TOURISM

Orlando Free Fall ride operators altered safety features before teen’s death, report says

By Katie Rice
Orlando Sentinel • Apr 18, 2022 at 6:09 pm

An engineering firm hired by the state found that the operator of the Orlando Free Fall drop tower manually changed sensors on specific seats on the ride, “resulting in it being unsafe,” Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said Monday in Orlando. ... The report, written by Quest Engineering & Failure Analysis, determined that the changes allowed harnesses on certain seats to open to “almost double” the normal range, Fried said. Tyre Sampson, a 14-year-old who died on the attraction at ICON Park last month, reportedly weighed around 340 pounds.

“These mis-adjustments 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. ... Asked for comment about the report’s conclusions, Trevor Arnold, the attorney representing the ride’s operator, said the SlingShot Group followed all of the manufacturer’s “protocols, procedures and safety measures.”

[ Read the report: Engineering firm says Free Fall ride at ICON Park had safety features alerted before Tyree Sampson's death ]

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The state released the report into the accident Monday, shortly before Fried held a brief press conference. ... The report showed engineers determined the ride was functioning correctly, with no evidence of “physical or mechanical failure.” ... But the restraints on two of the ride’s seats, one of which was occupied by Tyre, were modified to open between three and four inches wider than the ride’s other restraints, on average, the report found.

At the time of the accident, Tyre’s restraint created a nearly seven-inch gap between the harness and the raised part of the seat between his legs. That gap could have widened to 10 inches as the ride ran, according to the report. ... “During slowing of the ride, Tyre Sampson slipped through the gap between the seat and harness,” the report read. “ ... The cause of the subject accident was that Tyre Sampson was not properly secured in the seat primarily due to the mis-adjustment of the harness proximity sensor.” ... The report said “many other potential contributions” could have factored into the accident, and its authors recommended a full review of the ride’s “design, safety, operation, restraint mechanisms and history.”

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krice@orlandosentinel.com and @katievrice on Twitter