Six Flags permanently shuts X2 Roller Coaster after riders suffer brain injuries

Six Flags is permanently retiring one of its most famous roller coasters after years of serious injury claims and recent lawsuits alleging riders suffered devastating brain injuries.

X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California will not reopen, bringing an end to a ride that spent more than two decades building a reputation as one of the world's most extreme roller coasters.

It has been closed since July 12, a day after 25-year-old Naomi Greer-Wilkinson rode it and later suffered a severe traumatic brain injury.

She remains in a minimally conscious state and cannot breathe on her own, according to her family's lawsuit.

Six days before Greer-Wilkinson was injured, another rider, Pamela Guillen, suffered a brain hemorrhage after riding X2 and underwent emergency surgery.

Guillen spent two weeks in a coma and says she continues to live with the effects of the injury.

Three lawsuits were filed against Six Flags and the ride's manufacturer this month.

Attorneys representing the plaintiffs say more than 100 people have come forward alleging brain injuries after riding X2 over the past two years.

Questions about the coaster, however, go back further.

Christopher Hawley, 22, died after riding X2 in 2022. The Los Angeles County medical examiner determined he died from blunt head trauma caused by a park ride accident. His family's lawsuit against Six Flags was settled last month.

A CNN investigation had also documented more than a dozen reports of serious injuries and hospitalisations linked to the coaster over nearly two decades.

Six Flags has previously maintained in court filings that X2 passed safety standards and underwent regular inspections.

Opened in 2002, X2 was famous for seats that rotated independently while riders plunged more than 200 feet at speeds reaching 76 mph.