What Really Happened on Orlando FreeFall March 24th 2022?
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- Опубліковано 1 гру 2023
- On March 24th 2022 Orlando Free Fall Drop Tower at Icon park was operating normally. A larger rider sat in seat #1. The ride operators visually checked all seats on the ride. After these checks were complete the ride was started. The ride climbed the 430ft tall tower and the seats tilted forward 30 degrees. With riders now facing the ground the ride dropped. As the ride reached the bottom of the tower and started to slow down the rider in seat #1 slipped under the restraint and fell to the ground where they were killed.
Video on different Slingshot Group accident: • What Really Happened o...
Accident report: www.documentcloud.org/documen...
Videos used:
• World's Tallest Drop T...
• Orlando Free Fall Off-...
• Kathy & Jean Carlos
• Freefall ride at Flori...
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So happy this got coverage! I’ve never gotten a truly straight answer so thank you!
Great job declining the news interview, all too often they portray what you say very diffently out of context
Excellent video! Very well made. I have been looking on info for this accident and I can always trust your content ❤️
Awesome video! Thanks for making it!
Thank you for your continued work on these videos!
“Known to accommodate larger riders” - so they made a fat person’s seat using their own adjustments and killed the guy?! 100% needs criminal charges.
Same here
Agreed
The park is completely negligent
A 14 year old boy😢
Eh
Basically.
I've seen awful comments about this kid and his weight...I'm really glad to finally see a respectful take and explanation on this accident. Insightful and informative as always.
Agreed! It's nice and respectful.
IDK why people would attack this kid over his height and weight, like he was a big dude, a lot of us are. The issue solely comes down to the fact that the rides system would not have cleared the ride to operate under the original settings and required the rides management to manually reset those sensors on select seats in order for it to dispatch. While its tough to just say something like premeditated murder, this really straddles that line as the operators knew for a fact that they took the ride out of its safety parameters on purpose.
Dont talk abouth other bodies all bodies are healthy karen
@@kurtbrigandiThat’s not even close to premeditated murder lol. Manslaughter at best.
To be fair the kid was too big for the ride and should not have been able to get on it. Although it makes you wonder how that seat did not fail until that one moment. I imagine lots of kids had been in that seat before... skinny... fat... doesn't matter. It happened to fail on that kid specifically... unfortunately.
I was unfortunate enough to see the video on Twitter after the accident, and it was awful. I couldn't believe a ride I rode 3 months earlier would be in the headlines for something this devastating. RIP Tyre Sampson.
Yeah seeing it was not fun
So why did you watch it then?????@@phyllojoe5346 I saw it on Twitter as well and I'm not in here saying I was "unfortunate" to see it or that it "was not fun". I chose to watch it - I own that decision. It didn't autoplay I simply chose to click the link. You two sound ridiculous!
What happened in it? Blood?
@@elmomonster6043 No blood but uncensored seeing him hit the ground. Lack of gore doesn't matter, seeing the kid's life taken was horrible
@@phyllojoe5346 There was no blood? Really?
I went on this three weeks before this happened and went here a few times prior to the accident. They NEVER check the restraints physically. I told the riders around me to check themselves pushing as hard as they could so and see if they can slip out . My first time was my last and I didn't recommend anyone going on because of the operators. It felt very unsafe with them there. Who ever trained them never worked in an amusement park.
I just got back from a WDW/UO trip last month and I can't imagine not having my restraints physically tested before something as intense as a drop tower.
It's not uncommon in the Amusement park industry to not have the ride attendants touch the restraints to check them, it's more common to have the riders do it themselves. That's how they do it at Disney World. The kids running the drop tower were only trained to look at the lights, to them, if the seats were locked, then there was nothing to worry about since the ride wouldn't run without locked seats. They had no idea two of the seats had been widened.
@@ahluvdrums idk, my first thought was that both times I went to Disney world they gave a tug on the restraints even for stuff that didn’t need it. It’s been a while though so maybe that’s changed in the last few years.
@@OcarinaLink24 No, at Disney, the CMs never touch the restrains. You, the guest, push on them, and they watch you do it, but they never physically touch it. But that literally has nothing to do with what happened here, the restraint itself never unlocked. The shoulder harness had been altered so it was able to be "locked" over a larger guest, leaving a wider opening then the manufacturer allowed. When the tower dropped, the forces were able to force him though the gap, which wouldn't have happened if the seat hadn't been altered.
@@SweetestHoney86
Sorry for being silly here but what does WDW/UO mean?
I believe Seatbelts in-between your legs should be mandatory. It makes it a lot easier to tell if a rider is too big. Also, it makes it impossible for the restraint to opening to grow.
Yep, and since the force is directly downward, even if the seatbelt did allow for some gap widening it would be incredibly unlikely for a rider to fall (although the wedgie probably wouldn't feel all that great).
@@Ellie-rx3jtid rather a wedgie than being smashed into the pavement
Gonna echo everyone else's opinion and say this is your best video yet.
However, there is one crucial detail in the Orlando Freefall situation that everyone who's covered this seems to have overlooked: Icon Park was not advertising or enforcing the ride's maximum height restrictions as dictated by the manufacturer.
