Update in Lawsuit Following 14-Year-Old Boy’s Death at ICON Park

Posted on by Mathew Corn Uncategorized

On March 24, 14-year-old Tyre Sampson tragically fell to his death on the Orlando Free Fall attraction at ICON Park on International Drive in Orlando, Florida.

A month later, Sampson’s parents filed a lawsuit against ICON Park, the Orlando Slingshot Group (the ride owners), and Keator Construction, LLC, a third-party company that manages various maintenance and construction projects around ICON Park.

Family arriving at ICON Park Orlando

The lawsuit accuses operators of adjusting and tampering with safety sensors on the ride’s harnesses on specific seats allowing them to open to “almost double” the normal range. A report from Florida’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services found that attraction’s operators made unauthorized adjustments to ride seats that made them “unsafe.”

Michael Haggard, Sampson’s family’s attorney, alleges that there were no warnings about the ride’s weight restriction.

“[The owners of Orlando Freefall] have a weight restriction that is not disclosed to anyone. That is truly amazing because when you start talking about going 75 mph, from 430 feet to an almost sudden stop when you’re tilted, the biggest risk we can all think of gravity is weight. They did nothing to disclose that whatsoever,” Haggard said. 

According to Haggard, the manual for the ride lists the weight limit at 286 pounds, and Sampson weighed about 380 pounds.

Despite the limit, there was no scale at the entrance to the ride. “There is a metal detector, so you do not bring your phone on, but there is no sign about weight, and there is no scale,” Haggard said. “I mean, how that is not more important than a metal detector for a ride like this is kind of amazing.”

Friends eating at ICON Park Orlando

As of last week, there is a new update on the lawsuit. The family has dropped Keator Construction, LLC from their lawsuit against Orlando Slingshot Group and ICON Park, according to Greg Fox of WESH News:

Haggard hasn’t issued a statement on this update or given any reason why the Orange Country third-party construction group was removed from the lawsuit.

Family of Tyre Sampson files wrongful death suit

Posted on by Mathew Corn Uncategorized

As expected, the family of a teen who fell to his death at an Orlando amusement park in March has filed suit in Orange County, Florida.

According to ClickOrlando, attorney Michael Haggard, who represents Tyre Sampson‘s mother, Nekia Dodd, formally filed a lawsuit against the ride‘s operators in Orange County Court this morning. Monday. The suit was filed in civil court.

Sampson, age 14, died on Thursday night, March 24, after falling from the Orlando FreeFall drop tower attraction at Orlando’s ICON Park on International Drive.

Investigation Into 14-Year-Old's Death at Florida's Icon Park Focuses on Safety Harness - WSJ

The lawsuit filed on Monday morning in Orange County names three entities at fault in the death of Tyre Sampson: Funtime Thrill Rides, which manufactured the Orlando FreeFall drop tower ride, Slingshot Group, which is the owner and operator in Florida, and ICON Park, which is the company who leased the space for the drop tower ride.

icon park

The suit filed alleges that operators of the drop tower ride should have known that those riding the attraction could be “subject to unreasonably dangerous and foreseeable risks and that serious injury and death of the occupants in the ride could result.”

The suit also notes that the Orlando FreeFall ride had no seatbelts and that the total cost to outfit all of the seats on the ride with seatbelts would be only $600.

According to the lawsuit filed, the manufacturer, FunTime Thrill Rides, and the operator, Slingshot Group, should have made sure of the following:

  • There were visible warnings for riders about height and weight restrictions
  • The ride should not have been able to function if all riders were not properly secured
  • No one should have been able to manipulate or adjust proximity sensors
  • A monitoring system should have been installed to make sure all rider restraints were properly secured
  • A mechanism should have been installed to stop the ride if a restraint was not properly secured
  • The lawsuit also states that the Orlando FreeFall drop tower ride could have been manufactured with safer alternative designs that would have yielded a reduced risk of riders coming out of their seats.

During a press conference last week led by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and its Commissioner Nikki Fried, a report from Quest Engineering, the forensics entity hired by the Department to assist in the investigation, was shared, which detailed findings about what led to Tyre Sampson falling from his seat and ultimately losing his life after riding the Orlando FreeFall drop tower ride.

According to the report, the ride operator at ICON Park made “manual adjustments” to two of the seats at the drop tower ride that rendered the attraction unsafe for riders.

orlando freefall drop tower ride

Following the press conference, attorneys for Tyre Sampson‘s family said they would likely be taking legal action. Over the weekend, attorneys announced they’d be filing a wrongful death suit in Orange County civil court today.

At this time, no information about the amount of damages sought has been made public.

