Former Six Flags Operator Explains How Goliath Restraint Could've Opened on Fatal Ride
Six Flags Over Georgia Death With Enough Force You Could Open Safety Restraint ... Former Operator Claims
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A former Six Flags Over Georgia operator says it's possible to push a restraint on a ride like Goliath open ... though it would take a tremendous amount of force.
Brycen Whatley -- a former employee at the theme park near Atlanta and a roller coaster enthusiast -- joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday to discuss how Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem might have been ejected from Goliath before falling to his death.
Brycen first ran through the safety measures on Goliath ... explaining the ride can't even move unless pin-and-gear arm restraints are pulled down three notches -- locking a person into place.
However, Brycen mentions the possibility of pin-slipping ... a phenomenon where the components latched into place in the arm restraint come undone. He says this usually affects only one latch, if it happens at all -- adding that it's highly unlikely the whole thing would bust open.
That said, Brycen admits that -- if a ton of force is applied to the restraint -- it could bust open. Again, unlikely ... but by no means impossible.
To be clear ... Brycen doesn't work at the park anymore -- and he wasn't working when Hassan died, but he used to work on the ride and several others in the park.
Investigators are still looking into the cause of Hassan's shocking death after he flew out of the car, slammed multiple times into the ride's tracks, and landed beneath the coaster.
Bottom line ... roller coasters are built with a ton of safety features -- but they're by no means perfectly safe.
