122 km/h). The ride's closure comes amid more than 100 reported injuries from lawsuits; Six Flags shares fell by 4.3% on September 29 following the announcement.

Written by AI on 2026-09-30, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Six Flags Magic Mountain permanently closed its X2 roller coaster on September 19, 2023, after nearly two decades due to multiple lawsuits alleging traumatic brain injuries. The ride, which reached speeds of up to 76 mph, was shut down following the deaths of a 22-year-old man in 2022 and two women who suffered severe brain damage within days of each other in July. Since then, more than 100 people have reported injuries they believe were caused by the ride. Despite passing numerous safety tests, Six Flags decided to retire X2 because "it's the right thing to do," according to Brian Oerding, president of Magic Mountain Park. The closure comes amid increasing guest concerns and legal pressures.

Written for “X2 Roller Coaster Closure” on 2026-11-05, grounded in this article and the 6 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

29%

2 of 7 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

not political

takes no side on a contested political question

Publisher signals

66/100

The Straits Times's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Entertainment

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-09-30 · how these are computed

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Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Straits Times · 4424 article(s) · 5 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 5 correction(s)

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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 2900 articles by The Straits Times →

Topics

California LOS ANGELES Six Flags Six Flags Entertainment Valencia

Subjects

California GPE · 2× Six Flags ORG · 2× Brian Oerding PERSON · 1× LOS ANGELES GPE · 1× New York GPE · 1× Singapore GPE · 1× Six Flags Entertainment ORG · 1× Valencia ORG · 1×

Narrative

“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,” Brian Oerding, the president of the company’s Magic Mountain Park in Valencia, California, said in a statement.

framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-30

2026-09-30 · The Straits Times

Six Flags shuts California roller coaster at centre of lawsuits · mixed framing

Claims (7 extracted, 2 hedged)

Six Flags shuts California roller coaster at centre of lawsuits LOS ANGELES – asserted

Flags → shut → lawsuits

Six Flags Entertainment is permanently retiring the X2 roller coaster, which has been the subject of lawsuits alleging that the ride caused brain injuries. asserted

ride → retire → injuries

Oerding → pass → statement

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

we → see → it

The X2 ride opened in 2008 and featured 360-degree rotating seats that flipped riders forward and backward at speeds approaching 76 miles per hour (122kmh). asserted

that → open → hour

More than 16 million people have ridden it, according to the company. uncertain

people → ride → company

More than 100 people have claimed injury, according to the lawsuits. uncertain

people → claim → lawsuits

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