Death at Icon Park accident

[natatomic]

I found this picture on the webs - it shows the kid’s profile while seated, and then someone took the picture and tilted it 30 degrees to mimic the seat tilt.
There really is almost nothing holding that poor kid in except the little bump between the legs. This is just awful all around. How the manufacture could ever deem that safe is beyond me.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Wow. I honestly had my reservations about riding this because of the tilt and lack of seatbelt restraints. I'm nowhere near this guy's size, but still.

It's crazy that without the tilt, he would have also probably been fine.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Wow. I honestly had my reservations about riding this because of the tilt and lack of seatbelt restraints. I'm nowhere near this guy's size, but still.

It's crazy that without the tilt, he would have also probably been fine.

I unfortunately saw the video.

He fell out just as the ride breaks / slows down, towards the bottom. The sudden slow down forced him out. Basically at about the 1/4 mark to the bottom is when it happened.

Not sure if the tilt played into this or just the sheer gap between the bump and the harness.

Very very sad.

 

[Minthorne]

It’s a very sad situation- the poor kid, his family, and everyone there. Terrible.

 

[Tom Morrow]

I unfortunately saw the video.

He fell out just as the ride breaks / slows down, towards the bottom. The sudden slow down forced him out. Basically at about the 1/4 mark to the bottom is when it happened.

Not sure if the tilt played into this or just the sheer gap between the bump and the harness.

Very very sad.

Well the tilt literally angled him downward to easily slide out. It’s horrible but I imagine he might have been holding on for dear life from the start of the tilt and the force of the sudden deceleration made him lose his grip.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I found this picture on the webs - it shows the kid’s profile while seated, and then someone took the picture and tilted it 30 degrees to mimic the seat tilt.
There really is almost nothing holding that poor kid in except the little bump between the legs. This is just awful all around. How the manufacture could ever deem that safe is beyond me.

All modern rides have sensors that prevent rides from starting unless all the restraints are closed, if this is considered closed (and not a sensor failure) they really need to re-examine their safety protocols.

The other thing I noticed is the seat barely reached his thighs, he dimensions appear to large for this ride.

 

[natatomic]

All modern rides have sensors that prevent rides from starting unless all the restraints are closed, if this is considered closed (and not a sensor failure) they really need to re-examine their safety protocols.

The other thing I noticed is the seat barely reached his thighs, he dimensions appear to large for this ride.

Even if this is the tragic result of a manufacturing error, one thing that stumps me is this - The ride has been open for 3+ months. Was this kid REALLY the first person his size EVER to ride (or attempt to ride) this particular drop tower in all that time? If there were others before him, how did they survive? Or were they not allowed to ride due to some sort of guidelines/parameters the operators were required to follow…but then how did this guy pass? Lots of questions that will hopefully have answers so this never happens again

 

[Rich Brownn]

There are multiple places where the harness will "click" and register as locked as everyone has a different size. Its why its important for operators to visually check (Most parks will either pull on it, or push it down if it looks too loose). From what I've read it wasn't checked and there was too big a gap - either the harness should have been manually pushed down further of - in unable to - should not have been permitted to ride. Accidents like this are (fortunately ) very rare and are almost always the result of operator error.

 

[Lilofan]

This victim was 6'6 280 according to his uncle

Father was questioning why his 6'6 340 pound 14 year old son was allowed to get on the free fall ride according to interviews with media. The lawyers are perhaps lining up to get in touch with the family.

 

[Matthew]

Father was questioning why his 6'6 340 pound 14 year old son was allowed to get on the free fall ride according to interviews with media. The lawyers are perhaps lining up to get in touch with the family.

I saw that… I expect the lawsuit will be huge. There was an accident at Alton Towers a few years ago in the UK and the park was fined £5m and one of the victims who lost her leg got a multi-million pound payout… this will make that look like pocket change I reckon… but that won’t be any consolation to the poor lads finally… it’s just horrific.

 

[Lilofan]

I saw that… I expect the lawsuit will be huge. There was an accident at Alton Towers a few years ago in the UK and the park was fined £5m and one of the victims who lost her leg got a multi-million pound payout… this will make that look like pocket change I reckon… but that won’t be any consolation to the poor lads finally… it’s just horrific.

If you ever turned on local TV in your hotel room in Central FL, almost every commercial is real life stories of people suing and lawyers advertising their services. Ambulance chasers are plentiful .

