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"John Stine, a spokesman for the Slingshot Group, which owns the ride, said the ride — which opened about three months ago — is designed to only operate if riders are locked in.
"It's very difficult to say" what could have gone wrong, he told CBS News. "The way the ride is designed, with all the safety features and redundancy, there shouldn't be an issue."
I thought that's how it usually was anyway; they have lights that go off when the harnesses or belts click in, and then when everyone is in - the ride can start. I don't think they ever should JUST count on the operators to have everyone in safely. Usually they're just "kids." It's pretty much all automated.
This whole thing makes me just sick. How did the ride even start if one of the passengers wasn't properly harnessed? How did the staff not see that the boy was not safely restrained?
Did anyone check the riders before the ride started?
I know that my questions are the same ones that everyone else is asking but we really do need to understand how this happened.
Link showing he was "morbidly obese"? They should sue the park and they should win. It is all on video proving the ride attendant is 100% at fault. And really? you are going to make fun of a child? Boys and men, skinny or over weight, can have "breast".
6.'5 at 340 pounds yields a BMI of 40.3. 40 and over is classified as morbid obesity.
Under the BMI classification, 340 lbs is classed as being Obese. This Page is Calculated for the Following Height and Weight. Height: 6' 5, 6 foot 5, 6'5", 6
Under the BMI classification, 340 lbs is classed as being Obese. This Page is Calculated for the Following Height and Weight. Height: 6' 5, 6 foot 5, 6'5", 6
Obesity is determined by your body mass index (BMI). This score is calculated by finding your height and weight on the BMI chart. Morbid obesity is defined by a BMI of 40 or greater.
Class III obesity, formerly known as morbid obesity, is a complex chronic disease in which a person has a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or higher or a BMI of 35 or higher and is experiencing obesity-related health conditions.The BMI scale is not always accurate, so healthcare providers may use other tests and tools to assess obesity, such as measuring waist circumference.
Why talk about this kid's weight? Do we even know if there was a weight/height limit on the ride?
This was a 14 year old child. If he was too big to ride he should not have been allowed to ride. And certainly if the harness was not working properly on him then the ride should never have started until or unless he could be safely restrained.
The kid was apparently quite large - he was a football player. Going by a close photo, the shoulder harness didn't go down far enough to buckle into the bottom strap from the seat. When the ride slowed halfway down, the momentum of the kid allowed him to slide right out from under the harness and the seat.
A massive safety failure and a terrible tragedy.
Exactly what I think happened. He was too large for the ride
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcenal813
Yes. I was responding to RadicalThinker.
Anyway, I agree... Looks like there was also gross negligence on the staff's part. All in all, failure by multiple parties... Ride manufacturer, ride operators, and the park itself.
Of course it is most likely the staff's fault for not checking his harness, just like the little girl that was not belted into the Colorado drop ride.
This kid was too big for the ride.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ocnjgirl
I don’t think that would’ve been the case at all. Do parents sue because children are too short to reach the line at the beginning of the entrance to the ride? No. This is not any different. They’re allowed to have restrictions on size. There is supposed to be a sign, just like the sign that says “you must be this tall to ride this ride.” They don’t have to weigh you or tell you you’re too fat to go on, all they have to do is check the harness as they’re putting it on you and saying, “this is not a big/long enough harness for you, you can’t safely go on this ride.” That’s not fat shaming at all. They might have to say the same thing if a basketball team goes there, and they tell a 7 foot tall kid that the harness isn’t long enough for him. There should be parameters that at least the staff are aware of.
I don’t like when thread to take a turn of blaming the victim, because he was too big and should’ve known better. It is the same thing as when the little girl was crushed under the tower drop ride, people on that thread started blaming her parents saying they should’ve known she was too small for the ride, despite the fact that she reached the line and that there were other kids her size who had gone on the ride. It’s up to the park operators to determine the parameters.
She did not die due to getting crushed by the ride, she had no seat belt on, came right out of her seat, fell to her death, then the ride came down on her I believe.
