‘FAR FROM DONE’

Deadly Park Ride’s Sensor Was Manually ‘Adjusted’ Before Teen’s Death: Report

Tyre Sampson was killed after his safety harness was secured to allow an opening “almost double that of the normal restraint opening range.”

A forensic investigation into a teenager’s death at an Orlando theme park has found that a “mis-adjustment” of a safety sensor on his seat meant it failed to flag that the boy’s restraints were improperly secured, according to Florida officials. Tyre Sampson, 14, fell out of his seat on the Orlando Free Fall drop tower on March 24, plummeting hundreds of feet. An outside report into his death had its conclusions announced Monday by state agricultural commissioner Nikki Fried. “The report confirmed that manual adjustments had been made to the sensor of the seat in question that allowed the harness of the restrained opening to be almost double that of the normal restraint opening range,” Fried said. Sampson, who was 6 foot 5 inches tall and weighed well over the ride’s limit of 287 pounds, was placed in a seat with a restraint opening of as much as 7.1 inches. The average opening of regular seats, according to the report, was no more than 3.3 inches. As the ride slowed down just prior to freefall, Sampson slipped between the harness and the seat, Fried said. The commissioner explained that the inquest was “far from done,” and the Orlando Free Fall would remain closed “indefinitely.”