Disaster Teenage boy, 14, dies after plunging from 400ft drop tower ride at Orlando's ICON Park [Video] - Teen was taken to hospital but died from his injuries, Orange County police said.

Archived video of the fall referenced in the article (but not included), fetched from YouTube (likely to be deleted soon). NSFL. Don't watch if you don't want to see someone splatter at the 3:40 timestamp:



A teenager has died after falling from a drop ride at a theme park in Orlando, Florida

The 14-year-old fell from the plunging ride - the world's tallest free-standing drop tower - at ICON park, just after 11pm on Thursday.

The teen, who has not yet been identified, was taken to hospital but succumbed to his injuries, Orange County Sheriff’s Office confirmed.

Terrifying footage captured the horrific accident and the screams of witnesses as the boy fell from the ride, which rotates around a tower as it rises in the air before plunging to the ground at 75 miles per hour.

The ride, the Orlando Free Fall, opened in December 2021, stands at 430ft tall and can accommodate up to 30 people.

The vehicle rotates around a central tower as it rises. After it reaches the top, riders tilt forward and face the ground briefly before free-falling at approximately 75 miles per hour.

It was not immediately clear how the teenager became free from the ride's seat belt or how many people were on the tower at the time.

ICON Park on International Drive has not yet commented on the tragedy. Police have opened an investigation into the incident.

A teenager has died after falling from a drop ride at ICON theme park on International Drive in Orlando, Florida just after 11pm on Thursday

The teen, who has not yet been identified, was taken to hospital but succumbed to his injuries, Orange County Sheriff’s Office confirmed.

It comes less than two years after a park employee died after falling 200 feet from the Orlando StarFlyer attraction.

The 21-year-old employee was performing a safety check about halfway up the 450-foot-tall ride when he plummeted to his death just before 8am on September 14, the Orange County Sheriff's Office stated.

The worker struck a platform below the ride at ICON Park on International Drive in Orlando and went into cardiac arrest, according to first responders who were called to the scene.

The man was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead from his injuries.

The swing ride opened to the public in 2018. According to the description on the attraction's official site, StarFlyer has no age limit and no weight limit, and the minimum height required to go on the ride is just 44 inches.

The ride is made up of 24 double seats that travel up and down and around the giant tower for 3-4 minutes.

At the time of the fall, the worker was about halfway up the 450-foot-high ride, billed at the world's tallest swing ride

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10651331/Teen-dies-fall-Florida-amusement-park-ride.html
https://archive.ph/nLadc
 
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The Daily Mail article has been updated with the following information:
Parents watched as boy, 14, died after slipping out of 430ft drop tower ride as it hurtled to earth at 75mph

Park employees say they initially thought his body was a piece of the ride that had broken off until they saw the boy lying on the ground.
Supposedly his parents were watching him and are likely involved in the screaming in the video.
 
First thing that came to my mind.

KF Rollercoaster.png
 
Horrific. I hope this happened so fast that the poor kid didn't have time to process what was happening and didn't feel any pain.

I feel so bad for the parents. Losing your kid is bad enough, but to lose him on a day that's supposed to be fun and in such a horrific way :(

I stopped getting on amusement park rides after my brother worked at one for a summer. He explained that almost all the workers are underpaid teenagers or criminal junkies that were drunk or stoned on the job, and that maintenance checks were half assed at best.
 
If it was his parents who witnessed it, they might be able to get more $ on another cause of action. This is ripe for law suits. RIP this poor kid. I couldn't bear to watch the video. Also, Null, to me there is a difference between carnival rides and Universal/Disney. You are much less likely to die at the latter, no? I trust their rollercoasters but I'd never get on whatever this is.
 
"taken to hospital but succumbed to his injuries,"

Spoiler alert, he was dead when he hit the fucking ground. Its funny how no one ever "dies" at these parks, it's always after they leave the premises.
He was dead dead dead when he hit the ground.

Dead at the scene, people don’t hit the ground and lay twisted like that if they’re still alive.

For a couple excruciating seconds maybe alive but I sure hope not. Hopefully he didn’t feel a thing, and if he did he didn’t live long enough to really register it.
 
This ad for the Final Destination reboot looks sick!

Jokes aside, I never liked getting into these things. I dont know, never felt good to me. And everyone called me a chicken for it, well, who's laughing now?! *pointing at the bleeding body*

Im not an adrenaline junkie so I have nothing to prove (and I tend to live longer because of that).

