Six Flags’ Famous X2 Coaster in California Under Scrutiny After CNN Investigation Into Brain Injuries and Deaths

A CNN investigation has placed X2, the famous roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, under national scrutiny. According to CNN’s reporting, the attraction has been associated with serious neurological emergencies spanning nearly two decades, including brain hemorrhages, subdural hematomas, comas and deaths involving people who had ridden the coaster.

The investigation has raised questions about whether the extreme forces experienced aboard X2 could expose some passengers to dangerous head and neck movements. Medical experts, lawsuits and regulators have examined the attraction’s unusual engineering alongside its history of reported injuries, while Six Flags has disputed allegations that the roller coaster itself is inherently unsafe.

Long before the current controversy, X2 became famous for revolutionizing roller-coaster design. Developed by Arrow Dynamics, the attraction opened as X on January 12, 2002. Billed as the world’s first fourth-dimension coaster, it placed passengers in seats extending outward from the track that could independently rotate forward and backward throughout the ride.

Creating that experience proved enormously complicated. The technologically ambitious attraction reportedly cost approximately $45 million and experienced development difficulties before opening. It ultimately became one of Six Flags Magic Mountain’s signature rides while also becoming closely associated with Arrow Dynamics’ financial troubles. The company entered bankruptcy shortly after completing what became its final major roller-coaster project.

Six Flags later invested millions of dollars in an extensive overhaul of the attraction. New trains and restraint systems were introduced alongside a dramatic red-and-black appearance and additional effects, including onboard audio, fog and flames. The renovated coaster reopened as X2 on May 24, 2008, creating an even more theatrical experience for thrill-seekers.

Unlike conventional coasters, X2 combines the train’s movement with independently rotating passenger seats. Riders travel at speeds approaching 80 mph while experiencing major drops, inversions and forward and backward rotations. That deliberately unpredictable combination helped establish X2’s reputation, but its rapid changes in direction are also central to questions examined by CNN and medical experts.

Among the most serious conditions reported following rides are subdural hematomas, in which bleeding develops between the brain and its protective outer covering. The concern is not necessarily that passengers directly strike their heads. Experts involved in litigation have instead examined whether extreme acceleration, deceleration and rotation could cause damaging movement of the brain within the skull.

Scrutiny intensified after two women reportedly suffered severe brain hemorrhages within six days of each other after riding X2 in July, according to CNN’s investigation. Both underwent emergency neurosurgery. One survived but faced an extensive recovery that included relearning basic abilities, while the other remained in a coma and dependent on a ventilator.

The investigation also examined the death of 22-year-old Christopher Hawley, who developed a severe headache after riding X2 in June 2022 before collapsing. Medical imaging revealed a subdural hematoma, and he died the following day. In 2010, 28-year-old Hilda Farias also died following a ride on the attraction after a pre-existing brain abnormality ruptured.

Hawley’s family subsequently pursued a wrongful-death lawsuit alleging negligence, design defects and inadequate warnings. CNN reported that records disclosed through litigation documented at least 70 complaints involving head or neck injuries during the three years before Hawley’s death. Six Flags disputes allegations that X2 is inherently unsafe. A jury trial is scheduled for September 8.

Following the latest reported injuries, California safety authorities became involved while X2 remained shut down amid further examination. Nearly 25 years after the attraction debuted as an unprecedented engineering experiment, CNN’s investigation has transformed the features that made X2 legendary into the center of a larger question: whether extreme thrills can also create unacceptable risks for passengers.