A park-wide power outage at Six Flags Over Texas stranded riders on several roller coasters on Saturday, May 16, 2026 [1].
The incident highlights the vulnerability of high-capacity amusement rides to electrical failures, necessitating manual evacuations of guests from significant heights.
Visitors at the Arlington, Texas, park were forced to exit several rides by walking down emergency stairs after the power failed [2]. Among the affected attractions was The Titan, where riders were stranded at a height of 250 feet [1]. The outage was severe enough to force an early closure of the entire facility [3].
Reports regarding the cause of the failure are inconsistent. Two sources said an external construction crew struck an underground power line [1, 2]. However, a third source said the park experienced an internal technical issue [3].
Park officials and emergency teams managed the evacuation process to ensure all patrons reached the ground safely. The event occurred during a busy Saturday window, increasing the number of guests affected by the sudden loss of power and the subsequent closure [1, 3].
Six Flags Over Texas is a major destination in the U.S. theme park industry, and such disruptions often trigger reviews of infrastructure safety and power redundancy systems. The use of emergency stairs is a standard safety protocol for coasters when mechanical lifts or braking systems lose power [2].
“Riders were stranded at a height of 250 feet”
This incident underscores the critical nature of power redundancy in the amusement industry. When a total power failure occurs, the transition from automated systems to manual evacuation protocols—such as walking down emergency stairs—becomes the primary safety mechanism. The contradiction between reports of external construction damage versus internal technical failure suggests a potential gap in initial communications regarding the root cause of the outage.
