FL - Tyre Sampson, 14, dies from fall on Free Fall Drop Tower ride, ICON Park, Orlando, Mar 2022 *graphic*

[Shamrock1]

“But one expert we spoke with said ride design may not have played a role in this accident.

‘They tend to be operator error … as the root cause,’ Nathan MacDonald, a theme park and ride safety expert with Alpine Engineering & Design said.”
ICON Park death video: Man who filmed teen’s deadly fall from Free Fall describes horrific accident

 

[Shamrock1]

Orlando ride death: Free Fall ride had no seatbelts
“On Free Fall, which is owned by Slingshot Group, there's no belt connecting the horn on the seat to the shoulder restraint.”

 

[mickey2942]

14 years old, 6'5", 340 pounds. Doesn't it seem like his size could have been an issue with this ride? Not body shaming. Just a fact. 340 pounds is significantly more than the average weight of a person.

Maybe there should be a suggested size restriction on rides.

 

[Cherith.Barbieri]

At some amusement parks, there is a 'practice seat' of the same size and design, that one can sit in to see if the harness fits correctly, and if you can't fit comfortably -- it's suggested you skip that ride ?
Every theme park is different, but the first thought was that the harness was not fastened correctly to the seat area between his legs ?
And for most rides the operator checks each seat to ensure the safety protocols are met.
What a horror for this teens' family and the people who witnessed it.


Rest in peace, Tyre.

Adding : I would assume the ride operators checked to see that all of the harnesses were properly secured and were satisfied that this was indeed the case ?
So, then did the locking mechanism fail ?

 

[Shamrock1]

On size restrictions:
“The heartbroken dad is demanding to know why his 6-foot-5, 340-pound son was even allowed on the ride after he was stopped from getting on others due to his size.

This one particular ride decided, ‘yeah, we’re gonna take you, come on, get on,’ when nobody else allowed him to get on the rides,’ Samson told the Orlando station.

‘So I wanna know what happened between now and then that made them say, ‘come on, you can get on this ride,’ he added.”

Teen was ‘freaking out’ on Orlando ride before falling to his death, father says

 

[Eloise]

14 years old, 6'5", 340 pounds. Doesn't it seem like his size could have been an issue with this ride? Not body shaming. Just a fact. 340 pounds is significantly more than the average weight of a person.

Maybe there should be a suggested size restriction on rides.

At some amusement parks, there is a 'practice seat' of the same size and design, that one can sit in to see if the harness fits correctly, and if you can't fit comfortably -- it's suggested you skip that ride ?
Every theme park is different, but the first thought was that the harness was not fastened correctly to the seat area between his legs ?
And for most rides the operator checks each seat to ensure the safety protocols are met.
What a horror for this teens' family and the people who witnessed it.


Rest in peace, Tyre.

Adding : I would assume the ride operators checked to see that all of the harnesses were properly secured and were satisfied that this was indeed the case ?
So, then did the locking mechanism fail ?

did you watch the video, or even see some of the stills of before the ride started?

He was very obviously too big and the harness obviously didn't fit.

This article shows Tyre sitting in the seat before the ride went. Just visually it looks wrong, no need to rely on a light or check it etc

 

[airportwoman]

“He was panicking when he was going up," Sampson says his son was on the Orlando Free Fall ride at ICON Park with two of his best friends. "When the ride took off, that’s when he was feeling uncomfortable. He was like, ‘What’s going on?’ That’s when he started freaking out, and he was explaining to his friend next to him, ‘I don’t know man. If I don’t make it down, please tell my Mom and Daddy I love them.’ For him to say something like that, he must have felt something."


He said his son was 6 feet, 5 inches tall, and weighed 340 pounds.

"This one particular ride said, ‘We can take you, come on! Get on!’ No one else allowed him to get on the ride, so I’m wondering what happened between now and then that made them say, 'Come on, get this ride!"

Father of teen who fell from ride wants answers: 'This should never happen'

That boy looked like he was enormous, and this confirms it. He may also have been too tall and/or too heavy to safely go on this ride.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

This article on CNN says he was properly restrained. Is someone engaged in wishful thinking?
ICON Park, Orlando area: 14-year-old falls to death from recently opened drop tower ride - CNN

The boy was secured in the ride's seat, an official with the company that operates the ride told CNN affiliate Spectrum News 13.
"Yes (he was secured in the seat). That's what we know at this time.

