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

good lord that is not your average 14 year old. At that age he wasn't probably strong enough to hold himself in after the harness failed. Not saying that anyone else would have but definitely not that kid at that size.

I don’t think the Flyers shirt was a good choice in hindsight.

That is a huge 14 year old. The ride clearly wasn't designed for someone that size.

No way that kid should have been allowed to ride.

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Man, I've never been in such a situation, but I'd be terrified to see what kind of shape that kid was in up close. It doesn't have anything to do with compassion, but being haunted by those images for the rest of my life. I'd hope that I'd man up and try and help, but frick, not much that can be done in that situation.

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OweO Mode:

About 15 years ago I was behind a jeep Cherokee with 5 teenage girls driving from the beach on the interstate. The driver swerved and over corrected going about 80mph and started flipping. One girl in the back seat was immediately slung out the window about 25 foot in the air and landed mid lane and just slid. The driver ended up coming out after and landing in the grass. The girl in the front passenger may have been the only one with a seatbelt on but the door support had collapsed on her head and was holding it like a vice and she was just pretty much doing a head stand stuck but aware.

I was the only one that saw the accident happen like 30yards in front of me and had no choice but to help. The first girl I got to was the one slung in the air and by the time I was even close the blood had already pooled and was draining all the way to other side of the interstate. The girls were in minimal clothing maybe just bathing suits. And her skin had been completey ate off. Was nothing I could do and I was scared to even touch her. Next girl was the driver that was screaming and kept trying to stand up but couldn’t and confused but her legs seemed broken or crushed. so I told her to just lay down and calm down and help is on the way. Then I went to the jeep and one girl was crying and trying to climb out the back window so I helped her. She was beat up and cut up but ok. Another girl in the back was unconscious but seemed ok and didn’t want to move her. Then the front passenger I just calmed her and tried to situate her better until the fire department could get there and do what they could to remove the car from her head.

All happened so fast and I don’t know how much time went by but then a couple other people passed by and stopped and then I heard sirens..

So I just went back to my car. I was full of blood and pretty freaked out. Sat for about 5 min and then realized I had stopped in a really dangerous spot so just pulled off without ever talking to anyone.

I still every so often have nightmares about that incident

Obtuse1

You a cat person?

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Seems doubtful, every ride I've been on they come by and manually test it first. Seems hard to believe under the current circumstances that some sort of mechanical failure did not also occur. I have to assume that the engineers would have tested large bodies? Also incredibly hard to believe that a seat belt is not standard on these types of rides as mentioned over and over. Maybe there's a reason its not? Its what $50 at most per rider?

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I completely agree with you. I’m a large guy too. I went to lego land with my son and one of the coasters there had a bar that wouldn’t come down and lock on me. I had to get off. I just didn’t fit the ride.

When you look at an incident you can’t look based on what should be but rather on what you can observe. In this case that’s very little. We did see the attendant tug on two harnesses very lightly but not the whole bunch.

As far as assuming the engineers tested it with large bodies, I doubt it. Or if they did, it was designed in Europe where the definition of “a large body” is 100 pounds smaller than this kid. A “large European” would be dwarfed by this kid. (Yes I know about the height of the folks in the Netherlands).

All we can do is say “what must be true for me to see what I’m seeing”.
-The harness will latch in the partially open position.
-The ride will start with one of the harnesses in the partially open position.
-The attendant is allowed to start the ride in the partially open position.
-The attendant believed it was safe to start the ride.

400ft is high as shite for one of those types of rides

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SuperSaint

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That's horrible and unforgettable for sure. You did what you could.

Did you see how these girls turned-out? It appears at least 1 didn't survive. Sometimes you can't see the worst trauma.

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I’m a large guy too. I went to lego land with my son and one of the coasters there had a bar that wouldn’t come down and lock on me. I had to get off. I just didn’t fit the ride.

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Dollywood has a test seat at the start of the line for their rollercoasters and rides like this. It will light up green if the bar fits.