 

[FettFan]

Possibly. How much force can a typical theme park seatbelt withstand? I don’t ask to be glib or insulting. I genuinely don’t know what it would take to make a seatbelt unclip mid-ride. But you can tell when the ride brakes, coupled with a person’s size, there seems to be significant force that event the seatbelt may not have been able to handle if someone was on the verge of falling out. But I really have no idea. either way, at least it would have been one more safeguard to protect people from incidents like this. Maybe it would have saved the kid’s life. Maybe it wouldn’t have. The large gap, I’d imagine, is going to be the main culprit here.

I would assume the same force as a typical automobile seatbelt.
Last summer I was in a nasty wreck, blew a tire while doing 75, and sideswiped a concrete barrier before being shot back across the highway and stopping on the left shoulder.

I’m 6’2 and about 270lbs, but the belt held me tight in place.

 

[Lilofan]

I would think part of the safety improvements on this ride would be there would be height/weight constraints. Some of the water parks ( don't recall which one ) has the guests having to step on a weight scale prior to riding certain water rides. Sad for him to lose his life, RIP. One picture has the heavyset teen barely strapped onto the safety harness. Part of a video was ride attendants talking with each other was the boy strapped in, while the boy was lying unresponsive nearby. Orange County Sheriff John Mina has advised that criminal charges may be filed in this matter.

 

[Disney Analyst]

I have to agree with this take. If indeed the ride can’t start unless all harnesses are locked, then the manufacturer seriously screwed up allowing the harness to lock with so much space open.

 

[Tom Morrow]

I read her full synopsis on her page and I have to agree with everything she said.

The harness probably didn't malfunction. The ride operators most likely did as they were trained. Even if they didn't, either way the design of this attraction is possible criminal negligence for either:

1. Allowing the ride to be started without all seats properly secured.
2. Deeming that the harness lowered to that level was safe.

not to mention not having a redundancy backup like a seatbelt.

 

[some other guy]

anybody got more about the local media outlet that got caught being lolmedia and discussing "sack of potatoes" and such? I saw a bit of chatter about it on twitter, maybe it was 9?

but yeah lack of waist restraints and clearly the dude wasn't bolted in right because seriously he's huge even if he was twenty, much less fourteen were big issues
I recall this was made by Soandso Amusement Rides, do they have other rides that might be lacking in their sensors telling if the stuff is really secure?

 

[Lilofan]

anybody got more about the local media outlet that got caught being lolmedia and discussing "sack of potatoes" and such? I saw a bit of chatter about it on twitter, maybe it was 9?

but yeah lack of waist restraints and clearly the dude wasn't bolted in right because seriously he's huge even if he was twenty, much less fourteen were big issues
I recall this was made by Soandso Amusement Rides, do they have other rides that might be lacking in their sensors telling if the stuff is really secure?

Not that but family is reporting that the 14 year old son was denied boarding all rides by ICON park crew that evening except the free fall ride that he was allowed to enter. They have enlisted criminal injury lawyer Benjamin Crump who has taken a number of high profile cases in the last few years. A good question is why was he denied boarding the other rides among some questions.

 

[some other guy]

Not that but family is reporting that the 14 year old son was denied boarding all rides by ICON park crew that evening except the free fall ride that he was allowed to enter. They have enlisted criminal injury lawyer Benjamin Crump who has taken a number of high profile cases in the last few years. A good question is why was he denied boarding the other rides among some questions.

yeah I heard dad is claiming that, but tbh getting Crump on board makes me question a lot of stuff

 

[natatomic]

Not that but family is reporting that the 14 year old son was denied boarding all rides by ICON park crew that evening except the free fall ride that he was allowed to enter. They have enlisted criminal injury lawyer Benjamin Crump who has taken a number of high profile cases in the last few years. A good question is why was he denied boarding the other rides among some questions.

Wait, Crump? This case doesn’t exactly fit with the ones he’s known for. Interesting choice, I guess. But yeah, while I’m generally against our sue-happy culture, this is most definitely a case of wrongful death and probably negligence.

 

[some other guy]

This case doesn’t exactly fit with the ones he’s known for

oh, it's got that one particular fit for Crump
I even feel Andre The Fourteen Year Old might have been done dirty by the ride, but we all know what fits the Crumpus