Investigation finds Seat Sensors Changed, leading to death of teen at Orlando drop tower

Posted on by Mathew Corn Uncategorized

Via DisDining.com

The State of Florida has released a report of findings from its investigation into the death of a 14-year-old boy at a Central Florida theme park in March.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) released a report today that details the findings of an engineering firm hired by the State of Florida in the investigation into the death of Tyre Sampson, a 14-year-old boy who died after falling from the Orlando FreeFall drop tower attraction at Orlando’s ICON Park on International Drive.

The agency is the entity responsible for amusement ride accident investigations, among its many other responsibilities.

According to the report, written by Quest Engineering & Failure Analysis, the operator of the Orlando FreeFall attraction changed sensors on specific seats on the ride manually. The manual adjustments rendered the drop tower attraction unsafe.

In the report, the engineering firm states that the manual changes made by the operator allowed the safety harnesses on those seats to open to “almost double” the normal range, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner, Nikki Fried.

Fall from Drop Tower Icon Park Orlando Raises Questions of Industry Safety

Tyre Sampson was only 14 years old when he boarded the Orlando FreeFall drop tower attraction on Thursday night, March 24, taking a seat on the ride with friends. Sampson reportedly weighed approximately 340 pounds, exceeding the drop tower ride‘s maximum weight.

“These misadjustments [by the operator] allowed the safety lights to illuminate and properly satisfy the ride‘s electronic safety mechanisms that allowed the ride to operate, even though Mr. Sampson was not properly secured in the seat,” Fried said.

The day after the tragic accident, John Stine, a spokesman for the Slingshot Group, owner of the Orlando FreeFall attraction, talked about how the attraction works, saying the ride would not be operational if a harness is not locked in properly.

“Our harnesses have to lock in, and they have to lock or else the ride will not operate, so this is what we are looking into,” Stine explained.

Commissioner Nikki Fried held a brief press conference shortly after releasing the engineering firm’s report, but she didn’t take any questions from the press. During the conference, Fried did not say whether the ride operator would face criminal charges, but she said that the agency was looking into what she called “potential penalties.”

NO SEATBELTS: Private Ride Safety expert reveals the reason a teen fell from drop tower ride and died - Disney Dining

She did not mention whether the ride operator could potentially face criminal charges in the case but said the agency was looking at “potential penalties.”

Fried said that these findings are part of the initial phase of the investigation, and that the investigation is still ongoing.

Nikki Fried further stated that the engineering report names “many other potential contributing factors” in the tragic accident. The commissioner also said that the drop tower ride will remain closed indefinitely.

ICON Park Investigation Reveals Seats Were Altered Before Incident

Posted on by Mathew Corn Uncategorized

More information has been revealed about recent changes to the ride where a tragedy occurred at ICON Park.

As reported by Click Orlando, an attorney representing the mother of the 14-year-old boy who fatally fell from the Orlando FreeFall attraction told reporters Tuesday that several seats on the ride had been previously adjusted to fit larger patrons. This comes on the heels of the tragedy at ICON Park in Orlando on International Drive, where 14-year-old Tyre Sampson was released from his seat while riding the world’s tallest freestanding drop tower, the Orlando Free Fall.

“It looks like they have some seats that they directed people to that were bigger,” Michael Haggard said. “Well, if you know that, why are you doing that without finding out how big they are?”

Family arriving at ICON Park Orlando

The attraction, called Orlando FreeFall, opened in December 2021, priding itself on being the tallest free-standing drop tower on Earth. The ride would take up to 30 Guests 400 feet into the air before dropping them at about 75 mph.

Tyre Sampson, was visiting Orlando from Missouri on spring break when he, tragically, fell from his seat last week on March 25. While Haggard did not specify why or when the seats were adjusted, he told News 6 investigator Merris Badcock that Sampson had sat in one of the adjusted seats the night he fell from the ride.

Attractions at ICON Park Orlando

“This is a ride that is absolutely unique,” Haggard said. “In North America, there is an identical ride up at Dollywood that has the option to tilt forward, and it does not. They do not allow it. They do not operate it that way.” Dollywood also has a ride manufactured by the same company as the Orlando Freefall. Haggard says the Dollywood ride also has an extra seat belt as a backup to the initial safety harness. Dollywood has shut down their attraction at the moment, in lieu of the tragedy.

“[The owners of Orlando Freefall] have a weight restriction that is not disclosed to anyone. That is truly amazing because when you start talking about going 75 mph, from 430 feet to an almost sudden stop when you’re tilted, the biggest risk we can all think of gravity is weight,” he said. “They did nothing to disclose that whatsoever,” Haggard said.

The Wheel at ICON Park

According to the manual for the attraction, the maximum weight a Guest can be is 286 pounds. Haggard told reporters Tuesday that Sampson weighed around 380 pounds. Surprisingly, Haggard said that “There is a metal detector, so you do not bring your phone on, but there is no sign about weight, and there is no scale. I mean, how that is not more important than a metal detector for a ride like this is kind of amazing.”