Free-Fall Ride Removed From Orlando Amusement Park Months After Teen’s Death

Orlando Slingshot, the company that operates the Orlando FreeFall tower ride at ICON Park on International Drive, said the ride will be taken down. The decision comes over months after Tyre Sampson, a 14-year-old visiting Florida from Missouri, fell to his death on March 24. Orlando Slingshot said it plans to establish a scholarship in Tyre’s name.

“We are devastated by Tyre’s death. We have listened to the wishes of Tyre’s family and the community, and have made the decision to take down the FreeFall,” Orlando Slingshot executive Ritchie Armstrong said in a statement Monday. “In addition, Orlando Slingshot will honor Tyre and his legacy in the classroom and on the football field by creating a scholarship in his name.”

The free-fall ride was on land Orlando Slingshot leases from ICON Park, which supported the decision to remove the ride. “Tyre’s death is a tragedy that we will never forget. As the landlord, ICON Park welcomes and appreciates Orlando Slingshot’s decision to take down the ride,” park officials said. The park and Orlando Slingshot did not say when the ride will be removed.

An autopsy showed Sampson suffered broken bones and internal injuries from his fall. His death was ruled accidental. The report said Tyre weighed 283 pounds, far above the ride’s 287-pound limit for riders, reports the Associated Press. The Florida Department of Agriculture hired outside engineers at Quest Engineering to investigate the accident and found the ride operator made manual adjustments, which led to Tyre not being properly secured. The report, released in April, found Sampson slipped through a gap between the seat and safety harness.

“The report confirmed the manual adjustments had been made to the sensor of the seat in question that allowed the harness of the restrained opening to be almost double that of the normal restraint opening range,” Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried said in a news conference. “These mis-adjustments allowed the safety lights to illuminate, improperly satisfying the rides’ electronic safety mechanisms that allowed the ride to operate even though Mr. Sampson was not properly restrained in his seat.”

Sampson’s family is suing the owner, manufacturer, and landlord of the ride, accusing them of negligence. They ahve also called for the ride to be taken down. “How would you feel? You send your kid to vacation, they’re going to have fun. Next thing you know, they don’t come home,” Sampson’s father, Yarnell Sampson, told WESH. “This is a reminder. It needs to come down. It needs a permanent memorial.”