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

[killarney rose]

Woman claiming to be related to boy who fell from ride has no ties to family, investigation shows

 

[MimosaMornings]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/tyre-...n-cousin-of-boy-who-died-on-orlando-park-ride

“In interviews with CNN and local Florida outlets, Johnson recounted a phone conversation with Sampson just before the March 24 tragedy. During a brief call, she said, Sampson was upset that he had been rejected from other sides at the ICON Park in Florida for being “too big”—and was excited the 430-foot FreeFall ride was finally granting him entry.

He called me he say, ‘They let me ride. I can ride. I can ride,’” she told CNN. “I didn’t know it would be my last time talking to him alive. He just wanted to ride and have a good time.”
—-

“But Sampson’s family is now insisting the woman who claimed to be the teenager’s cousin is not related to them at all—and have reported the alleged false identification to the police. Meanwhile, an investigation by the Orlando Sentinelconcluded that Shay Johnson may not even be the 32-year-old’s real name.“

Horrible woman to capitalize on his death!!
What the heck is wrong with people?!
JMO

 

[IceIce9]

I am wondering the same thing-
I think part of the problem is that he was a boy
in a man's body--- No way should he have been a!!owed on that ride.

My family and I travel to amusement parks frequently, and when I was growing up my parents took my brothers and I to amusement parks. We ride all the roller coasters and most other rides, but I personally don’t care for the free fall rides but I have ridden them before.

IMO he looks much too large to ride this ride.

Our favorite amusement park is Cedar Point in Ohio, and they have a seat with restraint in front of each ride, before you get into line. If a person is of possibly too large or tall size, one of the ride attendants will ask them to sit in the seat and secure the restraint. If the restraint doesn’t lock into place the person will be denied entrance into the ride queue.

 

[borndem]

I was thinking the same thing from the beginning of this horrible incident, @MimosaMornings: I'm sure the wages of the ride workers were indeed low. They probably had some verbal instructions, demonstrations, and hands-on exercises on how to operate the ride and how to lock in the riders; surely they had the list of rules and operations of this ride. Up until this horrible accident, things probably ran okay. We may never know if a worker actually tried to lock Tyre in the seat or not. There were a couple of opportunities to avoid this death as we all know. He should never have been allowed to ride that ride; missing or ignoring that rule, if the worker had tried to lock him in without success, surely the worker would have known that it was unsafe for Tyre to ride. Not especially tuff rules to know, IMO. Hurry, hurry to get 'em in and crank it up because other folks are lined up (I'm guessing) to ride next.
And now they and the managers, owners, designers, etc., and likely the county and/or the state are in Big Trouble. And Tyre is gone.

 

[RyGuy611]

I wonder why the operator let him on the ride anyway. Seeing as how Tyre looked like he barely fit in the seat, you'd think the operator would have erred on the side of caution and not let him on.

 

[legalmomma]

Just saw this:

(CNN)The teen who fell to his death last week from an amusement park ride in Florida said he was turned away from two other rides at the park because of his size, according to his cousin.
Shay Johnson spoke with 14-year-old Tyre by phone just before he got on the FreeFall drop tower at the park, she told CNN affiliate Spectrum News 13.
Johnson dropped Tyre off at the park, she said, and he told her he wanted to ride the swing. "I said 'OK. Ride it twice, and ride it for me, too,'" Johnson said.
[...]
"He called me back about 7 minutes later. He said 'They said I'm too big. I can't ride,'" Johnson said in the interview with Spectrum News 13.
Tyre's father, Yarnell Sampson, has also raised the question of his son's size, telling CNN on Friday: "My son was 6'5," 340. So, he's a big guy."
Johnson said she told Tyre to try another ride, the SlingShot, but he was also told he was too big. He told her there was one more ride he was going to try.
It was the Orlando FreeFall. "He called me he say, 'They let me ride. I can ride. I can ride,'" she remembered him telling her before getting on it.
"I didn't know it would be my last time talking to him alive. He just wanted to ride and have a good time," she said.
------------------
More here:
ICON park: Accident report in teen's Orlando FreeFall ride death says seat was locked - CNN

This has been corrected as they found out Shay Johnson isn’t known by the family.
Correction: A previous version of this story and headline included comments from someone who identified herself as Tyre Sampson's cousin and told several media outlets that the teenager said he'd been turned away from two other rides at the park. Tyre's parents have since said they do not know her. Her comments have been removed.

 

[neesaki]

“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

Horrific. The employee responsible for making sure he fit safely in the seat, and that the harness was fastened was either totally incompetent, or is a budding serial killer and did it purposefully. There should be some kind of alarm system if a rider’s harness doesn’t engage, that also would prevent the ride from starting until the problem is corrected, Imo. That poor boy.

 

[IceIce9]

Horrific as the video was, it was useful (if that is the correct word) because it showed that after he fell the employees didn’t demonstrate any sense of urgency. From what I could see they didn’t go over and check on him, they just stood there and discussed whether one of them had checked the restraint.