The Funtime Skyfall has a maximum height restriction of 190cm or 76", whereas Tyree was reported to be 77", a whole inch above the safety limit.
When Shawn of Theme Park Worldwide did his vlog at the Orlando Freefall, he briefly filmed the ride's height restriction board, and it only showed the minimum height restriction of 50". Not a word about a maximum height restriction anywhere.
This doesn't really change too much in the grand scheme of things, but adds a significant extra layer of negligence to Icon Park's operations and is another way this accident could've been prevented. Had these "people" done the bare f-ing minimum, like not tampering the ride's restraint system and actually enforcing the manufacturer's restrictions, Tyree Sampson would still be with us. Just another item to add to the long list of reasons why Slingshot Group deserves to cease its existence.
The maximum height limit isn't mentioned in the manual delivered to slingshot group by Funtime.
A one inch difference should not cause someone to die. I am an op and I know for a fact that many people get sent on rides who are not quite tall enough or are a little too tall (the park I work even has a policy that explicitly allows a rider who is 1.5 in under the height requirement to ride under certain circumstances). If one inch is enough to enable someone to slip the restraint I have a hard time putting much fault on the ops/park for that particular aspect of this.
Sometimes an op does not height check properly, misses a kid who is slightly under, etc. It should always result in a writeup for the ops but one inch over/under should never be a significant factor in a death. If it is something needs to change on the manufacturers side.
@@CoasterCollege I found the manual online after you posted the reply, and you're right, it's not there. That's incredibly messed up, because the 76" max height restriction has been stated on the Funtime section of Ride Entertainment's website at least since 2021 (which, oddly enough, contains much more thorough and up to date technical details than Funtime's own website, which hasn't been updated since 2015 🚩🚩🚩 Also, I checked the Wayback Machine, so it's not like they've added it post-accident to cover themselves).
Either this was a major oversight on Funtime's end, or Ride Entertainment's website includes incorrect information. Judging by the outcome, I'm very inclined to believe the former, but I'd love to hear more insight.
EDIT: Sentence structure
@@nathonizamboni875 That's quite a large margin... In Europe they'll turn people away for being less than a centimetre off the mark, let alone a full inch and a half... I would guess your park has slightly higher posted ride restrictions compared to the manufacturer's specs, which would justify that large of a margin, but I really would love to hear more about what the actual reason is.
The thing with Orlando Freefall was that due to the tilted position, the rider's forces are exerted onto the bottom of the restraint, I. E. right where the gap between their body and the restraint is. As such, I'd imagine that any excess of the size restriction would be extra precarious, especially considering the lack of a secondary restraint, like seat belts. Maximum size restrictions I feel are quite overlooked, which is alarming considering there's been several fatal accidents in the past decade where they're one of the root causes, NTAG being another one of them.
@@MondoCoasters We'll turn people away if they are more than a few mm under the mark. The policy that lets people that short on is the height wristband policy. If a kid already has a height wristband for the height requirement of our ride we cannot take it away unless they are 1.5in or more below the requirement, and they can ride any ride of that height requirement. How do they get incorrect wrist bands? Sometimes someone who is new will give one to them. We had an issue with someone at the mine train giving them out this year. Front gate has a wristband stand and is the source of many incorrect ones (not rides department). Sometimes a guest steals one. Management decided that it was better to allow these through than have operators create a scene over it.
Any engineering project has tolerances for all of the parts. Height requirements are no different. You shouldn't push it when possible of course, but thinking ops will catch every single kid that is even slightly below is wishful. We certainly try, but this is real life we're talking about.
A maximum size restriction should be enforced simply by the restraint mechanism. With adults there is such a wide variety of body types that posting a strict height limit isn't fair to many people who could otherwise ride just fine. The rides where they work well are rides with specific envelope requirements. Inverted, floorless, and kiddie rides, where a rider with really long legs could breach the ride envelope. On traditional rides people who are tall can sometimes breach the envelope as well, but that is actually quite difficult on most modern rides. Easiest way to do it is to the side, and at that point it is purposeful. Additionally checking someone's height who is much taller than you is difficult (there are a few ops on my crew who are near 5ft). Additionally adults will sometimes throw a fit if they are made to do something "for kids." They are being irrational, but people are stupid. The confrontation isn't worth it if the size requirement can be checked in other ways.
I feel like having a seat thats known as the one more accommodating for larger passengers is not a good thing unless that seat is actually differently designed
Completely agree!
As a fan of El Toro Ryan, seeing the footage of him actively on the ride while talking about the accident gave me such shivers down my spine. I know that roller coasters are built to be incredibly safe and I trust the engineering and technology behind them. However, human error is never entirely unavoidable.
The ride should have had seat belts that were the length of the maximum allowable gap size. If you can't click it, you can't ride it. Needs to be standard on all drop towers and 360 pendulum rides
100% correct. And why was it even possible to adjust the proximity sensor to an unsafe point? Major design flaws.
Or at the very least, the kind of over the shoulder restraints that have to latch onto the horn in some way.
