Three lawsuits filed this week say the X2 roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain caused catastrophic brain injuries. Attorneys say more than 100 other riders have made similar claims.
Three lawsuits filed this week accuse Six Flags Magic Mountain of allowing a roller coaster to keep running while riders were being seriously hurt.
The suits center on X2, the spinning coaster at the Valencia, California, park. The attorneys who filed them say their clients suffered traumatic brain injuries, and that more than 100 other people have come to the firm with similar claims.
The ride has been closed since July.
What do the X2 lawsuits say?
The complaints allege riders came off X2 with catastrophic brain injuries, including bleeding on the brain that required emergency surgery, KTLA reported Tuesday.
Dordick Law Corporation, the Beverly Hills firm handling the cases, held a press conference Tuesday to announce the filings. The firm said in a media release that more than 100 additional clients who allege brain injuries “of varying severity from the same ride” have retained it, and that those suits will be filed over the coming weeks.
Attorneys said they have materials from medical and engineering experts describing the mechanism on the ride they believe causes the injuries. Those materials haven’t been made public.
“We want transparency. We want the public to know about the dangers of riding these rollercoasters, and in particular, X2,” attorney Gary A. Dordick said, per KTLA. “Magic Mountain, as a business, seems to think that it’s okay that if people voluntarily choose to ride a rollercoaster, then they’ve assumed the risk. No, they don’t assume a risk of death or catastrophic brain damage from some family fun.”
Who are the riders suing Six Flags over X2?
Two of the three suits involve riders hurt within a week of each other this summer.
Pamela Guillen, 40, rode X2 on July 5 while at the park for her daughter’s 16th birthday. She told CNN she hit her head against the headrest repeatedly during the ride, needed help getting out of her seat, and started vomiting. She lost consciousness on a bench a short time later.
A CT scan at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital showed a severe subdural hematoma and brain compression, her family said. Surgeons removed part of her skull to relieve the pressure. She woke up two weeks later with no memory of what happened.
Six days after that, Naomi Greer-Wilkinson, 25, of Los Angeles lost consciousness shortly after riding X2. She was taken to the same hospital and had emergency brain surgery. Her family said she was in a coma in late August. Dordick Law said this week that she remains hospitalized in a semi-conscious state.
Both families are represented by attorney Christopher Bulone of Dordick Law.
Has anyone died after riding X2?
Yes. Christopher Hawley, 22, died in June 2022, a day after riding X2 with his younger brother and a cousin.
According to his family’s lawsuit, the coaster jolted to a violent stop near the end of the ride. Hawley, who had recently graduated from San Diego State University, walked down the exit ramp holding a rail and said his head hurt. A CT scan showed a catastrophic subdural hematoma. He died the next day.
His parents sued for wrongful death. At the end of August, the park and ride manufacturer S&S Worldwide settled with the family. The terms weren’t disclosed.
“They won’t explain to us what happened. They’ve essentially gone dark,” his father, William Hawley, said in comments reported by the Orange County Register.
Why is X2 closed at Six Flags Magic Mountain?
Six Flags has kept X2 closed since July 12, 2026, the week of the two incidents described above.
Cal/OSHA, the state agency that oversees amusement park rides, has been investigating. It hasn’t released findings.
What has Six Flags said about the X2 injuries?
Very little. Asked about the lawsuits Tuesday, the park told KTLA only that “the ride remains closed at this time.” A spokesperson said Six Flags does not comment on pending litigation.
In August, the company said riders who follow instructions during normal ride operation would not suffer a traumatic brain injury, and that X2 goes through daily inspections.
What kind of roller coaster is X2?
X2 is a 4th Dimension coaster, and it was the first one built. Each seat sits on the outside of the track and spins 360 degrees forward and backward, independent of the train, so riders flip as the coaster moves.
The numbers, per published specs:
175 feet tall
A 215-foot drop at nearly 90 degrees
76 mph top speed
About 3,600 feet of track
Roughly a two-and-a-half minute ride
It opened as X in 2002 and was rebuilt and relaunched as X2 in 2008. It was the last coaster Arrow Dynamics designed and built before the company folded. Only a handful of 4th Dimension coasters were ever made, and the others are in Japan and China.
Is X2 reopening?
No date has been announced. The ride has been listed as closed since July, and the Cal/OSHA investigation is still open.
Six Flags has, meanwhile, put out a teaser for a new coaster at Magic Mountain set to open in 2027.
What does this mean for other Six Flags rides?
Nothing announced. The claims are specific to X2, and no other coaster has been named in the filings.
It lands at a rough moment for the company. Six Flags merged with Cedar Fair in 2024, and the combined chain has been closing parks, retiring rides and, this year, dropping the Six Flags name at several locations.
What should guests know right now?
If you’re planning a trip to Magic Mountain, X2 is not operating, so don’t build a day around it. The rest of the park is open.
Anyone who believes they were hurt on a ride can file a report with the park and with Cal/OSHA, which keeps records on amusement ride incidents in California.
We’ll update this story as the lawsuits move forward and if Cal/OSHA releases its findings.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
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Hat Tips:
KTLA (Sept. 22, 2026), the three lawsuits, rider accounts, attorney statements, the Hawley settlement and the Six Flags response
FOX 11 (Sept. 22, 2026), additional lawsuit coverage
CNN (Aug. 27, 2026), the original investigation and the rider interviews KTLA relayed
Orange County Register (2026), the William Hawley comments
Dordick Law Corporation (accessed Sept. 22, 2026), the media release and client count
Cal/OSHA (2026), the open investigation
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