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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saw this vid last night posted in "Post videos of people dying" thread
but the video had no info. Did some research and I was surprised this happen last night.
my deepest sympathies go to the family, the young teen had his whole ahead of him and ended just like that

But what I would like to know is the aftermath.
The aftermath is what I always find interesting but is rarely reported.
I would like to know who will be at fault and if they or them will charged with murder
Will the ride be closed?
And of course, there will be a lawsuit and payout, parks have insurance injuries or deaths

But I'm more interested what is going to happen to crew or all the employees involved with this ride
The worst anyone involved might potentially get is probably criminal negligence, and that's usually to the extreme extent where all the blame is on the operator of the ride at the time.

I've watched tons of videos about amusement park accidents, and the majority of the time the park is made to pay a pittance of cash from the state, and then followed by a lawsuit by the family payed in settlement. And that is pretty much it for the consequences.
 
I reckon the ride would be a right bastard to this woman, domestic abuse, you name it
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So the seat harness had a locking position for fat people that left a heafty open gap. Tyre was an obese bottom heavy kid. Zooming down to the ground at 75 miles per hour, when it was coming to a stop his center of gravity was below the bottom of the harness and his fat ass assisted by the weight of his fat legs poured him out of that cup of a seat.

This is the fault of the ride designers in 1) not applying weight limits, 2) having a ratcheted locking position with a gap that large at the bottom 3) Not thinking about obese pear shaped kids in their design.
 
So does the harness not lock in at all if someone is that large? Because he couldn't have just slipped out through the gap with his head in the hole, plus he falls headfirst, doesn't he? It seems like the harness would have had to completely open up. I don't particularly want to watch it again to analyze.

I nearly died on a shitty carnival ride as a kid but it would have been much less dramatic, just regular falling, gravity, forces. In this incident too the barely paid teenager didn't properly secure us. Not really a ride person after that.
 
So does the harness not lock in at all if someone is that large? Because he couldn't have just slipped out through the gap with his head in the hole, plus he falls headfirst, doesn't he? It seems like the harness would have had to completely open up. I don't particularly want to watch it again to analyze.

I nearly died on a shitty carnival ride as a kid but it would have been much less dramatic, just regular falling, gravity, forces. In this incident too the barely paid teenager didn't properly secure us. Not really a ride person after that.
He shoots out feet first. The ride starts breaking, he doesn't.

I hope rather than clamp down on this video they make it mandatory viewing for any and all ride operator training. Everywhere. Let them hear the sound. Let them understand this is why you check every restraint with care and concentration. Those images leave an impact.

As for who's responsible? Before we see a report my guess will actually be the manufacturer. Heck the damning video has another rider wondering why there was no lower safety belt? Very prescient young lady. Shes gonna have nightmares for life.
 
So does the harness not lock in at all if someone is that large? Because he couldn't have just slipped out through the gap with his head in the hole, plus he falls headfirst, doesn't he? It seems like the harness would have had to completely open up. I don't particularly want to watch it again to analyze.

I nearly died on a shitty carnival ride as a kid but it would have been much less dramatic, just regular falling, gravity, forces. In this incident too the barely paid teenager didn't properly secure us. Not really a ride person after that.
It locks in place and the ride has a system that ensures all seats are locked. So either it wasn't actually locked in and that system malfunctioned with a false positive, or more likely it was locked into place but it was too high so he slipped through when the G forces hit. Those types of over-the-shoulder harnesses aren't meant for fat people.

I would say the error was on the staff for not recognizing this but what do I know.

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Wait, the kid was wearing NASA shorts? Like an astronaut? :story:

On a different note, a factor that hasn't been mentioned is why the operator didn't complete the safety checks: he was too busy flirting with the girl. It wasn't simple laziness, he was just too busy flirting to check that Major Tom's safety harness was secure.
 
It locks in place and the ride has a system that ensures all seats are locked. So either it wasn't actually locked in and that system malfunctioned with a false positive, or more likely it was locked into place but it was too high so he slipped through when the G forces hit. Those types of over-the-shoulder harnesses aren't meant for fat people.

I would say the error was on the staff for not recognizing this but what do I know.

View attachment 3108518
That picture shows the critical and fatal flaw in this ride. Note the short strap hanging from the seat? That connects to the bottom of the shoulder bar. This ride didn't have those straps. That's what the girl with the mexican dude was asking/worried about at the start of the video. She was expecting that safety belt.
 
He shoots out feet first. The ride starts breaking, he doesn't.

I hope rather than clamp down on this video they make it mandatory viewing for any and all ride operator training. Everywhere. Let them hear the sound. Let them understand this is why you check every restraint with care and concentration. Those images leave an impact.

As for who's responsible? Before we see a report my guess will actually be the manufacturer. Heck the damning video has another rider wondering why there was no lower safety belt? Very prescient young lady. Shes gonna have nightmares for life.
Kind of like the safety videos they show you in the Navy about being careful around jet engines. Nothing like seeing a guy stand up in the wrong place, and instantly disappear, before the engine explodes- to get the idea of safety zones into your head.
 
So does the harness not lock in at all if someone is that large? Because he couldn't have just slipped out through the gap with his head in the hole, plus he falls headfirst, doesn't he? It seems like the harness would have had to completely open up. I don't particularly want to watch it again to analyze.
The harness didn't completely open up, he slipped out. You can see his legs are straight out like the passenger next to him when they start to descend, but his legs start to wiggle right before he falls bottom first. I don't even know if it was properly locked at that point, or it possibly malfunctioned because if you look closely you can see his harness go down right after he slips out.
 
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