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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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. 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.
The thing about Verruckt though is the operators knew it could happen.

The Travel Channel had an episode of Extreme Water Parks that details the construction of it and even during testing with sandbags it was possible for people to lift off the slide.
 
The thing about Verruckt though is the operators knew it could happen.

The Travel Channel had an episode of Extreme Water Parks that details the construction of it and even during testing with sandbags it was possible for people to lift off the slide.
Yeah so stupid and his work around was to install a net secured with metal bars… which decapitated the kid. The add-on safety mechanism killed him although without it he would have flown off the ride.

A lot of locals knew the ride was going to fail from the get go, yes from all the failed sandbag testing. It’s actually surprising it took nearly two years.

Now these free fall rides are something different but this is at least the third death on one I think. Another surprisingly dangerous ride is the river rafts. They have capsized and then drown everyone who is strapped in with a safety strap and can’t get out while being dragged around in the water upside down. Someone just died on one last year and it usually happens every few years.
 
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Granted it's only half a minute into the event. But the response of the park people is kind of disturbing.

We have supervisor dude with a radio who goes and stands over the victim looking at him and delivering what professionals term "the stare of life". It's where the cop can assess a full set of vitals and determine death in any situation without bending down or examining the victim.

We have the teenybopper operators hanging around the rail bullshitting instead of getting everybody else off the ride and away from the victim. They seem oblivious to any concern other than this might require them to work overtime.
I think they were just incredulous. It’s not that uncommon for people to keep unusually calm during a crisis only to break down later.
 
The guy sitting next to him was probably a friend/family member, looks shaken.
Yeah, I feel bad for the kid, he's going to be traumatised for life. That is some shit you do not unsee when it lodges itself into your developing brain.

Watching the video I thought it was going to be the fat mexican guy.
 
That's fucking horrifying, looks like the restraint separated from the bottom and then lifted and he had no idea what was going on till he hit the ground.

I feel sorry for him and his family.

One question I want to ask is what caused this was it lack of maintenance? a lot of these parks just shut down during covid and rides like this are complex machines and normally get regular servicing that would catch things likely to fail before they do fail and if they are in a rush to get the park back into action they might skip some checks and it lead upto this tragic accident.

Edit -
Looking at it this might have failed before the drop, or on the accent - but I'm thinking of basic safety requirements here - safety restraints that work by hydrolics are meant to have a safety contact trigger fire no fire system (there is a name for this for rides but I'm not sure about it but I've got a working knowledge of hydrolics not park systems) and if a safety system fails they are designed to blow off pressure slowly and return to a resting position if that didn't fail that becomes a mechanical failure like a Pin giving way etc, but those things are suposed to have a 10x1 failure loading under any circumstance.
Yeh I’ve heard of that before too. That’s why they’re called “fail safes”. Like if a train’s breaks fail, instead of disengaging and becoming useless, they’re supposed to engage so the train slows down. Opposed to what I believe is called a “fail hard” like what happens to a car’s breaks if they’re cut.

This is fucking terrifying and reaffirms my fear of anything above 20ft off the ground
 
I'd imagine it has brakes like an elevator:

Per the internets:

"Elevators also have electromagnetic brakes that engage when the car comes to a stop. The electromagnets actually keep the brakes in the open position, instead of closing them. With this design, the brakes will automatically clamp shut if the elevator loses power."
 
I'd imagine it has brakes like an elevator:

Per the internets:

"Elevators also have electromagnetic brakes that engage when the car comes to a stop. The electromagnets actually keep the brakes in the open position, instead of closing them. With this design, the brakes will automatically clamp shut if the elevator loses power."
This is the same thing that happens on 18 wheeler brakes. When you DONT have air pressure. You get the brakes to clamp down so that its rendered inert.
 
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.
Parks- usually rare, but not unknown. There was a ride in Ohio where a drunk as a skunk woman defeated the safety restraints and fell from a ride at Kings Island in the 90's.

Traveling rides at fairs- Get life insurance first.
 
If we're being honest, the entire "thrill" of this kind of ride is the fact that you're putting yourself in an unsafe situation. I don't care how many hydraulic robots are pinning you into your seat, you're still experiencing speeds and G forces that are lethal multiple times over in the event of absolutely anything going wrong.

I see people who get on these kinds of rides the same as I see base jumpers. If your dopamine pathways are so fucked that you need to almost die to feel alive, cool, but don't get mad when the wind blows just right and reduces you to ludicrous gibs. And yes, I know it's "rare", but I think putting yourself in a non-zero risk of death for literally no benefit whatsoever is just a retarded thing to do.
 
First thing that came to my mind.

View attachment 3107425
He looks like he literally clipped through the model and is now about to free fall through the world itself. Which he probably did judging by those clenched hands.
plop.png


He sounded like he literally split a seam on impact. The PTSD of seeing the impact itself is bad enough, having to hear actual bursting from it on top of seeing him landing is going to haunt these people, his parents especially, for life.
 
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