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[sdcfan88]

Teenager Dies falling off drop tower ride at ICON Park in Florida.
Hate to say it but this sounds like a classic negligence case, especially reading the staffs nonchalant body language in the video while the people around them are freaking out and wanting off.

**VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED**

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQvUvA-DAsU

[flutas]

That was truly awful to watch.

Reading up about it, I actually wonder if it's going to be a ride ops error or something mechanical breaking on the ride, since it's only been open ~3 months.

Both attractions, which opened in December 2021

https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/orlando-drop-tower-ride-death

[mg]

Dollywood has temporarily closed Drop Line since it was made by the same manufacturer.

[HumphreyHawk]

IMO....based off of varies sources and my common sense.  2 major lessons learned.

1.  The kid was too large for the ride.  Ops should've never let him go.  I haven't seen from any sources if the ride was 'green' to go our not but it's obvious that the OTSRs where only down maybe 75% of the way.  I don't understand why they wouldn't have belts on the OTSRs for the primary purpose to ensure the restrants close far enough to ensure the rider isn't too big....and to be a backup barrier and hold down if OTSR failed.  And why the ride itself didn't trigger the issue.
2.  The engineering was flawed.  Ride was only 3 months old and reading about it make ya start to get the same type of creepy vibes that happened with the water slide in KC.  It was a record breaking ride that hadn't been done before (i know dollywood has a similar but different version).  The restraints where basically bought off the shelf and not specifically designed for the forces of this ride.  This drop includes a 30% tilt at the top....then a 'release' to go back vertical at the end of the drop as it hits the brakes.  Without any belt constraints and that OTSR is not properly holding the rider body back into the seat....I think this accident was only a matter of time with that 30% tilt and sudden stop.  Poor kid was probably hanging on to those restraints for dear life as soon as the tilt happened and with so much gap between the seat and OTSR he slip through as the brakes hit and seat untilted.  If you ever rode Falcons Fury at Busch Gardens you can see the huge difference in the design and safely of the rides.

Its a grim reminder to really evaluate rides yourself to make sure you feel comfortable with them.  I really appreciate some of the most well know ride manufactures who basically flawless safety records with this (BM, SS, Intimin)  BM has thousands of rides a day on some of the crazies rides with no issues ever.  Beware of the less established ones.

[cowboy]

My brother in law is a big chested guy and we rode the "time warp" at Frontier City (back when that ride was at the park). It had over the shoulder restraints and a seat belt, but the seat belt wasn't long enough to fasten to the OTS restraint. The attendant (older gentleman, not a kid) told my brother in law that it was okay, don't worry about the seat belt, he wasn't going to fall out....which he didn't, thank God. But I could see a lot of the attendants not knowing there could be a danger.

The New Texas Giant had a similar issue where the ride restraint said it was closed, but because of the size of the rider, the restraint didn't keep them in the ride (seat belts were then added to all the RMC coasters).

Jay