Whoever went on the ride with her, it was her whole family there from what I've read, someone should have belted them herself like most parents do to their own kids when getting on a ride. Had the parent, aunt or whatever older person done that, she may still be here.
The family was pretty local to that place, one huge question I've always had was how many times had she and the people she was with been on the ride? Just because she was 6, does not mean she didn't know to belt up.
My grandson is almost 9, for the last few years, he has a thing with fighting about the car seat belt. He will take it off. I keep explaining to him he needs to keep it on, if I stop short, he will go flying but in his kid brain, he hates the seat belt because it tightens on him.
She had the seat belts (there were 2) laying on her lap to look like they were on. At 6 years old she knows how a seat belt works. My youngest granddaughter just turned 5 the other day, she knows how to do her own seat belt for the last year at least, I'm sure the 6 year old who died also knew.
No I'm not blaming her, she is a kid. She is not mature enough to know her actions had consequences like death, if she even understands what dead means.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ocnjgirl
Maybe because of labor shortages I don’t know, but I don’t think they’re thoroughly training these ride attendants the way they should. There was another thread several months ago I think the one about the little girl who was on a ride similar to Tower of terror who got crushed underneath it and died. And it turned out that the two ride operators were both brand new and were operating the ride unsupervised. An alarm went off to indicate to them that something was wrong, but they didn’t know what to do so they just let the ride go.Each of these brand new ride operators should’ve been split up on different rides and put with someone that was experienced.
I was for the employees having some sort of charges for the little girls death. They did everything they could to stop the alarms from going off in order for the ride to start.
These deaths will continue to happen until employees start having responsibility for their non-actions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Javacoffee
I thought the same thing. Had they denied him a ride, they would open themselves up to a discrimination lawsuit. Society is to blame for lawsuits getting out of control.
But does that mean the ride owner has no responsibility? The kid wasn't clipped in at all. The photos clearly show that.
At 6 '5 and 340 pounds, he should never have been on that ride. Where does personal responsibility come into play? Amusement rides aren't built to take that kind of weight. Should they be?
What a horrible thing to witness. That's nightmare stuff! Young kids go to enjoy themselves, not get set up for 70/80 years of flashbacks.
I wish I could see photos and video, so far looks like they've been removed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jellybean50
I saw the manufacturer speak on camera and say that the ride will not start up if all of the "harnesses" are not completely snapped shut. If that is true then something obviously malfunctioned.
I saw a large/heavy person at a similar ride before trying to get snapped in, and the harness wouldnt close. The attendant told him that if the "light wouldn't go out" he couldn't ride the ride. It did not and the man had to leave. He understood. He had a really large belly and it kept getting pushed upward.
1,000 lb sisters show, their brother Chris couldn't fit on a ride. They switched the "car" he sat in, it closed, he rode it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vabeachgirlNYC
I did not hear that.
I already heard this. But what exactly does "locked in" mean? I'm guessing the seatbelt latch needs to be engaged, which it wasn't. So I have to wonder, did the warning system malfunction? Or did the attendant go ahead and push the start button anyways? Is that why he was yelling "seatbelt on the left? That video was posted in my original OP.
He could have over ridden the alarm if it's like the Colorado ride.
Quote:
Originally Posted by otterhere
The girl asked where the seatbelt was, and the attendant replied that there IS no "seatbelt." There's a brace (it's not really a "harness," as those are adjustable, flexible straps, while this is rigid) that locks into place with a click, and you shouldn't be able to move it. Maybe the girl had ridden a version that had a belt, but this one didn't.
Ice-Major, are you saying a teenage employee COULD have disabled the safety function? How would that be possible, and why would anyone want to do that?
Yes, they could have done something to over ride the alarm like was done when the little 6 year old girl wasn't belted in. Alarms were going off, they reset them twice in that case, the ride went, the girl came out of her seat.
Exactly what I think happened. He was too large for the ride
Of course it is most likely the staff's fault for not checking his harness, just like the little girl that was not belted into the Colorado drop ride.
This kid was too big for the ride.
I wish I could see photos and video, so far looks like they've been removed.
1,000 lb sisters show, their brother Chris couldn't fit on a ride. They switched the "car" he sat in, it closed, he rode it.
