The amusement ride where a 14-year-old boy tragically fell to his death will be taken down, the manufacturer said Thursday.
In a statement Thursday, Orlando Slingshot, the company who built the now-infamous “Orlando Free Fall” tower drop ride at ICON Park in Orlando, announced that it would take down the ride. The company also announced it would honor 14-year-old Tyre Sampson with a scholarship in his name. The announcement came months after state investigations found that the ride’s safety protocols were not followed and the machinery was tampered with, all of which led to Sampson’s death.
“We are devastated by Tyre’s death,” Orlando Slingshot CEO Ritchie Armstrong said. “We have listened to the wishes of Tyre’s family and the community, and have made the decision to take down the FreeFall. 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.”
ICON Park also released a statement agreeing with the decision. “Tyre’s death is a tragedy that we will never forget,” the statement read. “As the landlord, ICON Park welcomes and appreciates Orlando Slingshot’s decision to take down the ride.”
The time frame is not set in stone, however, as the manufacturer and the park are awaiting approvals from the involved parties and the relevant state agencies. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is also still conducting its investigation, and nothing can proceed until the investigation is complete. The agency told the Orlando Sentinel that there is no real time frame for when it will be completed. Details about the scholarship are not available yet, either.
Benjamin Crump and Bob Hilliard, lawyers for the family, praised the decision in a statement of their own. “While this announcement is long overdue, the news today is a relief to Tyre Sampson’s grieving father, who has been advocating for this since the day Tyre fell to his death,” the lawyers said, via News 6 Orlando. “The Orlando Free Fall ride never should have been permitted to operate under those faulty conditions. Theme parks, their parent companies, and regulatory agencies must do better to prevent this kind of tragedy from happening to any other family.”
An autopsy published in June revealed that Sampson was nearly 100 pounds over the ride’s posted weight limit. The autopsy stated that Sampson weighed 383 pounds at the time of his death. The weight limit on the drop tower was 287 pounds.
In April, a safety inspection by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services found that the ride had been manually tampered with. The seat Sampson was sitting in on the ride had an opening between the seat and the safety harness that was visibly wider than the rest of the seats on the ride. The safety sensors had also been manually adjusted, indicating that the seat was in the correct position when it really was not.
Furthermore, resistance tests showed that the harness could be forced open when pushed with enough force. Investigators found that two individuals close to Sampson’s measurements could easily slip through the seat openings.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried approved of the decision on Twitter, and expressed her condolences to the family. “While the investigation is ongoing, I hope that this news brings a measure of comfort to the family of Tyre Sampson and to the Orlando community,” Fried wrote on Twitter.