Not having those belts was a deliberate albeit tragic, decision in order to provide for faster loading/unloading/cycle time. Having the belts adds time to each ride cycle as the rider needs to click them in place themselves, the operators need to physically check each rider, and the rider needs to release the belt at rides end. Modern "Ride Safety Engineering" has striven to eliminate belts wherever possible.
@@andrewtaylor940I'm not sure you can call it "ride safety engineering" at that point. It's more "ride marginally less safe in order to reduce wait times engineering" 😬
@Ellie-rx3jt it could have been done without belts. But the botton of the shoulder bars needed to come all the way down and touch or better yet lock to that post between the legs.
Whomever adjusted the sensor had to have been told to do so by someone above them. I can't imagine someone just doing that on their own, unless they are some sort of psycho. I think you presented everything very clearly and the animation is spot on. Why did you decline going on the news to discuss the accident?
I'm not CoasterCollege, but my best guess is just to avoid that "media frenzy" and wave of speculation.
News outlets are somewhat known for taking statements out of context or cutting interviews down to be as controversial as possible. That plus a lack of concrete knowledge about the accident around the time they were invited probably led CC to decline.
@@yasu3d that's a good point about statements being taken out of context
Yeah, especially because the adjustment was done on only 2 seats, seats known to accommodate larger riders. Someone was instructed to make the adjustments to accommodate them. I also think that the sensors shouldn't have even been able to be adjusted that much...
Agreed, the owner stating 'he knows he did it' feels like an attempt to throw a minimum-wage scapegoat under the bus, instead of admitting that someone further up the management chain gave the order to make the adjustment. Because if he admits it, he's basically admitting the whole park may well have similar safety issues due to mismanagement and other attempts to circumvent safety features and regulations. I'm glad to hear that the investigators didn't fall for it.
Same here I can't imagine someone just doing that on their own
Tbh after seeing the video, I agree with the Statement of the family. It looks to be way to easy to modify the seat restraint magnet. And I didnt see any marking on a "safe range" or anything.
Also what Bugs me is that you said that these restraints normally barely move and these all moved a lot under the force. Which sounds a bit scary for a ride that tilts you towards the ground imo.
I agree 100%
Thank you for uploading this. I remember seeing the actual video on accident on TikTok, and I couldn't sleep for days. And the gross part is that one lady who pretended to be a family member for clout, but Im glad its being torn down. RIP Tyre
Im really really sorry you had to see that and Im assuming you were no where near a hashtag where NSFW death would be...
My niece around like 9 seen the vid of the guy waxing his bum and Im a grown ass 21 year old bi gay and don't see NSFW stuff like that unless I go searching AND THATS HOW IT SHOULD BE
And then there was another vid but I don't remember
Idk how the fugg Tiktok lets stuff like that stay up so long. It gets so many likes there's no fuggin WAY, N OT A SINGLE MODERATOR SEEN IT????
Honestly I have. Conspiracy they know and keep it up for some reason because how else??
And then cousin told me about hearing people see the Ronnie Mcnutt Suisice vid on Tiktok too. It has a gun and you see his dog and he's on a phone call right before if you've ever seen it without specifically searching im SO sorry
The video is very tame disregarding the dead body. The fall looked like a cheap digital effect you'd see in a TV movie, it's just so sudden and undramatic. Nobody is screaming hysterically.
@Clay3613 Well I didn't want to see it. And I don't think saying that footage of someone literally falling to their death is "tame"
@@Clay3613you say it's Tame then proceed to last things that make it more disturbing.
I've seen pics of a jail with bodies and parts PILED high but to say this is tame compared is Wrong imo aanf about it looking movie like ...movie dummies were literally MADE to look human.
This is just as tragic and freaky as the worst things I've seen. It's a human no matter the death imo unless they're the biggest aPos ever.
And To me the jail I seen felt fake as well. But Life Imitates Art they say and Death is rarely tame. Even in comparison
@@Clay3613unless the screams make things worse for me. I'm the same. Screams stick in my head easily and 911 calls
the worst part is imagining what's going through his head not just right as he fell, but on the way up, when it started to tilt, and when it dropped... rip
That's the heart breaking thing he knew it was bad at the top he said as much to the person he went on with an passed a message on to his mum ❤😢
@@christinapapahristu325 what was the message?
@dustinb9777 he told his friend / cousin at the top along the lines of he knew something was wrong an didn't think he was gonna make it down .. an if he didn't tell his mum he loves her 😢😢 that's what I saw of a few other videos anyway not long after it happend
So Sad. poor guy! ty for the reply@@christinapapahristu325
@@christinapapahristu325oh my god this completely took me out 😢😢😢😢 im crying my eyes out. i can not believe this.. this poor poor boy, 14 years old, just a child still, he must have felt so alone. Its so tragic that it had to be a child..
The mount for the magnetic sensor looks like they were designed to be adjustable. If the intention was for them to stay put, why the design? Were the manufacturers using the same part for different uses? Was the design to avoid some sort of stress on the part/bolt? The design doesn’t seem very idiot-proof.
