Power Outage Left Roller Coaster Riders Stranded 245 Feet in the Air at Six Flags
If getting stuck on a broken-down roller coaster is one of your worst nightmares, this probably isn't the news you'll want to read. On Saturday, May 16, a power outage caused several roller coasters at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington to literally stop right in their tracks, leaving dozens of riders stranded-and forcing them to walk down emergency stairs from heights of up to 245 feet.
Social media videos showed stuck riders having to exit down emergency stairs, and one terrified rider summed up the experience perfectly on TikTok:
"I was on the Titan, I didn't even wanna get on, but I was trynna face my fear and of course this happens lol, I cried the whole way down the stairs."
@haylzbells2 6 flags lost power today.. made for a short trip #sixflagsovertexas#sixflags#fyp
♬ original sound - haylzbells2
For additional context, according to the park's website, the Titan is the tallest ride at the park.
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What Actually Happened
The outage hit the park around 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, affecting the entire property-not just one ride. According to Six Flags, an internal technical issue with the park's electrical equipment caused the interruption. Some reports attributed the issue to powerful wind gusts that swept through North Texas that weekend, affecting around 30,000 power customers across the area.
Obviously, when the power died, so did everything else-including the mechanical systems that keep riders safe. (Can you feel your heart beating faster already?) Park staff had to manually release the safety restraints on rides like the Titan, a 245-foot coaster that reaches speeds of 85 mph. Riders who were stranded at the peak of the lift hill had to do the thing no theme park goer ever imagines: walk down narrow, windy emergency maintenance stairs running along the side of the steel structure.
The videos that went viral show why this was genuinely terrifying. Families and children are gripping railings for their lives as wind whips around them, descending stairs that seem to go on forever. One mother told local news outlet WFAA that the evacuation was so chaotic that she lost sight of her kids multiple times as she made her way through the crowded exit.
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The Silver Lining
Fortunately, all's well that ends well: everyone made it down safely, and no injuries were reported. The park worked with Oncor Electric Delivery to restore power, which took about two hours. Once operations resumed later that evening, many rides reopened before the park closed.
Every guest who was in the park during the outage received a free return ticket. Whether they'll actually use it is another story.
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This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 1:28 PM.