ORLANDO, Fla. – The process to take down the 400-foot-tall Orlando FreeFall attraction where a 14-year-old boy slipped from his seat and fell to his death last March has officially started.
Tyre Sampson, who was visiting Orlando from Missouri, slipped from his seat on the thrill ride and fell to his death on March 24, 2022, while on spring break.
The Orlando FreeFall attraction at ICON Park has been closed since the boy’s death.
ICON Park confirmed in a statement to News 6 on Tuesday that the dismantling of the the thrill ride is underway.
An independent forensic engineering firm hired in the department’s investigation revealed the operator made “manual adjustments to the ride resulting in it being unsafe” and allowed the harness restraint opening to be “almost double” of the normal opening range, Fried said earlier this year.
The report shows the harness sensor of the seat Sampson was in was “manually loosened, adjusted, and tightened to allow a restraint opening of near 7 inches.”
The owners of the Orlando FreeFall took a settlement with the state and agreed to pay a $250,000 fine.
“It’ll be a year coming up, March 23, March 24,” Sampson’s father, Yarnell Sampson, said. “It’s been my worst nightmare. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.”
An autopsy report revealed the teen weighed 383 pounds and was just over 6 feet tall when he fell from the ride. According to a manual produced by the manufacturer of the ride, Funtime Thrill Rides, the maximum weight allowance for Orlando FreeFall was listed as 130 kilograms, or 286 pounds.
Weeks after the boy’s fatal fall, attorneys for his family formally filed a lawsuit against Funtime Thrill Rides, the manufacturer; Slingshot Group, the owner-operator in Florida; and ICON Park, which leased the space.
“Personally, I wish this never happened,” Yarnell Sampson said. “But since we’re here, let’s make sure this never happens again to someone else’s child or even an adult.”
The lawsuit alleges the ride’s operators should have known that riders could be “subject to unreasonably dangerous and foreseeable risks, and that serious injury and death of the occupants in the ride could result.”