A Florida amusement park ride will be shut down permanently after a 14-year-old boy's fatal fall from the ride in March, the operator announced Thursday.
Ritchie Armstrong of Orlando Slingshot, the company that operates the 400 feet-tall FreeFall ride at ICON Park in Orlando, said the ride would close on March 24 after the death of Tyre Sampson, who was visiting Florida from Missouri with football teammates.
Armstrong said in his statement that we are devastated by Tyre's death. We have listened to the wishes of Tyre's family and the community, and have made the decision to take down the FreeFall. Orlando Slingshot will honor Tyre and his legacy in the classroom and on the football field by creating a scholarship in his name. After the March death, the FreeFall ride and another ride owned by Orlando Slingshot were temporarily shut down.
The timeline for the removal of the ride is not immediately clear, but it will require the approval of all involved parties and regulatory entities, according to the statement. Details of the scholarship are still being developed, according to the statement, adding that more details will be shared in the future and after consultation with the family of Tyre. A statement from ICON Park, from which the Orlando Slingshot leases land for the ride, said it supports the decision to remove it.
Tyre's death is a tragedy that we will never forget. As the landlord, ICON Park welcomes Orlando Slingshot's decision to take down the ride. The ride was a serious danger to public health, officials said on the day after the death. Officials said operator mis-adjustments contributed to Sampson sliding out of his seat to his death.
In April, manual adjustments had been made to the sensor for the seat in question that allowed the harness-to-restraint opening to be almost double that of the normal restraint-opening range, said Nikki Fried, commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Tyre, who was 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighed about 380 pounds before his death, made him about 100 pounds above the weight limit when he slipped through the gap between the harness and seat, according to a state report.
Photos and video posted online show that Tyre was not fully buckled into the ride.
As the ride begins, a voice from the ground shouts: Hey, did you check your seat belt on the left side? The ride had been inspected about three months before Sampson's death on December 20, and no deficiencies had been found, according to officials.
Florida officials have said there isn't federal or state oversight of what thrill-ride manufacturers put in their manuals dictating safety measures.
Sampson's parents, Nekia Dodd and Yarnell Sampson, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Orlando Slingshot, ICON Park, Funtime Handels GMBH and Gerstlauer Amusement Rides GMBH, an Austrian company that designed and manufactured the ride. He could have been a doctor, lawyer, astronaut, etc., Yarnell said in April. We are dealing with this day-by- day, second-by-second minute, to be honest with you. The ball can be made in the right direction and get the ball moving in the right direction.