Teen Thierry Samson, who was on a football program trip from St. Louis, died after slipping from his seat on the 430-foot Orlando Free Fall Trail in ICON Park around 11pm on Thursday. As photos and the new 911 ringtone suggest that Tire’s seat belt may not have been properly secured, Yarnell Sampson’s father says the teenager realized something was wrong as soon as the route began to climb. “It simply came to our notice then. It was like “this thing is moving”, you know what I’m saying. And it was like “what’s going on?” said Samson on WOFL-TV. The bereaved father said Tire panicked and shared a creepy feeling with his two best friends, who were sitting next to him on the way. “It simply came to our notice then. And he was explaining to his friends, next to him, “I do not know dude, if I do not succeed, you can safely tell my mom and dad that I love them,” said Sampson. “To say that, he must have felt something.” The father (right) of a 14-year-old boy who died after falling from a walk in an Orlando theme park said the boy knew something was wrong with his seat belt a few seconds before he sank to his death. The tire appears, right. His belt does not seem to be bent in this photo, which was taken a few moments before the ride went on the air, unlike the other boys. It is not clear if he buttoned it before the ride started The 6.5-foot, 340-pound teenager was on a trip with his football schedule and was sitting next to two of his best friends when he died, his father said. Sampson said his son was 6.5 feet and 340 pounds, and he was told from other walks in the park that he was too big to drive safely, but that Free Fall drivers nodded to him. “This particular ride decided, ‘Yes, we can take you, go upstairs,’ when no one else would let him go upstairs,” Sampson said. Meanwhile, the new 911 ringtone reported by the Sun reveals that a passerby believed that the driver’s staff had not secured the teen’s seat belt. The good 911 graphically described Tire’s injuries, saying he did not respond but was probably still alive. “They say he is breathing, but he is not responding. “It looks like his arms are broken and his legs are broken,” said the man. “I do not know where he fell from. They [ICON park staff] “he did not fasten his belt”, claims the good man. The route is shown on Friday, the day after the accident The search for the park is now ongoing. At a news conference on Friday, Orange County Sheriff John Mina said: “It just seems like a terrible tragedy. We will see forward what this will have “.
Tire and the rest of the team had said a few moments earlier that there were no seat belts on the route. The only thing preventing them from falling from their seats were the plastic, folding belts that were supposed to snap into place between the riders’ legs. One woman was worried that there was nothing else to keep them in their seats as the route went down and asked if there was a seat belt to fasten them. “There are no seat belts,” the escort replied. Then the ride went up in the air and stopped for about 10 seconds before falling. The boy fell from his seat and landed on the ground shortly after, frightening the other riders. After they returned to the ground, the video shows a different worker in the park running to the attendant and asking: “You did not check it!” He insisted that he had and she asked again: “Are you sure?” Tire’s family described him on social media as a “kind giant”. His stepmother, Wendy, said: “Tire was a respectful gentleman. “You will really miss me, my son,” he said. Park officials say they initially thought his body was part of a broken path until they saw the boy fall to the ground.
It is not clear what the minimum height restriction is for the ride or how he could have fallen off his leash. Images from a video show Tire on the ride shortly before ascending and sinking to death The walk seems to go up seconds before the fatal incident This is the walk last night from which a 14-year-old boy fell. Now seen in these pictures, he was sitting on the other side of the carousel when he got up. The route operator appears to be telling the team that “there are no seat belts” to keep them in, only the seat belts It is the second accident in the park in two years. In 2020, a park employee died while working for StarFlyer.
The teenager was taken to hospital but succumbed to his injuries, the office of the Orange County Sheriff confirmed. “At first we thought it was part of the route or whatever, until we got a little closer and it was a person lying on the ground. “Everyone was just panicking and screaming,” Montrey Williams, a park ranger, told FOX 35 Orlando. Sampson was taken to hospital, where he died, sheriff officials said. A man who saw what happened told a 911 sender that Sampson appeared to be slipping out of his seat when the track braked as he approached the bottom. “Bam, he jumped straight out of his chair and fell,” the man said on the 911 call. “It was the biggest smack I’ve ever heard in my life. “I saw him hit the ground.” A woman who called 911 told a sender that Sampson was frowning, not responding and appeared to have broken his arms and legs. Another man told a 911 sender that the teen had no pulse. Close up view of the Orlando Freefall at ICON Park on Friday, March 25, 2022 in Orlando Attractions in ICON Park, The Wheel, left, Orlando SlingShot, in the middle and Orlando FreeFall, right, in Orlando A video of the incident appears to show passengers on the route discussing issues with a seat restraint system on Thursday night. The walk then began its hike to the tower before seeing someone later fall off the walk. “We are deeply saddened by what has happened and our hearts go out to this young man’s family,” John Stine, sales manager for Slingshot Group, which owns the ride, told the Associated Press on Friday morning. The Free Fall route and an adjacent route, the Sling Shot, have been closed indefinitely, Stine said. His company runs both routes in Icon Park. A similar drop tower ride in Tennessee’s Dollywood, made by the same manufacturer, is closed
“We are working with all the other investigations right now to find out what happened,” Stine said. Stine said no problems had been reported in the past with the Free Fall route, which opened last December. Officers and witnesses questioned by detectives did not report any problems in advance. “Everything seemed to be okay and normal,” Mina said. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which oversees amusement park inspections with the exception of the state’s largest theme parks, launched an investigation and inspectors were on the spot Friday, spokeswoman Caroline Stoneciper said in an email. According to a report from the state service, the route had its initial permit inspection on December 20, 2021 and no problems were identified. The next semi-annual inspection of the route was not for several more months. “The route will be closed for the immediate future and will not be reopened until all questions have been answered as part of the ongoing FDACS investigation,” the report said. The route has shoulder straps, with two handles at chest height, which the riders pull down and then release automatically at the end of the route. An inspector on Friday could be seen sitting in a seat with a seat belt on his shoulders as another inspector took measurements. The route is 430 feet high and is described as the tallest independent tower in the world, according to the park’s website. The route holds 30 passengers as it soars into the air, revolves around the tower and then tilts to the ground before falling to a free fall of over 75 mph, the website said. In 2021, a maintenance technician who was not properly connected to a safety device fell 225 feet to death on a nearby park walk, the 450-foot StarFlyer swing ride.