I mean I hear plops like in video games and movies, that was a fucking wet one. Holy shit.

I hear a tiny bit of bone crack in there too. good fuck someones getting fired

Its going to be lucky if they JUST get fired and not get accused of manslaughter.

They are all hoping this gets pinned on mechanical error
 
"taken to hospital but succumbed to his injuries,"

Spoiler alert, he was dead when he hit the fucking ground. Its funny how no one ever "dies" at these parks, it's always after they leave the premises.
Reminds me of Simpsons with the "Burns was taken to springfield hospital and was pronounced dead, he was then taken to a better hospital and is pronounced alive"

Like what does it matter if that kid was still alive in the park especially with those injuries and the fucking SPLAT! he's just a dead man walking.
 
Reminds me of Simpsons with the "Burns was taken to springfield hospital and was pronounced dead, he was then taken to a better hospital and is pronounced alive"

Like what does it matter if that kid was still alive in the park especially with those injuries and the fucking SPLAT! he's just a dead man walking.

They just say that for the sake of official reports, its very fucking clear this was fatal, if not instantly so, from the get go. Its just that a doctor gotta "officialize" the dead status (or else they are still alive in paper but dead IRL, that will annoy the bureocracy and we dont want that. How can someone be alive in paper but be dead IRL?!?)
 
Clickbaiting journofags don't mention that he fell from only about 1/4 of the ride's height because they want that big "400" to lure you in. Sure, he still died, but these buttfuckers always have to be as sensational as possible. Journalists learn to code or get on the helicopter.
I have no idea how else you would describe what happened. He literally fell 400 feet. Just because the ride went down with him part of the way that doesn't mean he didn't fall 400 feet. He fell 400 feet continuously. I'm honestly not sure how to describe this else if you are so stupid that you can't understand this basic fact of mechanics.

Also, the camera person is one cold motherfucker. Normally when crazy shit happens people's hands start shaking. Not this guy. Camera stayed steady as hell.
 
Hindsight and so on, but why are these holders designed to open on the bottom anyway? It can only be for the convenience right?
If the lock(s) would be at the top, not only would you have redundancy (possibly), if the restraint could open only so much, it would become a safety net in case of a catastrophic failure.
Like this, a persone can just... well, slip out (as seen here).

Edit: Turns out the locks are on top anyway, because there is no connective element on the bottom lol. rip
 
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Alright gonna make a few corrections since the news and kiwis here are retarded.

1. This was not a roller coaster, this was a drop tower, big difference.

2. This type of thing is really rare in America, 3rd world shithole, different story.

I am an autist who likes theme parks/roller coaster shit so if anyway has any questions about this Ill be happy to answer. Not trying to power level, just want stuff to be correct.
 
God, do you hear that wet splat? And the blood seeping out. He split open like an overly ripe grape. I ain't ever get on one of these fucking things and I never plan to.
Holy shit. The screaming went from adrenaline to pure terror. Those riders and onlookers must have survivor's guilt.

That splat was horrifying.
I mean I hear plops like in video games and movies, that was a fucking wet one. Holy shit.

I hear a tiny bit of bone crack in there too. good fuck someones getting fired
The whole park is getting sued.
 
The guy sitting next to him was probably a friend/family member, looks shaken.

Harness likely wasn't all that secure to begin with, chubs clearly slipped right out from under it. Would be surprised if the ride didn't have a weight/size limit to prevent this sort of thing and the teenager operating the ride just failed to do his job.

EDIT: Looks like no outright weight limit, but a general must fit in the seat rule.
In the past deaths on this type of ride are typically skinny kids who slip out. The girl in the video is right…. A seatbelt would help a lot. These rides are designed for you to float up and press against the shoulder bars, but it’s just not worth it IMO. Lose a little free fall feeling and have a secondary safety mechanism… a seatbealt with a crotch strap along with the over the shoulder bars.

This is a newer ride… only a few months old. Similar to Verruckt it didn’t take too long for it to fatally fail. Verruckt was a stupid fail. But took two years for someone to die, this free fall ride took three months. Verruckt was designed by an amateur park owner, no safety belts, stupid net with bars to “catch people,” and having overweight people in same boat as a tiny little tween boy.
 
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