Completely agree, wish a further investigation was completed.
Could be why there is still a criminal investigation happening for the two separate manufacturers.
I was noticing the same thing. The part was designed to be adjustable, probably due to slight variations in magnetic sensors and other components, but it seems to have a too large of a window for adjustment. Being that the manufacturer designed this into the ride, I would assume that the company operating the ride is allowed to adjust the bracket within the range of what the bracket allows. But I'm also assuming that the manufacture has a stated open gap allowed between the seat restraints. I would be interested to see what the manufacture says about these adjustments in the rides operating and maintenance manual. I'm doing a lot of assuming here biased on my experience as an engineer.
We can only speculate for now.
It could be that they are adjustable for different climates, since metal expands in the heat and funtime ships them all around the world. Might be enough to change the minimum and maximum rider size.
It could also be because of cheaper manufacteuring costs or even for easier maintinance (changing faulty sensors, etc.)
Just because a bolt is there does not mean you're supposed to unscrew it.
The manufatuerer will have their reason on why they chose this approach.
My bet is that it's easier to get the maximum gap allowance correct that way, as all parts have some manufacturing tolerance.
This all could've been prevented if the restraints had a seatbelt like most drop towers do. The fact that the seats tilt forward means there will be force applied where the seat horn and bottom of the restraint are instead of just to the seat bottom. Like the report said, there were so many other things found off.
As a big guy who has a crippling fear of falling, this is one of my worst nightmares come to life. I cannot imagine the pain that kid's family has been left with because of a negligent company.
I had the opposite yet same fear when I was suffering from an ED. I never fit tightly in my restraints at that tim, and I thought often what if I'm too skinny and I slide out? Seeing this poor boy obviously not fitting right into the restraint is so sad. It's so obvious he didn't fit in it properly. But the light did turn red so... that shouldn't have happened either. and they should've had seatbelts as a backup in case the shoulder bars failed.
I feel the same. I weigh 105lbs and 5’1. I feel like I’m going to slip out of every restraint
I'm just gonna go ahead and say it.
As far as how much their operations truly "care" for guest safety is concerned, Slingshot Group is the new Action Park.
I agree
They just want to make a quick buck without actually caring about rider safety
Oh hell no! Action Park was weirdly up front with just how insanely dangerous their shit was. It was a feature not a flaw. People wore their Action Park scars like badges of honor. It was a different time. Albeit a much more battered, bloody and bruised time. Action Park in the 70's and 80's was akin to eXtreme Sports of the 90's and 00's. The same people that think Snowboarding is a sane idea would have been ACtion Parks prime target market in 1982. The actual better comparison for Slingshot Group would be Great Adventure circa 1984. Look up the Great Adventure Haunted Castle Fire if you want to see real callous disregard for human life and basic safety.
@@andrewtaylor940 regular people weren't doing extreme sports tho. Those were done by trained professionals. It's time to take those rosey glasses off.
This has by far been the best wrh video. As a ride op I am actually disgusted by what these ride ops did that day. I got trained 2 days after the accident and the training took longer than expected due to this accident. Now I don’t know if this is true but I had heard from a maintenance worker at my park not too long ago that some of the operators had switched while the ride was in motion. If that’s the case it makes it even worse in my opinion. But disregarding that this was another great video Brennan keep up the amazing work
I'm not sure exactly how accurate this is, bu th eway that I heard it is he attempted to ride it earlier in the day, but was turned away due to his size. He tried again towards the evening, the ride operators had changed from earlier in the day. And someone on that shift apparently knew to put plus sized guests in seats #1 and #2.
@@andrewtaylor940 Ive heard that one too. I really don't know which one is true or not, but both are terrible and my thoughts and prayers go out to the family.
This is by far the best what really happened video you've ever made, I recently rode sunset walk slingshot which is owned and operated by the slingshot group and noticed their operations seems much safer than what is explained in this video, great animation, great explanation, great video!
Thanks so much!
It's cos they use IROC now. Since the accident. At all the properties.
yeah, I noticed on their nametag, it says "iroc certified"@@Coasterlocity
This really sucks. Its a tragedy when theme park rides lead to death, way more so when its just a kid who died. Tyre deserved to have the people in charge of the ride protect his safety and life.
I really like the visual representation you used that respected the victim of the incident and you were clearly unbiased throughout the video.
I had actually contemplated going and riding this drop tower the night of the accident.
Obviously, the main issue was the modified sensor and letting someone who couldn’t safely ride be allowed to ride, but I also think a different restraint design with a seatbelt would’ve been a good idea, since the unique tilt function of this drop tower made it so that the deceleration force would push riders *forwards* instead of straight down into the seat.
Great video as always!
