Six Flags Magic Mountain permanently retired X2 on 29 September 2026. The fourth-dimension roller coaster had been shut since 12 July, after two women needed emergency brain surgery within six days of each other. Park president Brian Oerding said closing it was “the right thing to do.”
Why Did Six Flags Retire X2?
Six Flags retired X2 after a wave of brain injury lawsuits and an investigation by CNN, while maintaining that the ride had passed its safety checks.
In a statement issued on 29 September 2026, Oerding said that X2 “consistently passed a multitude of safety tests” but that the park had decided to close it because it believed doing so was right. He also pointed to public trust, saying that when the park sees guest confidence affected, it takes that seriously.
The statement did not mention the litigation. Oerding noted instead that since X2 opened in 2008 it had “welcomed more than 16 million guests and earned a passionate following among ride enthusiasts,” and thanked the staff who ran and maintained it.
The announcement came roughly a month after CNN published an investigation into the ride. According to that reporting, X2 had been linked to more than a dozen reports of serious injury or hospitalisation across nearly two decades, including two deaths.
How the X2 Closure Unfolded in 2026
The ride went from operating normally to permanently retired in under three months.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 5 July 2026 | Pamela Guillen, 40, visiting from Hawaii for her daughter’s 16th birthday, rides X2 and is later found to have a brain bleed requiring emergency surgery. |
| Mid-July 2026 | Naomi Greer-Wilkinson, 25, of Los Angeles, rides X2 six days after Guillen and also undergoes emergency brain surgery. |
| 12 July 2026 | Six Flags closes X2 that evening. California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health opens an investigation. |
| August 2026 | CNN publishes its investigation documenting the ride’s injury history, including two deaths. |
| 26 August 2026 | Court filings show the family of Christopher Hawley settled with Six Flags Magic Mountain and ride manufacturer S&S Worldwide, weeks before a scheduled September trial. |
| Late September 2026 | Three further lawsuits are filed alleging the ride caused traumatic brain injuries. |
| 29 September 2026 | Oerding announces X2 is permanently retired. |
What Do the X2 Lawsuits Allege?
The lawsuits allege that X2 caused riders traumatic brain injuries, and that the problem traces back to the ride’s original design.
Three suits filed in late September 2026 name the park and, in the Hawley litigation, the seat manufacturer S&S Worldwide. The complaints allege design defects dating to the ride’s 2002 debut, when it operated as X.
Named plaintiffs include Guillen; Michael Wick, who says he has undergone two brain surgeries and can no longer practise law because of disability; and Greer-Wilkinson, whose parents have said she has not been able to breathe without a ventilator. Lawyers at Dordick Law Corporation say more than 100 additional people have contacted them over the past two years claiming similar injuries.
No court has found Six Flags liable on any of these claims. Attorney Gary Dordick said the closure came too late for his clients and that he intends to keep pursuing the cases.
How Is X2 Alleged to Have Caused Brain Injuries?
The claims centre on rapid acceleration and deceleration rather than any crash or mechanical failure.
Doctors who treated the two women injured in July concluded that their injuries resulted from a “traumatic rapid acceleration-deceleration event” on the ride, and both were treated for bleeding on the brain. In the Hawley case, court filings said treating surgeons likened the pattern of internal brain damage to shaken baby syndrome.
X2 stood 175 feet tall, ran 3,610 feet of track at up to 76 mph, and sent riders over a first drop of 215 feet at a maximum angle of 88.5 degrees. Its distinguishing feature was seats that rotated a full 360 degrees forward or backward, independently of the train.
Six Flags has rejected the causation argument. In the Hawley case it denied liability, arguing that X2 operated within accepted industry standards and that the forces it generated were not sufficient to cause a traumatic brain injury. No regulator has published a finding on the mechanism.
Which Deaths Have Been Linked to X2?
Two deaths have been publicly linked to the ride, in 2010 and 2022.
Hilda Farias, 28, died in 2010 after riding X2. Medical experts concluded that a pre-existing abnormality in her brain’s blood vessels ruptured following the ride, and her family later reached an undisclosed settlement with Six Flags.
Christopher Hawley, 22, a recent San Diego State University graduate, rode X2 on 23 June 2022, collapsed, and died the following day after emergency surgery. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner ruled the death an accident caused by blunt force head trauma sustained on an amusement park ride. His family’s wrongful death suit was settled in August 2026 on terms that were not disclosed.
What Made X2 Unusual Among Roller Coasters
X2 was the world’s first fourth-dimension roller coaster and the last ride Arrow Dynamics ever built.
It opened to season passholders on 24 December 2001 and to the public on 12 January 2002, under the name X, after delays pushed it back from a planned summer 2001 debut. Its final cost was estimated at about $45 million. Arrow Dynamics filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 3 December 2001, weeks before the ride opened.
The engineering was the point. Where a conventional coaster runs on two rails, X used four: two carried the train, and two of varying height drove the seat rotation through a rack-and-pinion mechanism, giving a controlled spin rather than a free one.
Six Flags announced a roughly $10 million overhaul in November 2007. The ride reopened as X2 on 24 May 2008 with lighter trains, air-released restraints in place of the mechanical system, revised wheel assemblies, onboard audio and fire effects.
Are the Other Two Fourth-Dimension Coasters Still Open?
Yes. Both of the other controlled-rotation fourth-dimension coasters were still listed as operating when X2 was retired.
Only three were ever built. Alongside X2 there is Eejanaika at Fuji-Q Highland in Japan, which opened in 2006, and Dinoconda at China Dinosaur Park, which opened in 2012. Neither has been reported as closed or placed under safety review in connection with X2.
These three should not be confused with S&S Worldwide’s later 4D Free Spin rides, such as Tumbili at Kings Dominion or Insane at Gröna Lund. Those are a different and much smaller product, with seats that spin largely freely rather than on a geared, track-driven mechanism.
Where Does X2 Stand as of October 2026?
As of 11 October 2026, X2 is permanently closed and Six Flags has not said what becomes of it.
The park has not announced a replacement attraction, published a timetable for dismantling the structure, or said whether any of it will be reused. Reports of a successor ride are fan speculation rather than company statements. Retiring assets is not new ground for the operator, which closed Six Flags America permanently in November 2025.
The legal side is still live. The Cal/OSHA investigation opened in July remains open, and a judge has scheduled a 2027 trial in a suit brought by a husband and wife from Yucaipa, California. The closure of the ride does not resolve the pending claims.
X2 Frequently Asked Questions
Is X2 Closed Permanently?
Yes. Six Flags Magic Mountain announced on 29 September 2026 that the ride is permanently retired, and it had already been out of service since 12 July 2026.
Can You Still Ride X2 Anywhere Else?
No. X2 was a one-off installation and cannot be ridden elsewhere, although the two other controlled-rotation fourth-dimension coasters, Eejanaika in Japan and Dinoconda in China, were still operating.
How Many People Have Claimed X2 Injured Them?
Lawyers at Dordick Law Corporation say more than 100 people contacted them over two years alleging brain injuries, in addition to the named plaintiffs in the filed lawsuits.
Did Six Flags Admit the Ride Was Unsafe?
No. The park said X2 repeatedly passed safety testing and framed the closure as the right decision given affected guest confidence, and it denied liability in the Hawley case.
Is Six Flags Building Something in X2’s Place?
Nothing has been announced. As of 11 October 2026 the park has named no replacement ride and given no demolition timetable.
