El Toro Still Closed As Repairs, Investigation Continue At Six Flags

JACKSON, NJ — The El Toro roller coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure remained closed Monday following an incident on the ride Thursday that injured more than a dozen people.

"The ride remains closed as DCA's investigation into the ride incident continues," said Tammori C. Petty-Dixon, director of communications for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. The department oversees carnival and amusement ride safety.

Witnesses reported hearing a loud bang and seeing the El Toro train jolt as the train finished its circuit on the track, Petty-Dixon said.

Fourteen people total were injured, five of whom were taken to the hospital for evaluation and further treatment, one for a neck injury, two for back injuries, and two for mouth and tongue injuries, Petty-Dixon said Monday.

The injuries happened in an area before the last turn where there was a slight separation between the track and wooden structure, also described as a "pothole," a Six Flags employee told CBS 2 New York.

"From what I know, it was mostly a pothole toward the end of it," the employee told CBS2. "From what I know, maintenance has known about it and they have tried fixing it. But for how it is, it just keeps happening."

A Six Flags spokesman said repairs are underway.

"Experts discovered a section of the ride sub-structure that requires repair," said Gabriel Daretta, a spokesman for Six Flags Great Adventure. "The ride will remain closed to complete the review and make necessary repairs."

Daretta said "an initial, careful review of the entire ride indicates the primary and back-up safety systems of the ride ensured the train completed its ride cycle safely." Everyone was able to get off the ride without assistance Thursday, he said.

El Toro will be reinspected, "including evaluations by the state of NJ and an independent ride safety expert," before the ride reopens, Darreta said. "Once approved by our engineers, maintenance, and operations professionals, the ride will reopen."

In June 2021, El Toro was shut down when a train came to a stop short of the brake run with the rear wheels of one car off the track. No one was injured in the June 29, 2021, incident, but the state "red-tagged" the ride after the incident, which meant the ride was prohibited from operating until an engineering review was conducted, officials said.

El Toro remained closed through the rest of 2021 and reopened this spring, after the state approved a repair plan from the ride manufacturer explained the cause and the repair, a DCA spokeswoman said in the spring. El Toro was "subjected to extensive testing and inspections" before the 2022 permit was renewed.

The partial derailment of El Toro in 2021 led to the park being fined $5,000 for not notifying the state community affairs department by phone immediately after the incident.

El Toro, a wooden roller coaster that opened in 2006, takes riders on 4,400 feet of twists, tight turns and drops, including one of 176 feet, reaching a top speed of 70 miles per hour.