Death at Icon Park accident

G00fyDad

G00fyDad

Well-Known Member
What ride is this from? What park? I have not heard about this. (No. I do not want to see the video. I've seen enough deaths in my life.)
 
mergatroid

mergatroid

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
G00fyDad said:
What ride is this from? What park? I have not heard about this. (No. I do not want to see the video. I've seen enough deaths in my life.)
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Icon Park as per the title. It's the park on International Drive where the Orlando Wheel along with several other attractions is based. The ride is called 'Free Fall'. If you click on the word 'here' in my original post it will take you to a report which doesn't include the video if that's what you're worried about. The video of the incident is on social media but I would never post that.
 
N

natatomic

Well-Known Member
Looks like either operator or manufacturer error. He was a larger boy, and there is a significant gap between the bottom of the restraint and the seat - obviously large enough for him to slide through (is that called “submarining?”)

Maybe the operator didn’t check the restraint - but I would imagine on a ride THIS new there are surely sensors indicating if a harness isn’t closed properly, and it would probably be impossible to start the ride if his harness wasn’t clicked fully, per the computer’s standards. But that leads me to believe that the restraint WAS clicked “enough” and the manufacturer simply made a grave error in defining was “enough” was.

I don’t think the harness itself FAILED, per se. In the video after the incident, you can see that the harness is still locked in the closed position.

Time will tell, but that’s my guess.

I feel bad for the worker - people are already ready to hang him by his toenails because he was making a joke about “check the seatbelts.” It’s an old, tired joke in the theme park industry for rides that don’t have seatbelts - just a way to (usually) have fun with the riders. I’ve heard it on Everest, I’ve heard it on Tough to Be a Bug, I’ve heard it on the Safaris, just to name a few. Normally, it’s harmless, if not annoying. In this case, I hope it’s not incriminating. I mean, maybe the worker will be found at fault for SOMETHING. But using a common, dumb joke shouldn’t be used against him.

Bet that joke won’t be allowed at any rides in the area from now on, though.
 
G00fyDad

G00fyDad

Well-Known Member
mergatroid said:
Icon Park as per the title. It's the park on International Drive where the Orlando Wheel along with several other attractions is based. The ride is called 'Free Fall'. If you click on the word 'here' in my original post it will take you to a report which doesn't include the video if that's what you're worried about. The video of the incident is on social media but I would never post that.
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I honestly didn't get that. I never knew this place existed.
 
mergatroid

mergatroid

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
G00fyDad said:
I didn't even know that place existed. 🤷‍♂️
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No problem. If you've seen the big wheel then that's where it is. You can see it from lot's of places including the monorail heading to the MK after it passes through the Contemporary. Very easily seen from the I4 also
 
G00fyDad

G00fyDad

Well-Known Member
mergatroid said:
If you've seen the big wheel then that's where it is. You can see it from lot's of places including the monorail heading to the MK after it passes through the Contemporary.
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I think I might have seen it in passing but I never paid any attention to it. I didn't know it was a park. I thought it was just some roadside attraction for those on their way to Disney. No kidding. :)
 
mergatroid

mergatroid

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
G00fyDad said:
I think I might have seen it in passing but I never paid any attention to it. I didn't know it was a park. I thought it was just some roadside attraction for those on their way to Disney. No kidding. :)
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It's kind of both. It's off International Drive. It's not a park in the sense of Disney, Universal, Sea World or Busch Gardens but there's a few attractions in a small area. Here's a pic to give you an idea of the size.

n13_icon_park_slingshot_drop_tower_rendering
 
Disstevefan1

Disstevefan1

Well-Known Member
This is tragic!
I thought all belts has circuitry that checked to see that all buckles are buckled?
This sounds like either operator error or a malfunction of both.
Whatever caused this it's truly terrible!
 
mergatroid

mergatroid

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Patcheslee said:
It only has an over the shoulder harness, no belt. And it tilts the seats forward 30 degrees before dropping :eek:
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I'm guessing there's independent testing done on any restraint when designed to get a licence to build and operate it, or is this not the case? It's a new attraction so you'd guess that wear and tear wasn't an issue with a bolt slowly wearing away etc? It seems like a real mess and is so very sad.
 
Rich Brownn

Rich Brownn

Well-Known Member
I rode this just a few weeks ago. I felt very secure. However, while the harness had to have "clicked" into place, it obviously needed to be pushed down (heck, Universal stapled me into Velocicoaster. I could barely breathe). I'm just surprised it didn't have redundant systems built in to make sure the seats were checked or seatbelts (like on Dr Doom it is a lock/key system for example)
 
Disstevefan1

Disstevefan1

Well-Known Member
Patcheslee said:
It only has an over the shoulder harness, no belt. And it tilts the seats forward 30 degrees before dropping :eek:
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Belt, harness, whatever, I am guessing whatever it clicks into has circuitry to tell the system it’s properly engaged and if not, the ride should not be allowed to operate.

I would hate to think it’s only human inspection!

In any event, this was a tragic failure of some kind.
 

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