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

[gregjrichards]

ICON Park accident – Boy, 14, flung to his death from world’s tallest drop ride in 400ft plunge in front of families

A TEEN boy has died after falling from the world's tallest drop ride in a 400ft plunge.

Cops received reports of an emergency at ICON Park in Orlando, Florida just after 11pm local time on Thursday.

Boy, 14, dies after falling from Orlando ride in front of horrified witnesses

This is a horrifying tragedy. Sincere condolences to the family of this young man who has tragically died. There is distressing video of him falling from the ride on YouTube and social media. I did not realise the video was actually going to show him falling I thought it was going to show what the ride was like in operation. The video is absolutely horrendous he fell from quite high up and at speed. Significantly the video ends with a park worker asking her colleagues at the ride if they checked the ride and they claimed they did.

It is distressing to think of his family knowing there is a horrific video of his death online I am sure this will only add to their distress. I wish the video had just been provided to law enforcement and not publicly shared to spare his family additional distress and pain.

I am reminded of the horrific Verruckt water slide tragedy which killed a young ten year old boy called Caleb in 2016. Something has gone badly wrong for this young man to fall from the drop tower, it will be interesting to see if he died due to human error of ride staff failing to check the riders were properly secured before starting the ride, malfunctioning safety restraints, or the ride being badly designed with poor insufficient safety restraints or another reason.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Oh those poor parents!! Unbelievable.

Teen dies after fall from drop tower ride at Orlando's ICON PARK, authorities say

snip
FOX 35 News spoke to people who saw the boy fall from the ride. They say they could see the boys parents panicking as they watched.

 

[AC's Grandma]

I watched the video and I have to say I will never be able to unsee this young boy fall from the ride and hit the ground with a heavy thud. It's one of the worst things I've ever seen in my life.

 

[PrairieWind]

That is awful. I saw the video. Didn't really mean to. I clicked on it thinking it would just show what the ride looked like, not realizing it was THE video. I used to go on a lot of wild rides when I was young. But they scare me now.

 

[sds71]

Tyree Sanson, 14, "was visiting from his home in Missouri with another family here in Central Florida,"
Teenager Dead Free Fall ICON Park (mynews13.com)

 

[mickey2942]

That is awful. I saw the video. Didn't really mean to. I clicked on it thinking it would just show what the ride looked like, not realizing it was THE video. I used to go on a lot of wild rides when I was young. But they scare me now.

Very true. I had some scary experiences on rides, and no longer see them as "fun".

 

[Jealoushe]

I watched the video and I have to say I will never be able to unsee this young boy fall from the ride and hit the ground with a heavy thud. It's one of the worst things I've ever seen in my life.

the sound is not something you can forget

 

[Skigh]

Pictured: Boy, 14, who died falling from Orlando ICON theme park ride | Daily Mail Online




A photograph of Tyre taken before the ride went into the air shows him sitting with his harness unbuckled and not pulled down to fasten in to his seat.

It is unclear if the harness was closed fully before the ride went into the air, or if the tour operator checked to ensure he was safely buckled in.

An investigation into the park is now underwear. At a press conference on Friday, Orange County Sheriff John Mina said: 'It appears to be just a terrible tragedy. We will see moving forward what that results in.'

Tyre and the rest of the group had been told moments earlier that there were no seatbelts on the ride. The only thing stopping them from falling out of their seats were plastic, pull-down harnesses which are supposed to buckle in place, in between riders' legs.

 

[PrairieWind]

From the little video i saw before the ride lifts up, and judging by what happened, I am just guessing that the safety restrain was not actually buckled between Tyre's legs.

 

[Jealoushe]

From the little video i saw before the ride lifts up, and judging by what happened, I am just guessing that the safety restrain was not actually buckled between Tyre's legs.

It really doesn't look like it does it.

The video is beyond eerie. The girl on the ride in front of the camera asks why there are no waist or seat belts. The ride operator jokes about how safe the ride is. Should restraints are more than enough.

Then the riders screaming to get off after they land at the bottom.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Based on this tragedy, and the other mentioned above, I think we can safely say that stricter national standards for ride safety need to be put into law.

