There have been a small number of derailments on such attractions over the years, though none in recent years. One such accident back in 1930 in Omaha saw one car fall completely off the track and the other three in the consist partially derail. Four people died and 19 others were injured.

In the modern era of theme park engineering, a roller coaster "flying off the tracks" is an extremely rare event due to triple-redundant safety systems, but it has happened in the past. One of the most infamous historical examples occurred in 1972 at Battersea Park in London, where the Big Dipper's wooden lift cable snapped, causing cars to roll backward and derail, resulting in five fatalities. In more recent decades, accidents usually involve mechanical failures rather than a "flight" off the track. For example, in 2007 at Expoland in Japan, a coaster derailed due to a broken axle, and in 2016 at M&D's Theme Park in Scotland, a car came off the rails on a sharp turn. Modern steel coasters use "up-stop wheels" that lock the train to the track from below, making it physically impossible for the train to lift off under normal operational forces. Most modern "accidents" are typically related to computer-controlled collisions or guest health issues rather than the structural derailment seen in early 20th-century wooden coasters.