 

[gregjrichards]

If I don't make it down tell my momma and daddy I love them': Boy, 14, who fell to his death from 430-foot Orlando drop tower told friends he was worried about safety harness during the ride, says his father

'When the ride took off, that's when he was feeling uncomfortable. He was like 'this thing is moving,' you know what I'm saying. And he was like 'what's going on?'' Samson told WOFL-TV.

The grieving father said that Tyre began to panic and shared a chilling premonition with his two best friends, seated next to him on the ride.

'That's when he started freaking out. And he was explaining to his friends, next to him, 'I don't know man, if I don't make it down, safely, can you please tell my mamma and daddy that I love them,'' said Sampson. 'For him to say something like that, he must have felt something.'

Teen who fell to his death from 430-foot Orlando drop tower KNEW something was wrong | Daily Mail Online

Rest In Peace Tyre. It is heartbreaking to read these details he must have been terrified. I don’t want to blame the ride staff but a ride like this should not be starting until they are certain all the riders are secure with the restraints down securely. Tyre’s shoulder restraint looks higher up than his friends riding beside him. The ride staff should have checked for certain that it was down securely before starting the ride. He was a well built football player and it may be the case that his shoulder and chest size was too big for the shoulder and chest restraint to go down securely.

“Riders also asked the operators about the seat belts.

One said: "Why doesn't this have the little clicky click? Like the seat belt?"
The worker replied: "You talking about a seat belt?"

A bystander appeared to joke: “Make it go faster than 75.”

As the ride starts, the worker yells: “Hey did you take your seat belt on the left side. Seat belt.”

I wish the ride hadn’t been started or it had been stopped if the worker was still asking if the riders had their seatbelts on after it has started. This is a terrible tragedy and I am sure it will be distressing for the ride staff, Tyre’s friends, other people on the ride and everyone who witnessed Tyre fall.

I don’t understand how the ride can start if the shoulder and chest restraints of all the riders are not down securely. You would hope that there would be some kind of warning alarm to let the ride operator know that the restraint of one of the riders is not down properly. The ride should not be able to start unless all the restraints for all the riders are down securely.

It may be the case that it wasn’t possible for the seat restraints to go down securely because he was a well built football player. The ride staff may have had to apologise and say I’m sorry it isn’t possible for you to ride because we can’t get the restraint to go down securely and it isn’t safe for you to ride. I know that this would have been disappointing and difficult for him to hear especially at 14 years old. It is not an easy conversation for the ride staff to say any rider who is well built but unfortunately it may have been necessary.

I expect Tyre’s family will be filing a negligence lawsuit soon against the owners of the park for failing to ensure Tyre’s safety restraint was down securely before starting the ride. They may also file a lawsuit against the ride manufacturer because it should not have been possible for the ride to function if the seat restraints of all the riders were not down securely. It may be that the safety restraints of the ride are not sufficient and this will need to be investigated.

Here in the UK we have a regulatory body called the Health and Safety Executive. The purpose of this organisation is to ensure the safety of employees and the public in places. They do inspections to make sure a ride is safe and if a member of the public died in an accident in a ride at an amusement park here they would do a thorough investigation into the tragedy. The Health and Safety Executive would ensure a ride would be closed until they were satisfied it was safe. If an investigation was done and it was determined that improvements were needed in relation to staff training for the ride staff at the park to ensure the safety of the ride. Or alterations were required to make the ride safer then this would have to be done before the ride was legally allowed to operate again.

We discussed at length here after the Verruckt water slide tragedy that there should be the equivalent of the NTSB in the aviation industry in the U.S for the theme park industry. It was shocking to me that this waterside was built and allowed to operate without sufficient proper legal assurances that it was safe. I do not know if there has been any movement towards this since then or if it is still down to individual States to ensure rides are safe with some states having adequate regulations and others hardly any.

