Tyre Sampson: Family Sues FL Amusement Park Ride In Teen's Death

ORLANDO, FL — The family of a 14-year-old boy who died when he fell from an amusement park ride in Orlando last month filed a wrongful death lawsuit Monday against the park, the ride operator and the manufacturer.

Yarnell Sampson and Nekia Dodd claim the defendants were negligent when they did not provide a proper restraint system for the ride and failed to warn their son, Tyre Sampson, of any height or weight restrictions.

Tyre Sampson, a 6-foot-2, 380-pound middle school student and football player, died on March 24 when he was thrown from the Orlando Free Fall ride at ICON Park. Sampson fell at least 100 feet, according to the lawsuit.

The 65-page complaint lists ICON Park and Orlando Eagle Drop Slingshot, which owns the ride, as well as Funtime Handels GMBH and Gerstlauer Amusement Rides GMBH, which manufactured the ride, as defendants.

The Orlando Free Fall is a 430-foot drop tower ride that reaches speeds of 75 mph. While most drop tower rides use seatbelts and over-the-shoulder harnesses to secure riders, Orlando Free Fall only used the over-the-shoulder harnesses. The cost to install seatbelts would have been $22 per seat for a total of $660, according to the lawsuit.

Investigators found that sensors used to activate safety lights on Sampson's seat were manually adjusted to allow for a wider opening of the harness, according to a Florida Department of Agriculture report last week. The adjustment allowed the opening on Sampson's harness to reach 7.1 inches, more than double the average of 3.3 inches. When the ride rapidly slowed down, the opening could have reached as big as 10 inches, according to investigators. Without the safety lights activated, the ride would not have started.

The cause of the accident was Sampson was "not properly secured in the seat primarily due to mis-adjustment of the harness proximity sensors," according to the preliminary report. The ride did not experience electrical or mechanical failure, but the report said there were other potential contributors and that a full review was necessary.

The lawsuit claims there were no signs posted about weight or height restrictions at the ride, and nobody at the park warned Sampson about any ride restrictions for people his size.

The plaintiffs are seeking damages covering loss of earnings, medical and funeral expenses, the prospective net accumulations of Sampson's estate and the mental pain and suffering from losing their son.

An attorney for Orlando Eagle Drop Slingshot said the company was continuing to cooperate with state investigators to determine what happened.

"We reiterate that all protocols, procedures and safety measures provided by the manufacturer of the ride were followed," attorney Trevor Arnold told the Associated Press.

Sampson, who was from St. Louis, was an honor student, according to the lawsuit, and was in Orlando on a spring break trip.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.