I believe some rides might have a built-in sensor so they won't start if someone isn't properly buckled, but most rides don't seem to.

So my question: Was the only safeguard for this dangerous ride one worker checking the harnesses visually? Or was there a second safeguard?

I am so so sorry for his parents. And hope the person who released that video into the public domain broke the law doing so and will be named and will have to account for their cruel choice. They should be ashamed.

My opinions only.

 

[ilovewings]

Pictured: Boy, 14, who died falling from Orlando ICON theme park ride | Daily Mail Online

This article states the harness was not buckled down and fastened.

 

[stargazer17]

This is heartbreaking. I cannot watch the video.

 

[sds71]

@WFLAJB

https://twitter.com/WFLAJB/status/1507447259629293596
"They didn't secure the seatbelt on him." That's the claim of this 911 caller after a 14-year-old fell to his death on the Orlando Free-Fall drop tower at ICON Park. An investigation is underway on what happened and whether he was properly secured. https://bit.ly/3NlqJ78
@WFLA

 

[PrairieWind]

Based on this tragedy, and the other mentioned above, I think we can safely say that stricter national standards for ride safety need to be put into law.

I believe some rides might have a built-in sensor so they won't start if someone isn't properly buckled, but most rides don't seem to.

So my question: Was the only safeguard for this dangerous ride one worker checking the harnesses visually? Or was there a second safeguard?

I am so so sorry for his parents. And hope the person who released that video into the public domain broke the law doing so and will be named and will have to account for their cruel choice. They should be ashamed.

My opinions only.

I don't think there is anything illegal about whoever it was that posted the video. It is terrible, but not illegal.

I've been on quite a few rides over the years, and there is usually just a person comes by, only half interested, often just a teenager, that checks or tugs at a harness. That is going to have to change I think.

 

[AC's Grandma]

I've never let my kids ride carnival rides due to the risks because they aren't inspected well enough, the people working them aren't paying half attention in my opinion and I've seen and heard too many stories of accidents on them. They were always upset with me when they were kids because of this but they're still alive and not suffering life changing injuries. This ride isn't the same because it's stationery but IMO no ride needs to go 400 feet in the air and drop at 75mph with seats that tip forward with their head toward the ground. Yes, I know everyone is entitled to make their own choices but I'll stick with mine and be very thankful that my 13 year old grandson doesn't like rides that go up in the air.

It breaks my heart for his parents.
JMO

 

[Eloise]

I watched the whole thing and as sad and tragic as it was to watch I'm glad I did because I wouldn't have believed how lackadaisical and blase the crew member was until I saw it for myself. It was extremely obvious the harness didn't fit over Tyre. IMO

They need to build it into rides that they just won't move if a harness isn't bucked in right. They have the tech to know if someone is sitting in there or not, surely. So person in seat + harness unsecured = ride won't go. Then you don't need to rely on apathetic young staff members to do their jobs right on rides that are deadly when safety isn't everyone's main concern. JMO

Based on this tragedy, and the other mentioned above, I think we can safely say that stricter national standards for ride safety need to be put into law.

I believe some rides might have a built-in sensor so they won't start if someone isn't properly buckled, but most rides don't seem to.

So my question: Was the only safeguard for this dangerous ride one worker checking the harnesses visually? Or was there a second safeguard?

I am so so sorry for his parents. And hope the person who released that video into the public domain broke the law doing so and will be named and will have to account for their cruel choice. They should be ashamed.

My opinions only.

I agree with all your post, however I don't think any laws were broken for releasing the video. It all happened in public. And I think the video will prove crucial in legal proceedings.

 

[mickey2942]

The last ride I went on with my daughter was several years ago. She is very petite. We were on a roller coaster in a bench type seat, and a very large man and woman were next to us. The bar barely went "click" on them. Leaving a six inch or larger gap for my daughter and I.

On the ride, we were alternatively smashed by the folks next to us, and almost flung out of the ride because we were not secured. It was by far the most miserable, scary, fear filled five minutes of my life. Holding onto my daughter for dear life.

I am not kidding. Never again.

 

[sds71]

“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'

 

[MimosaMornings]

ICON Park death video: Man who filmed teen’s deadly fall from Free Fall describes horrific accident