Lawsuit Filed in Amusement Park Death

Arlington, TXAn amusement park lawsuit has been filed against Six Flags Over Texas following a tragic theme park accident. The roller coaster accident lawsuit was filed as Six Flags Over Texas was preparing to reopen the ride involved in the accident.

The lawsuit was filed by the family of Rosa Esparza, who died after falling from The Texas Giant in July 2013. According to court documents, there was one safety bar for each seat on the ride, but the seats did not have any lap belts or shoulder harnesses. Furthermore, the lawsuit claims that inspections of the ride showed that there were issues with the roller coaster’s security system. Lights that were supposed to indicate that all safety bars were locked in place were showing intermittent failures on the day Esparza died.

“Six Flags has now admitted that, after these inspections, they replaced a ‘limit switch’ for a restraint in a seat in the very car in which Rosa was riding because Six Flags found the switch to be defective,” the lawsuit alleges. “Ultimately, as a result of Six Flags’ negligence and gross negligence, Rosa was ejected from The Texas Giant and fell to her death after striking a vertical support beam while her daughter and son-in-law rode along in horror…”

The lawsuit further alleges that Six Flags knew about the risk of being ejected when there was no safety belt on roller coaster cars, but failed to add safety belts despite multiple deaths on Six Flags’ roller coasters and on similar rides at other amusement parks.

“The Six Flags Defendants encourage visitors to the park, such as the Esparza family, to believe that they are experiencing the illusion of danger, without experiencing any actual danger (italics in original),” court documents state. “As Rosa Esparza’s tragic death starkly illustrates, errors on the part of the Six Flags Defendants turned a thrilling illusion into a nightmarish reality.”

That nightmare involved Esparza struggling to hold onto the roller coaster as it twisted, but ultimately unable to do so, she hit a support piling and fell onto a tunnel. According to the lawsuit, Esparza died of multiple traumatic injuries. Adding to the trauma was that her family members, who were also on the ride, had to finish the ride knowing she had fallen and then had to convince employees that their loved one had been thrown from the train.

The lawsuit is case number 342 268034 13, in the District Court, Tarrant County, Texas.