DEATH ON FREEFALL AT ICON PARK

[BrianL]

Man, that is heartbreaking! He knew something wasn't right - he had all that time to think about it. I can't imagine how something like that could happen, but then again I think about an incident I experineced once that makes me wonder.

Once at a local fair, some friends and I were going on a ride - not like this one, but like a big pole that swings way out with spinning cars on the end (the pole didn't go all the way around, but the cars might be inverted). Anyway, a couple of my firends are pretty big dudes and the ride operator was really trying to make it work for them. He was pounding on the harness and saying "squish-squish" in an actually hillarious manner - but he couldn't get the restraint to lock. This restraint buckled in to the bottom to a part that stuck up between the riders legs. Anyway, they couldn't get it to close and my friends couldn't ride (and I used it as an excuse to get off too - I wasn't crazy about that thing!). I can't help but think that a harness design like that would have saved this kid's life, because it would have either offered full top to bottom support or wouldn't have been closed at all and thus not able begin the ride cycle. I also wonder what might have happened had my friends been allowed to ride, because even closed they may have been above a weight limit and a few years later a ride of the same make did have a seat become detached during operation! I really am glad that I didn't ride it!

 

[jade1]

That's a weird design if it leaves "room" to fall out. I guess I'm used to a harness over my head that they come by and push down so tight I cant breath. However those usually don't have the extra "click" in connection that I can think of anyway.

Does this ride have that extra click belt similar to Hulk at IOA?

 

[Helvetica]

That's a weird design if it leaves "room" to fall out. I guess I'm used to a harness over my head that they come by and push down so tight I cant breath. However those usually don't have the extra "click" in connection that I can think of anyway.

Does this ride have that extra click belt similar to Hulk at IOA?

View attachment 658428

No. There are no secondary restraints on this ride. It’s just the overhead restraint.

 

[DLgal]

That's a weird design if it leaves "room" to fall out. I guess I'm used to a harness over my head that they come by and push down so tight I cant breath. However those usually don't have the extra "click" in connection that I can think of anyway.

Does this ride have that extra click belt similar to Hulk at IOA?

View attachment 658428

No, this ride did not have a belt at all. The harness should be vertical over the shoulders. Photos/video of the victim before the ride began ascending show the harness sitting at an angle somewhere around 45 degrees. There was quite a large gap between the bottom of the harness and the seat. The harness was basically resting on the boy's stomach area.

Here are photos of the seats.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1507330056598822912

 

[DLgal]

What is also crazy is that there were almost 2 deaths here. The boy fell just a couple feet from where a ride attendant had been standing, inside the gate. When I saw that, I was like yikes, why do they allow an attendant to stay inside the gate during the ride? I mean, a shoe can fall off or something and kill a person from that height. That attendant got very lucky.

 

[starlite_]

Who approved those seats??!? The harness looks so unsafe. This was honestly a tragedy waiting to happen, that ride should be dismantled.

 

[bambialways4ever]

No. There are no secondary restraints on this ride. It’s just the overhead restraint.

That's insane. I've had secondary restraints on fair rides like the froggy hop up and down for little kids. How could they think this was a good idea?

 

[bambialways4ever]

No, this ride did not have a belt at all. The harness should be vertical over the shoulders. Photos/video of the victim before the ride began ascending show the harness sitting at an angle somewhere around 45 degrees. There was quite a large gap between the bottom of the harness and the seat. The harness was basically resting on the boy's stomach area.

Here are photos of the seats.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1507330056598822912

Nothing about this looks safe. What.

 

[New Mouse]

Agreed with the rest. The ride manufacturer and the operators are both at fault here. Taking the cheap way out and not having a secondary restraint cost this child his life.

As for the ride operators, this is what happens when you pay so little and ask your workers to make judgment calls on safety.

 

[BrianL]

Agreed with the rest. The ride manufacturer and the operators are both at fault here. Taking the cheap way out and not having a secondary restraint cost this child his life.

As for the ride operators, this is what happens when you pay so little and ask your workers to make judgment calls on safety.

What about state inspectors too? Aren't these things subject to lots of reviews - how did this ever get the green light? One thing that I hadn't realized is that this ride is very new - it only began operation in December 2021!

 

[DLgal]

Agreed with the rest. The ride manufacturer and the operators are both at fault here. Taking the cheap way out and not having a secondary restraint cost this child his life.

As for the ride operators, this is what happens when you pay so little and ask your workers to make judgment calls on safety.