I saw a photo of Tyre sitting in the seat before the ride started, and it appeared that the restraint was just sitting on top of his stomach. It appeared that it was nowhere near the proper closing position.

MOO

 

[LMDlong]

A man who visited Orlando's ICON Park weeks ago says a seat appeared to be out of order on the Orlando Free Fall ride – the same ride a 14-year-old boy recently fell from and died.

 

[LMDlong]

ORLANDO, Fla. - A man who visited Orlando's ICON Park weeks ago says a seat appeared to be out of order on the Orlando Free Fall ride – the same ride a 14-year-old boy recently fell from and died.

Bo Pomeroy tells FOX 35 News that he was at ICON Park on March 5. He says when he was going to ride the drop tower attraction, he "decided not to ride when I saw the broken seat."

 

[LMDlong]

ORLANDO, Fla. - A man who visited Orlando's ICON Park weeks ago says a seat appeared to be out of order on the Orlando Free Fall ride – the same ride a 14-year-old boy recently fell from and died.

Bo Pomeroy tells FOX 35 News that he was at ICON Park on March 5. He says when he was going to ride the drop tower attraction, he "decided not to ride when I saw the broken seat."

If you look up this article there are pictures also. I wonder if the seat that was out of order on March 5th was the seat that Tyre Sampson fell from.

 

[MimosaMornings]

ORLANDO, Fla. - A man who visited Orlando's ICON Park weeks ago says a seat appeared to be out of order on the Orlando Free Fall ride – the same ride a 14-year-old boy recently fell from and died.

Bo Pomeroy tells FOX 35 News that he was at ICON Park on March 5. He says when he was going to ride the drop tower attraction, he "decided not to ride when I saw the broken seat."

I wonder how he could tell the seat was broken by looking at it? Because the harness was higher than all the others without anyone sitting in it? I thought the harness was that way on Tyre because of his height?
I’ll look for the article to see if there are any pictures.
JMO

 

[LMDlong]

I wondered how he could tell the seat was broken by looking at it? Because the harness was higher than all the others without anyone sitting in it? I thought the harness was that way on Tyre because of his height?
JMO

The guy from March 5th took picturess . The seat part looked to missing with something black covering that part and ratchet straps were attached to it.

 

[neesaki]

I wonder how he could tell the seat was broken by looking at it? Because the harness was higher than all the others without anyone sitting in it? I thought the harness was that way on Tyre because of his height?
I’ll look for the article to see if there are any pictures.
JMO

Here’s the article with photos.

ICON Park Free Fall death: Did Orlando ride show signs of mechanical issues before?

 

[LMDlong]

Here’s the article with photos.

ICON Park Free Fall death: Did Orlando ride show signs of mechanical issues before?

Thank you.

 

[LMDlong]

Here’s the article with photos.

ICON Park Free Fall death: Did Orlando ride show signs of mechanical issues before?

Omg I noticed that the broken seat in the picture from March 5th is #27. The same seat number Sampson was sitting in.

 

[jdglove]

Omg I noticed that the broken seat in the picture from March 5th is #27. The same seat number Sampson was sitting in.

I see the photo of seat #27 taken March 5th. And I see the photo also of seat #27 all wrapped up among the photos taken after the accident. I presumed that seat was all wrapped up like that to preserve evidence because it was where Tyre was sitting. But I couldn't find a shot of Tyre sitting in a seat where you could see the seat numbers. Is it possible that seat #27 was still broken three weeks later, and wrapped up so no one would sit there, and then photographed because it stood out? Also I could not find where it said Tyre was sitting in seat #31.

 

[jdglove]

I see that there is an article by WESH 2 News stating that Tyre was in seat #31. That article seems to imply that the seat number 31 was included in the report. Has anyone seen the actual report? CNN says they have a copy and many news outlets comment in it, but I can't find it online.
Also seat #31 sounds strange because the manufacturer's web site Funtime Rides in Austria describes the ride's capacity as 30. And 30 is also described as the capacity in a USA Today article about the accident.

 

[IceIce9]

The manual also reveals a "maximum passenger weight of 287 pounds," in bold print it reads: "Limitation: Large people: Be careful when seeing if large guests fit into the seats. Check that they fit within the contours of the seat and the bracket fits properly. If this is not so – DO NOT LET THIS PERSON RIDE."

An attorney for the boy's family said he weighed over 300 pounds, according to WPBF 25 News' sister station in Orlando, WESH 2 News.

Florida investigation into teen's deadly fall from 'Free Fall'

 

[LMDlong]

I see the photo of seat #27 taken March 5th. And I see the photo also of seat #27 all wrapped up among the photos taken after the accident. I presumed that seat was all wrapped up like that to preserve evidence because it was where Tyre was sitting. But I couldn't find a shot of Tyre sitting in a seat where you could see the seat numbers. Is it possible that seat #27 was still broken three weeks later, and wrapped up so no one would sit there, and then photographed because it stood out? Also I could not find where it said Tyre was sitting in seat #31.

There’s an image online … I’m trying to find it. Above the empty seat next to Sampson is #28.