ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A jury trial will begin Thursday in Orange County in connection to a lawsuit filed by the family of a 14-year-old boy who plunged to his death from the Orlando FreeFall attraction at ICON Park in March 2022.
Tyre Sampson was riding the attraction, known as the world’s tallest free-standing drop tower but has since been dismantled, on March 24, 2022, when he fell as the thrill ride was plummeting down. The ride took guests into the air over 400 feet before dropping at 70 mph.
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The ride was new to ICON Park and was open for several months before the boy’s death.
The lawsuit, filed in April 2021, alleged the ride’s operators should have known that riders could be “subject to unreasonably dangerous and foreseeable risks, and that serious injury and death of the occupants in the ride could result.” It also pointed out that the ride did not have seat belts, which would have cost operators of Orlando FreeFall $22 per seat for a combined $660 for all seats.
The family reached a settlement with both ICON Park and the company that operates the ride, but the boy’s parents are continuing to pursue their lawsuit against the ride manufacturers, Funtime Handels and Gerstlauer Amusement Rides.
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An independent forensic engineering firm hired in the investigation into Sampson’s fatal fall found the operator manually adjusted the sensors in the seat he was in, which made the ride unsafe. The firm’s 14-page report determined the ride itself did not have an electrical or mechanical failure, but a manual adjustment in the seat he was in allowed the ride to operate even when it was unsafe.
Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried said during a news conference that the operator of the Orlando FreeFall made “manual adjustments to the ride resulting in it being unsafe” and allowed the harness’ restraint opening to be “almost double” of the normal opening range.
A report showed the harness sensor of the seat Sampson was in was “manually loosened, adjusted, and tightened to allow a restraint opening of near 7 inches.”
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In May 2023, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Tyre Sampson Act into law. The legislation includes requirements for a seat belt and harness for any ride that goes over 100 feet and for all rides to be regularly commissioned, certified and tested by a separate regulatory agency.
In addition, amusement ride operators would have a certain timeframe to report if there was an accident and the state could reserve the right to impound it if necessary.
The law also allows the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to conduct unannounced inspections for specific purposes.
Dodd, Nekia et al vs Gerstlauer Amusement Rides GMBH et al
— Ninth Circuit Court of FL (@NinthCircuitFL) December 4, 2024
A jury trial is scheduled for tomorrow - December 5 - at 8:45 a.m. in courtroom 19B.
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