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An amusement park ride safety expert says that the teenager who passed away after falling off of the Orlando FreeFall did not have his harness placed in the correct position, which opened the door for the tragic incident to happen.
Tyre Sampson, 14, died after falling off of the Orlando FreeFall at ICON Park on March 24.
Brian Avery, a University of Florida lecturer and ride safety expert, told Fox News Digital that Sampson’s harness was not on him correctly.
“In my opinion, it was not on correctly… it was resting on his stomach is what it appears in the videos that I’ve reviewed, and that it was not touching or close to the seat pan and/or in-between his crotch, which should have been the proper positioning of that to ensure that there was no gap between the base of the harness and/or the seat pan itself,” Avery said.
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(FOX 35)
An accident report filled out by an employee states that the seat harness was in a locked position after Tyre fell out.
“FreeFall was coming to [sic] down the tower. When the magnets engaged, the patron came out of the seat,” an employee wrote in the report. “Harness was still in a down and locked position when the ride stopped.”
He said that the larger the gap between the base of the harness and the seat pan, the bigger the risk.
“If you have a gap, obviously the larger the gap, the more of an opportunity you have for someone to be ejected in a space that is created between the harness and the seat pan,” Avery said.
Avery also said that Sampson should have not been allowed on the ride due to the fact that his weight was well over the ride’s maximum weight limit.
FLORIDA FREEFALL TEEN DEATH: SEAT HARNESS STILL LOCKED AFTER HORRIFYING ACCIDENT AT ORLANDO PARK
Tyre Sampson (FOX 35 Orlando)
An operating…
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Source : foxnews
