re: Teen falls 400ft off drop tower ride to his death in Orlando theme park

I don’t understand the physics of that fall.

The ride was moving directly downward and he was projected away from the ride. Did the entire seat disconnect from the rails?

I don’t see how he would come outward if the overhead harness came loose.

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It appears his harness was not clipped between his legs

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There was none.

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his overhead harness was not pushed down firmly enough.

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That's an understatement.

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don’t understand the physics of that fall.

The ride was moving directly downward and he was projected away from the ride. Did the entire seat disconnect from the rails?

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He slid through the opening of the shoulder latch and the seat forced him forward.

Yeah, looked like the ride came to the point where it drastically slows down for a safe stop. Same thing as when you’re on a roller coaster and you have a section right before unload that stop the train before arriving back to the station.

Unfortunately for him, it looks like because he wasn’t properly restrained or whatever the issue was, the ride vehicle didn’t stop his momentum with it. So he just kept going.

No one checked him.

And you can see in the video before they launched that clearly that he was too damn tall for that harness. The hardened shoulder and torso restraint is angled upward just to fit over this kid, who seems to be as large as a collegiate linebacker. Which means the torso section was angled out and maybe wasn’t locked. And he slipped between the restraint and the seat.

If the ride isn’t designed for people over 6’, they should not have let him on. And they definitely should have checked first.

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. He looks very tall.

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He was 6'-6" and 280 lb.

I can’t believe that ride didn’t have a safety belt also. He slid right out underneath. A seatbelt would have avoided this tragedy.

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but then saw them sitting there all happy and swinging their legs, and I couldn’t continue.

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understandable.

Video of Sampson taken before the ride went into the air (see below) shows the teen ‘ominously’ sitting with his harness unbuckled and not pulled down to fasten in to his seat. It wasn’t clear if the harness was closed fully before the ride went into the air, or if the tour operator checked to ensure he was safely buckled in.

Video

No seat belts?

Footage uploaded online (see below) shows the operator talking with riders before they take off into the air. As the ride starts, the worker yells: ‘Hey did you take your seat belt on the left side. Seat belt.’

The thrill seekers on board then start rotating up the illuminated column.

The passengers rise hundreds of feet above the ground before plunging at a rapid speed.

A 14-year-old boy fell from the ride and was taken to hospital, where he died.

Moments after the tragedy, workers of the Orlando Free Fall ride could be heard discussing safety measures.

Reported WKMG, in video transcript of workers amongst themselves immediately after the boy’s fall:

Worker 1: What are you doing?
Didn’t you check it?

Worker 2: I don’t know.

Worker 1: Didn’t you check it?

Worker 2: Yeah. The light was on.

Worker 3: We both — we checked it. The light was on.

Worker 1: You guys are sure you checked it?

Workers 2 and 3: We did, yeah, the light was on.

Teen was happy to get away for spring break

Sampson’s youth football coach, AJ Jones, told News6 that the teenager was a ‘humble giant’ and a straight-A student with dreams of making it to the NFL.

Told witness, Montrey Williams via Fox35: ‘At first we thought it was a piece of the ride or whatever until we got a little closer and it was a person laying on the ground.

‘Everyone was just panicking and screaming.’

In a press conference on Friday, Orange County Sheriff John Mina said preliminary information suggests the incident appeared to be an accident.

However, Mina confirmed an investigation is still open to determine the cause of the mishap but reiterated that it ‘appears to be a tragic situation.’

‘It does appear to be just a tragic situation. So, all that is being looked at. Our role in this situation is to determine whether or not this is an accident or intentional act, and this does appear to be a terrible tragedy,’ the sheriff said.

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