As a ride op, I don't entirely blame the ride ops for what happened that day. Yes, screening is the most important part of our job, but I have worked at and currently do still work at rides that have accomodated seating for larger guests. It's how I was trained, it's how I train my new hires, and it's never been an issue for the rides I ha e worked at. Though, I have gotten the question before: why are those seats larger - and are they any less safe? The short answer is no. They are not any less safe than the other seats on the vehicle. However, I now have to wonder if maybe that information is wrong. I trust my maintenance team with all my heart. They allow me to have a job. It's clear though, that the maintenance team at this park either wasn't doing their job or had something else up their sleeve. I'm sure these ride ops followed all correct procedure - except maybe screening as thoroughly as they could have. However, they also must have been trained that these particular seats were okay even if they didn't quite know why. To me, this is on whoever modified those seats. You can't blame the ops for that. They were doing their job. It's a real shame and a tragedy - but this was done by someone behind-the-scenes, not these poor kids who didn't know any better. I've seen ride op negligence firsthand and from everything I've heard about this incident, this isn't ride op negligence. This was them being given wrong information.
It was 100 percent the operators fault. Point, blank, period. They failed horribly that day and killed that young man
@@SamAndFam311 Im not sure if you can say that this easily, especially the 100%. The ride ops are not the ones who modified seat 1 and 2, and since we dont know how they train their own employees so who knows if they knew about the modified seats and bigger gap that day? We can assume thought that they are trained badly since they only checked if the safety light was on and did not check by pressing and pulling the restraints like the manufactor said. They are certainly to blame yes, but not 100%
@@justphantom7013 umm no I'm sorry but they are 100 percent to blame. They is literally no way they couldn't see that his seat was WAY off and didn't look secure. Even Tyree himself was saying it and telling them and they didn't bother to recheck or anything. So yes, they are 100 percent to blame. They should have been more vigilant instead of just shrugging him off. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to have seen his seat wasn't secure
Whilst I will say it isn't 100% their fault, they should've done the physical pull test. It was their job to make sure the ridere were able to be safely dispatched and they passed that job off to sensors instead of relying on sensors, and their own test. I can't imagine how any of them feel and how horrible this expierence was for them. I would never wish it upon anyone. But they did have a hand in this
@@SamAndFam311 That doesn't mean it's 100% their fault. If nobody had modified the seat in the first place, the light wouldn't have turned on, so the ride wouldn't have been able to start. Obviously the ride ops are partially to blame, but the only reason a problem existed initially is because someone modified the restraint.
after a whole year we finally have all the information we needed
Thanks for covering this. The victim was from st. Louis.
Condolences to his family and friends 🙏😔
Such a tragedy, one oversight is all it takes
I've been a ride operator for several years and hearing about the procedures for this drop tower, i was cringing the whole way through. Visual checks only, no physical seatbelt, restraints only checked by one person, seat with unauthorized modifications for larger guests? Horrifically negligent and i feel bad for the operators at the scene and everyone affected. At the drop tower I worked at, there were no larger seats, each seat was checked physically once and visually up to 4 times by 3 different people, a minimum of 3 times by 2 different people, and it had seatbelts as a backup and as a measure of whether a guest fits. At rides with seats for larger guests, the seats had two seatbelts instead of one and the physical check was done twice. Safety was always drilled into us as the number one priority and even incorrectly doing the paperwork for the safety checks could get you an infraction.
Your coverage is the only one I've seen mention the tilt. I didn't know about that feature, so that changes a lot of what I thought had happened. And the G Forces during deceleration...there was no way he couldn't have been ejected from the seat., due to the gap but also his weight adding significantly to the forces that would eject him. I read that he was way over the weight limit, so if the ride ops were trained properly, they should've known he was too big to ride, regardless of the seat modifications. And with the poor training, modifications, even the manufacturing allowing such a dangerous level of modification to happen in the first place, seems like a whole storm of negligence and error that led to this incident.
It's just really sad, and I hope his family can rest with resolution from this terrible incident.
Orlando locals already tend to avoid Icon Park thrill attractions, in part because the standards and procedures don't nearly reach the standards of parks like Universal and Disney. The slingshot tends to break at least once a month due to cable snapping. Proper maintenance and technical checks would avoid this. Many people were grilling the ride operators when it came to this accident, but in reality it comes down to bad management taking things into their own hands. Ride ops just do as they're told, including bad training. It's quite clear that someone high up in the chain told a tech to loosen a seat or two so that guests with larger proportions could ride (more money for them), and it's sad to know that this is the result.
The slingshot at icon park? I was looking if it had ever snapped before but couldn’t find any articles. Only ones owned by slingshot group and old town that’s just down the road
@@Astralapparitions Ah, sorry, yes, the one in Old Town is what I was referring to, I just forgot to mention where it was. Old Town is similar in terms of temporary-feeling rides
I really enjoy the way you format videos, i find it easy to get lost in all the details bc of my adhd brain. The way you go over each point and how it all ties together makes me feel like i actually understand whats going on
Also RIP tyre, he was just a kid trying to have a good time with his friends. He trusted those ride operators and it cost him his life
Thanks so much!
I was working at Yardhouse right there in ICON Park just a few hundred feet from where it happened and the general manager (still there, Philip Le) was so cold-hearted and nonchalant about the entire ordeal. Some of my coworkers working the patio section heard the thud from Yardhouse and the general manager was getting angry at anyone who wanted to either go home for the night or needed a moment before serving tables again. He could not care less about anything else that night except the restaurant's numbers to make his insane bosses at Darden happy. Darden Restaurants (owner of Yardhouse) did not acknowledge anything about the incident at all and they even told managers to relay to us servers to avoid talking about the situation with our customers EVEN IF THEY SPECIFICALLY ASKED ABOUT IT.