The employee working whose job it was to make sure everyone was safely seated and locked in had only been working that ride since Feb 21. At the end of the video, a girl is asking him "did you check him? was he locked in?" And the young man kept repeating back "I checked him, the light was on, the light was on." It sounds very much like this kid (and the rest of the employees working this ride) put ALL their faith on the lights, completely disregarding a visual assessment of how well riders fit into the seat/harness. A cursory glance would tell most people that kid was NOT fully secure in that seat. It's going to be a question of how thoroughly these employees were trained, and whether they had actually even read/been tested on the operator's manual for the ride. I am willing to bet they were not fully trained and had too much faith that "light on"="good to go"

There will also be an investigation into the safety certificate issued by the state in late 2021. This harness should have been flagged as problematic and it wasn't. Whether this will ultimately be the fault of the manufacturer or the park operator or the safety inspector will be interesting to see unfold.

 

[DLgal]

What about state inspectors too? Aren't these htings subject to lots of reviews - how did this ever get the green light? One thing that I hadn't realized is that this ride is very new - it only began operation in December 2021!

It passed inspection and opened the same day, Dec 21, 2021.

The same entity that issued the pass certificate is the one doing the investigation. You can bet they will find some way to absolve themselves from liability.

 

[soniam]

I feel kind of bad for the employees. I suspect there is some blame to lay there, but those people are probably not paid enough to have people's lives in their hands. I also just feel bad for everyone involved. It's definitely like "Yakov Smirnoff opening for the Spin Doctors at the Iowa State Fair" kind of show

 

[DLgal]

I feel kind of bad for the employees. I suspect there is some blame to lay there, but those people are probably not paid enough to have people's lives in their hands. I also just feel bad for everyone involved. It's definitely like "Yakov Smirnoff opening for the Spin Doctors at the Iowa State Fair" kind of show

I agree. The employee was just a teen, by the looks of it. This is maybe his first part time job. He has to live with this for the rest of his life, even if it's not officially found to be his fault. And knowing how much stress teens and young adults are under these days, I really hope there is someone looking out for this young man and getting him counseling if needed.

 

[starlite_]

I agree. The employee was just a teen, by the looks of it. This is maybe his first part time job. He has to live with this for the rest of his life, even if it's not officially found to be his fault. And knowing how much stress teens and young adults are under these days, I really hope there is someone looking out for this young man and getting him counseling if needed.

My thoughts as well, and honestly, if their training consisted of "if the light is on it's good to go" then I can't fault him, he trusted the machine to do it's job, why wouldn't he? This is 100% on the manufacturer and the inspectors imo.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

I feel like this when I rode manta at seaworld, no longer will I ride that.

14 is really the start of your life…this poor kid.

 

[MiraclesTakeTime]

This is horrifying and devastating. I also dislike those ride restraints that have my entire body weight potentially leaning against them at any point (like Manta at SeaWorld), especially if there is not a redundant backup. A seatbelt that comes up between the legs and clips into the bottom of the should harness likely would have prevented this tragedy, or an additional seatbelt across the waist.

That poor baby. I can't imagine the terror of his last moments. He was definitely failed by the staff. If they light wasn't green, they shouldn't have let him ride. It also seems like a faulty design for that type of ride. I'm thinking of something like Soarin' which doesn't drop like that, but has the strap between the legs. There should have been something that prevented slipping out from under as well as the over the head harness.

 

[fatmanatee]

That poor baby. I can't imagine the terror of his last moments. He was definitely failed by the staff. If they light wasn't green, they shouldn't have let him ride. It also seems like a faulty design for that type of ride. I'm thinking of something like Soarin' which doesn't drop like that, but has the strap between the legs. There should have been something that prevented slipping out from under as well as the over the head harness.

Part of the problem was that the light *was* green. It was a failure on several levels: the kid was well above the weight limit for the ride, it was clear that he didn't fit in the restraints properly, but the restraint system signaled that he was locked in.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

That poor baby. I can't imagine the terror of his last moments. He was definitely failed by the staff. If they light wasn't green, they shouldn't have let him ride. It also seems like a faulty design for that type of ride. I'm thinking of something like Soarin' which doesn't drop like that, but has the strap between the legs. There should have been something that prevented slipping out from under as well as the over the head harness.

The light was green, the ride would not have gone if it wasn't. It might be a poor design but in testing and such it was found safe for the height and weight it was tested and approved for .

 

[MiraclesTakeTime]

Part of the problem was that the light *was* green. It was a failure on several levels: the kid was well above the weight limit for the ride, it was clear that he didn't fit in the restraints properly, but the restraint system signaled that he was locked in.

I see. I thought another post said that his was the only one that wasn't. I know it would be hard for them to tell his exact weight if they don't use a scale, but there is usually a height scale. Horrible tragedy.