According to the accident report, the 14-year-old boy’s safety strap and seat were still secured at the conclusion of the ride when he died after falling from an amusement park ride in Florida last week.
Tyre Sampson fell from the Orlando FreeFall at ICON Park on Thursday, a ride marketed as “the world’s largest free-standing drop tower,” and the report provided no new information regarding what caused the disaster, despite pleas from his family and park management to close the ride.
According to a January announcement from the park, 30 riders soar to the top, tilt forward, and plummet over 400 feet at speeds reaching over 75 mph on FreeFall, which debuted late last year in the core of Orlando’s Entertainment District.
According to the ride operator’s complaint to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the tyre collapsed as the magnets engaged to slow the ride as customers descended the tower. The death is being investigated by the agency and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
According to the report, the safety belt on his seat was “still in a down and secured position when the ride stopped.” Three workers were listed as witnesses.
“Words cannot explain the grief felt by the untimely death of such a young guy, and my thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends during this impossibly difficult time,” said Nikki Fried, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Other passengers and safety experts have questioned why the ride did not have a supplementary safety belt in addition to the over-the-shoulder harness.
According to Ken Martin, a Virginia-based amusement park safety expert who works with parks, fairs, government bodies, insurance companies, and attorneys, such a belt is normally a common feature of ride safety in similar attractions and may have been life-saving.
In a WESH 2 News video, a passenger riding the drop tower can be heard questioning its restraints before it takes off.
According to the corporation that owns and runs the ride and FDACS, the attraction is suspended indefinitely, although there have been requests to permanently close it, according to FOX35 Orlando.
ICON Park issued a statement on Thursday requesting that the SlingShot Group stop Orlando FreeFall and another ride, the Orlando SlingShot, “until the attractions are confirmed to be safe by authorities.”
Tyre’s cousin, Shay Johnson, has gathered hundreds of signatures on a petition to have the ride permanently stopped, according to FOX35 Orlando.
“I would like this ride to be taken down,” Johnson said. “My cousin lost his life over this ride. I don’t feel it’s safe, and feel it should be shut down before someone else’s family have to go through what we are going through.”