It was like a psy-op within Darden Restaurants, specifically Yardhouse there to not bring it up in order to "protect their whole image" and keep the line out door to make sales.
Some other managers even made rude and inhumane comments about the weight of the victim Tyre Simpson.
Needless to say, I quit working at that horrible restaurant last year. There was some dark, secretive stuff going on.
People are insulting this kid for no reason. He was turned away from rides he didn't fit on. This is the only one that let him on. So he thought it was safe. This is criminal.
I remember this, I worked at SeaWorld Orlando as a ride op and had to go to work the next day, I was so scared to work. I always took my job seriously but this event made the whole Infinity team tense up and get much more serious.
The way this traumatized a whole generation shocked me, I refused to view the video after hearing the kinds of memories it left people with.
I looked into this incident a bit myself before this video dropped and needless to say it shocked me. Very tragic and it should not have happened. Believe me when I say I'd rather someone be turned away than put at risk.
May Tyree rest in peace ❤️
Saw the original video and many of these explanations thus far and this is the most conclusive and well thought out/researched. As a local I must say it was a beautiful ride especially on a busy night, they’d time the slingshot perfectly while it was going up and dropping. Never rode it because… slingshot group owned them. Too many horror stories, they may have more then most companies combined.
it’s kind of sad a seat belt could have had an impact on the survival of the victim
I've been to this park before, but never went on that ride. Seeing how tall the tower was in real life was way different than seeing it on video.
This right here is why many amusement parks turn away very large riders from some attractions. It is not some kind of bigotry. It is for safety reasons as restraint systems are designed with specific height, weight, leg, and abominable dimensions in mind. When these safety guidelines are overlooked, the result is a family losing their loved one.
Its crazy that I had planned to ride this a week after the accident months ahead, but had to cancel due to the tragic event.
if someone is too fat and did not fit to lock
@@Alexander-yx7yewhat a disgusting comment. He was trying to enjoy himself like everyone else. It's the operators fault for not going to him and telling him it wouldn't be safe at this time for him to ride. He was overweight some yes but there are nicer ways to tell someone that and that for their safety, certain rides aren't safe for them. And also he was a football player and still very young. More than enough time to have lost his baby fat and turn into an amazing linebacker. Rethink your comment and try again
@@SamAndFam311 I agree that there is a more tactful way to talk about this. But he was severely overweight based on the manufacturing limit. Like 100lbs over the limit, so not just some. The operators, if trained properly, should've known that right away. I think people should be given pamphlets of the rides and their specs/limits so that they know what rides they can and can't ride.
At some point , it needs to be accepted that rides are not built for all bodies. It’s safer to just reject certain riders than to rig the seats like this.
Thank you for not showing it. The first time I saw the video there was absolutely zero indication that the footage would be used, and I couldn’t finish the video after the clip was played. So thank you
That's something that really upset me about most coverage of this accident, glad you enjoyed!
@@CoasterCollege victims and their families deserve to be treated with more respect than that. Thank you for being one of the good ones
I have to ask; why was it even possible to adjust the restraint sensors? It seems like the manufacturer was almost asking for ride owners to be negligent
Technically speaking, any ride can be modified by someone with enough knowledge about engineering
Why shouldn't it be adjustable? It's a machine. Everything can be changed on machines by someone determined enough to do so.
@@Robbedemit should not be adjustable because adjusted seats are not safe if the g forces are a certain amount and stuff like basic physics
@@QDude24obviously who did it didnt care about people safety. Also thank you after this information im much less inclined to ride anything extreme
It's not that they are adjustable by the users. It's adjustable by a technician. Which almost anything is anyway.@@staringcorgi6475
Been waiting for your video on this incident, I was in Florida visiting Universal Orlando when this happened. We were driving out to the ocean the day after and I was looking out the window at icon park in the distance and my mom just casually said "I think that's the park that kid died at last night" kinda messed with me a bit to think while we were all having fun just a little bit further away someone had died.
Excellent video and analysis. Those animations were great.
Thanks for compiling all of this.
One of your best videos ever. Thank you. Tasteful and informative - getting to be crux of the accident and the aftermath.
Thanks so much!
I love your videos! Please keep it going!
As long as people watch them I'll keep making them!
@@CoasterCollege well you’ve got my support!
I still remember the video of the kid being shared on Twitter and Insta and people were just being so rude to this poor kid and his family. Prayers too all of them!
I worked at a park with a B&M invert. Similar set up with lights on control panel to confirm restraints were locked.
A row would show all seats locked but one restraint would still be fully open... I was afraid of exactly this situation happening on my ride. I would shut down and the engineers didn't really seem too bothered and told me to reopen. I was younger and didn't stand up for myself which I should have done.
Imagine a larger guest being in that seat and the ride shows as locked but it wasn't... they wouldn't come back!
