Orlando Freefall ride to be torn down after teen’s fatal fall

Orlando Freefall, the tallest drop tower ride in the world, will be torn down after a Missouri teen slipped from his seat and plummeted to his death.

Tyre Sampson, an eighth grader and budding football player, died on March 24 following a fatal fall from the drop tower in ICON Park, located in Orlando’s tourism district. The attraction — which carries riders to the top, tilts the seats forward 30 degrees toward the ground, and then free-falls at up to 75 mph — was about halfway through when the teen hurtled to his death.

Orlando Slingshot, which operates the 400-foot Freefall ride, announced on Thursday that the ride would be shut down for good in wake of the deadly incident.

“We are devastated by Tyre’s death. We have listened to the wishes of Tyre’s family and the community, and have made the decision to take down the FreeFall,” Ritchie Armstrong of Orlando Slingshot said in a statement. “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.”

Orlando Free Fall ride at ICON Park in Orlando, Florida. (Willie J. Allen Jr./)

Sampson’s family has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit, accusing several defendants of negligence, including ICON Park and Orlando SlingShot.

In April, Quest Engineering & Failure Analysis Inc., a forensic engineering firm hired by state officials to investigate the incident, found sensors on the ride had been adjusted manually to double the size of the opening for restraints on two seats. The move allowed workers to buckle Sampson in, but it caused a greater gap than usual between the harness and the seat, which allowed to the teen to slip free while the ride was in free-fall.

According to an autopsy report, Sampson suffered extensive injuries, including a fractured jaw, a broken arm, a broken leg and fractures to a number of ribs, before he died of blunt force trauma. It also confirmed the teen weighed 383 pounds when he fell from the ride, which is nearly 100 pounds heavier than its weight limit of 287 pounds.