 

[ilovewings]

“He was panicking when he was going up," Sampson says his son was on the Orlando Free Fall ride at ICON Park with two of his best friends. "When the ride took off, that’s when he was feeling uncomfortable. He was like, ‘What’s going on?’ That’s when he started freaking out, and he was explaining to his friend next to him, ‘I don’t know man. If I don’t make it down, please tell my Mom and Daddy I love them.’ For him to say something like that, he must have felt something."


He said his son was 6 feet, 5 inches tall, and weighed 340 pounds.

"This one particular ride said, ‘We can take you, come on! Get on!’ No one else allowed him to get on the ride, so I’m wondering what happened between now and then that made them say, 'Come on, get this ride!"

Father of teen who fell from ride wants answers: 'This should never happen'

Is it possible he was too big for that ride- to the point he could not be secured safely? I wonder if there are height and weight requirements for this ride?- 6'5 and 340 pounds ----

 

[Elley Mae]

14 years old, 6'5", 340 pounds. Doesn't it seem like his size could have been an issue with this ride? Not body shaming. Just a fact. 340 pounds is significantly more than the average weight of a person.

Maybe there should be a suggested size restriction on rides.

I agree.

At this link you can clearly see that the harness? Does not go down over him to his crouch area like the two fellows to his left. So sad.

Teen who fell to his death from 430-foot Orlando drop tower KNEW something was wrong | Daily Mail Online

 

[Sarahlou]

There should be some people getting fired here. Complete negligence. They didn't check he was safe. The poor lad, those extra details about what he said to a friend are heartbreaking.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Gosh this is getting uglier and uglier. Poor kid knew something wasn’t right. What a nightmare for his family!

 

[Cherith.Barbieri]

Dbm.
Will wait for an update after the investigation, but it's not looking good for the park.
Imo.

 

[ilovewings]

delete

 

[ilovewings]

I agree.

At this link you can clearly see that the harness? Does not go down over him to his crouch area like the two fellows to his left. So sad.

Teen who fell to his death from 430-foot Orlando drop tower KNEW something was wrong | Daily Mail Online

Well if there was not a weight/size requirement prior to this horror, there well may be one after- this kid was absolutely huge--- ( as someone above said: not fat shaming), but he was a very big teenager.

 

[PrairieWind]

The father said the boy had been turned away from other rides due to his size. No doubt he was a BIG guy! In that photo we can clearly see that harness is not down all the way. The worker when question claims "the light was on" meaning the light indicating the harness is latched. Is there a malfunction or is the guy just lying? Regardless of if the light is on or not a final walk around check should have clearly shown the harness was not properly locked. The state was inspecting the ride yesterday. So that should show if there was signal malfunction. From a legal liability stand point, it really doesn't matter, the ride owner is liable. It could be very important as to whether criminal charges are brought against the people that were operating the ride that night.

 

[badgersmythe]

911 call reveals 'they didn't secure the seatbelt' of boy, 14, on ride


911 call reveals 'they didn't secure the seatbelt' of boy, 14, who fell to his death from drop tower | Daily Mail Online


I thought there weren’t seatbelts on this ride?

ETA. It seems this is what the caller was presuming happened.

 

[Shamrock1]

911 call reveals 'they didn't secure the seatbelt' of boy, 14, on ride


911 call reveals 'they didn't secure the seatbelt' of boy, 14, who fell to his death from drop tower | Daily Mail Online


I thought there weren’t seatbelts on this ride?

ETA. It seems this is what the caller was presuming happened.

There were no seatbelts - just the pull-down harness that goes over the shoulders and buckles at the crotch. It is/will be confusing because “seat belt” is often used to mean any safety harness.

 

[Lusitana]

This poor kid. He hung on for a while, the fall was horrific. I just don't understand how nobody noticed he wasn't properly buckled in, it was very obvious that he the harness or whatever they call it wasn't even close to be in place.

I can't imagine how sad it was for Tyre to be rejected on so many rides due to his size. He was just a kid. I wish they didn't let him on this stupid ride either though. The kids sitting beside him have to be going through A LOT.

The employee was clearly too busy flirting with the girl to properly check for everyone's safety. Stupid, stupid, stupid.