I always think that even if they adjusted the seat, that a secondary seatbelt probably could’ve kept him tied to the seat. I know some of these rides have multiple locks and safety measures, but I always feel a seatbelt should just be there anyway.
Wow, never been this early! and it's cool to see your opinion on what happened, rest and peace and prayers for the family
it's not his opinion, it's what actually happened
@Bxyzfnf I more meant what he had to say on the facts since I've seen others talk about the accident and what caused it. I should have said it differently, sorry about that
I was at WDW when this happened and he's from my hometown, being St. Louis and it hurt
Thank you for the great video. So unbelievably sad.
That’s all on the operator. They 100% should’ve stuck with banning the operator from operating in the state, their track record is TERRIBLE.
Early! (Thanks for the upload!)
GREAT breakdown and explanation!
Thanks!
Great video! I really enjoyed watching!
Thanks!
@@CoasterCollege You're very welcome!
Every park I worked I took a test to be an operator or attendant, six flags and clementon Park, I was even a trainer at six flags great adventure and a ride lead
The government: you killed someone? Pay us a quarter of a million dollars and this all goes away
Ill never forget waking up on my birthday and seeing that poor child fall from that ride. it was traumatizing for so many and I hope he rests in peace
Whoever modded the restraint and all involved need to be help criminally responsible for manslaughter
Their negligence and carelessness caused this tragic accident
Rip tyre Samson
Never ride anything without redundant safety devices
this ride had redundant safety devices...
Florida's courts need to stop being soft on Slingshot Group. They need to be shut down.
But Funtime and Gerstlauer also share blame. The flag plate is far too easy to move beyond a safe range, and the hydraulics are clearly inadequate given how easily they were overpowered in Quest's testing. It's good that people are suing the manufacturers; Quest dropped the ball by not further investigating after their tests.
My guess as to why the sensor was adjusted is: someone in the company is of large build or has a friend or business associate of large build, and the ride was tampered with to accommodate them.
Quest will only investigate what the state contracts them to.
@@CoasterCollege Ahhhh
Thanks for putting time into this video. The many points you bring forward span a few other industries as well.
Glad it was helpful!
excellent video. just commented on your poll about who is to blame here, but this situation is truly such a mess. i feel so bad for the rider and his family.
small note: the title lists the event as march 26th, but in the video you state that it occurred march 24th. not sure which one is correct
Thanks for the catch, fixed!
so sad to see that no one has yet to have been held responsible for this
To not have a seat belt type restraint that went between the legs of the rider should never had been allowed. Falcon's Fury has seat and restraints that are similar but with the additional crotch strap.
Whats interesting is the UA-camr / Ride Mechanic "Midway Mayhem" got exclusive access to record videos and climb to the top of this ride during construction. He made TONS of videos about it.
As soon as the incident happened he deleted all his posts referencing it.
I wonder if he worked on the ride in a mechanical capacity.
I don’t usually trust rides that have a designated “fat person” seat that’s not physically bigger. If it’s the same seat with wider openings, it isn’t a designated seat for someone who is slightly heavier. It’s a seat that has been modified, possibly illegally, to keep more people in the seats.
Even if the reason for modifications were so that more people can enjoy the ride, I’d much prefer being turned away than being put in danger.
This is the best what really happened video you've done
Thank you so much!
I know people say it often but I have to thank you myself for you pointedly choosing NOT to use footage of an actual death. I feel ill and troubled just imagining it, but the comment section is flooded with people saying it was shared on social media... a kid died and people are just sending that video to each other.
Thank you for always respecting the victims by using representations or older fully functioning rides or literally anything that isn't a human being's death being exploited for views. As a fun-fair ride enthusiast and a mechanics enthusiast, I love understanding the workings of the machinery... but obviously it's impossible to look at ride operations without finding discussion of horrible accidents. I appreciate that you have chosen to do the best thing you could; satiate the people who want accident details whilst not fear mongering or clickbaiting or sharing gratuitous gore. Just give those curious onlookers the details of the accident, whilst those of us here for the ride function discussions a space to understand, all whilst being unbias and tasteful. Thank you sincerely for your content.
Thanks so much, glad to see more who understand why I do things the way I do!
This was so devastating to see on the news, because we went to Orlando pretty soon after it happened, and went by the ride on or trip there.
Did you use hangtime thrills video as inspiration, you guys both have fantastic and detailed videos on this incident but his came out a couple months ago I think
Keep it up! You should cover the Star City incident!
When i unfortunately saw the accident footage i was shocked, it happened so fast.
You'd only realize what happened when you heard the kid hit the ground, i hope for that kid that the impact was instant.
I feel sad for the family and friends too sinds they were with him when this happened, i hope they can find closure in this and that someone will be punished
I personally think that the barring of Slingshot Group from operating was appropriate as this was not their first accident in similar circumstances.
How many accidents does a theme park need before major policy changes are made? Cuz I think we're at: this park should be closed until major changes take place. 1 is too many. 3 for basically the same reason? Nope. Please revoke their license. Like. If safety is not your number one priority what are you even doing in the theme park industry? Accidents are not fun.
Sorry for the rant😅
Not gonna lie, stricter inspection laws sound great. Not so sure about not releasing the accident report right away is going to help that much. Florida probably should add a 'theme park ride operators need to be trained by external trainers' to the proposed laws.
The person who messed with the magnetic mechanism of the ride needs to be criminally charged and be in jail!
I'm glad to hear there was a full investigation, because that tower was dismantled and disappeared fast.
The one who adjusted the sensor should’ve 100% been brought up ok manslaughter charges.
That kid operator murdered that poor precious angel,it makes my blood boil, sadly a friend was there that night and I heard that angel hit the ground. That kid operator needs serious consequences for murdering that precious baby. RIP TYRE,I know you are walking by your parents side everyday and I'm beyond words so sorry that you were shown such ugly ugly actions and no humanity.
I have been here before and I’m so thankful the ride was closed when I was here.
Note to self: Don't go on any Slingshot Group ride.
I think the ride should've had seat belts to prevent these kinds of accidents.
Because if the ride was operated normally, there would be no need for a seatbelt. There wouldn't need to be a "backup" restraint if the original restraint had not been modified and if the ride operators did their jobs.
@@triple7marc I disagree. The more redundancy you have in a system like this, the better. A belt which connects the restraints an the bottom part would be cheap yet it would've saved this guy's life. Even if it was operator error, it does not matter, a more redundant system could and would correct these kinds of errors.
ive been waiting for this one i’m ngl
this is actually crazy, it sucks that this happens.
If a ride is by Gerschlauer and doesn't have a secondary seatbelt or a clip between the legs, it's probably better to avoid riding it. I certainly wouldn't want to bet my life on the ride not ejecting me. Even if it should be safe, there is always the risk of tampering. A simple buckle between the legs would keep it from separating like that.
Im definitely not educated in this stuff but i feel like over the shoulder restraints should have a crotch belt or lapbelt. Im not sure if it would have fully prevented this (asides from the tampering with the mag lock which unfortunately also looked adjustable by the manuf) but personally I've had an over the shoulder harness release after the first drop of an inverted b&m and it was caught by the crotch belt. Im honestly still having trouble believing myself because i love b&m so much But like i swear it released. Not sure if it would have lifted all the way without crotch belt or just half way but I'm still quite stunned by it. While a different situation i feel like at the very least a crotch belt could have helped to prevent the harness from raising to a height that would allow the rider to fall out
Ur restraint could have been in between clicks which would allow it to slide up a bit but not fully unlock. The way B&M restraints work at least on floor less and they seem the same on inverts is they all lock and unlock together. The only way for ur seat to release would be if the entire row failed.
Source: worked on a B&m floorless ride for 2 years and was a mechanic on one
@Twistashio thank you for your explanation that makes a lot more sense and makes me feel better. It probably just feels like a lot more of a gap than it actually was due to the force and adrenaline lol
Also I originally started going to school for mech engineering bc I wanted to work for a roller coaster manuf (preferably b&m even tho I knew it was unlikely) ended up switching to comp science and worked for a industrial robotics company for 2 years after graduation but i wish I could be more in the Rollercoaster industry lol now I'm in the energy industry more or less
@@madisonhurd1595 ha lol no problem I am also a comp sci major, just have been lucky enough to work with rides for the past 4 years and make connections with people that help me learn things. Obviously it’s no mechE degree but it’s definitely a convo starter when I tell people that I worked on coasters lol
Why is the Slingshot Group still permitted to operate rides??? It is blatantly obvious by their record of accidents that guest safety is not a priority and because of that a young man paid the ultimate price. If the modifications were not made to the safety device and there was sufficient operator training this would not have taken place. This company needs to be shut down and for good.
Devastating
Tibidabo in Spain wants a Funtime tower for 2024 which is leading me to believe it might be this one. Though I find Intamin and S&S to be more reliable as they cannot be adjusted manually.
It’s terrible that the ride ops let this happen. Ive always wanted to go to icon park.. but since this incident I’ve completely changed my views on the park and hope to never go.
Damn, why would they adjust the safety mechanism just to accommodate people in an unsafe condition. That is insane.
I can see them not understanding the consequences of such an action.
wasnt this all captured on video too??
Unfortunately yes
I think it is a good idea to have a day of rememberance for victims of theme park accidents both dead and alive every year, where all theme park rides are closed (but the parks are open) and people can just remember the people in peace without rides running and also bands playing sad songs in memory of the people and people can eat + make things the person loved or loves. I got this idea from the Cedar Point incident and Dia los Muertos
There is a mobile Version of that tower operating in germany. Funtimes has changed the complete seat system on that tower
I had no idea the negligence was this bad, thought it was just a normal restrain’t didn’t go down far enough issue that is typical in roller coaster fall accidents
Amazing how the state of Florida ruled that the owner of the ride had to give the state of Florida money instead of the family of the victim. Unreal.
What I want to know, is why the sensor is even allowed to be adjusted at all? Why give it that ability? It should just have a set position to the safest position, and not move or be allowed to move without a trip in the safety system.