I saw that episode with Chris. Yes, at least they found a car with a harness/belt that clipped him in.
This link has the video where they are talking about the "seat belt." I thought they were joking around since there is no seat belt. I have a link to the full video of the fall but i would send it in a message as they would probably delete it off of here. I can send it to you.
Thanks, but I just got a "page doesn't exist" message.
ETA: Just found another video. The sound was horribly disturbing. A scene right out of a final destination movie. That poor kid never had a chance.
The kid was 6'5" maybe why his seatbelt was not latched? Picture shows there are seatbelt latches on this ride. Absolutely disgusting that they started the ride even though the riders told the attendant, who then immediately lied that he had made sure all the belts were latched.
Thanks for the article. It's very clear the harness was not strapped down in the photo shown on the page. The employees should be charged with some sort of negligence at the very least because it was their actions ( lack of actions) that caused this, it did not malfunction as he was coming down.
Those restraints are pretty darned effective. I've had many like it in my day of going to amusement parks. They've been using them for many, many years. You do not need a second belt using the harness.
These days with technology, and how products are manufactured, there should have been alarms going to say his harness was not on, because clearly it was not in the photo. I would think there would be a computer screen that would show exactly which harness was not secured right.
He was a big kid. Should not have been on the ride. Apparently he couldn't ride any others due to his size. Sounded like he was very worried, I'm surprised he did not jump off when it started up.
His father says that Tyre knew something was wrong and was 'freaking out' on the way up the ride
'If I don't make it down tell, please tell my mama and daddy I love them,' Tyre told friend sitting next to him
Just after the tragic incident, a 911 caller claimed that theme park staff didn't properly 'secure the seatbelt'
A woman told a 911 operator that 'they didn't secure the seatbelt on him,' and that he was unresponsive
Images taken just before the ride also appear to show Tyre's harness not properly buckled
Quote:
She also informed the 911 operator that no one was able to perform CPR on Sampson because they were unable to shift him to his back.
'No, no, he's a heavy dude. He's on his stomach,' the woman said.
Tyre's father, Yarnell, said that his son was 6-foot-5 and 340 pounds, and was told by other rides in the park that he was too large to ride safely, but that the Free Fall ride operators waved him aboard.
Sampson had been worried about the harness prior to the ride beginning, his father said, and told his friends sitting next to him to tell his parents that he loved them.
'When the ride took off, that's when he was feeling uncomfortable. He was like 'this thing is moving,' you know what I'm saying. And he was like 'what's going on?' Yarnell told WOFL-TV.
After they were back on the ground, video shows a different park worker run over to the ride attendant and ask: 'You didn't check it!?'
He insisted that he had and she asked again: 'Are you sure?'
I saw that episode with Chris. Yes, at least they found a car with a harness/belt that clipped him in.
This link has the video where they are talking about the "seat belt." I thought they were joking around since there is no seat belt. I have a link to the full video of the fall but i would send it in a message as they would probably delete it off of here. I can send it to you.
(he looks to be harnessed in in this video but i know it would be hard to tell)
I thought it was strange that some how the employee knew there was another seat to try when Chris had issues fitting the harness in that episode. The original was close to latching but wouldn't for those who did not see it. Now I wonder if Chris's may not have been latched all the way but only clicked on one of the safeties.
Thank you so much, especially for the message! It's very clear he was thrown out when the ride stopped.
I also just watched this video, it is clear the harness was down, it also stayed down without the kid holding it. The kid also tried to tug on it to lift it up, it would not move. If that is the case, there is some sort of safety on it that probably snapped when the ride stopped because let's face it, he was a big guy, in height and weight.
Have to say that for the ride company, they're fortunate to have that video, same for his parents. Not so lucky for the employees. The one guy checks the harnesses of the people on the right but stops before checking the kids. I do hope at least one of them get charged for negligence causing death. These employees need to realize this is not a video game, people will get hurt if they do not do their jobs.
I guess my opinion changed after this video since I do see the kid try to push the harness up like he was checking to make sure it was locked in place.
The video below, the man from the sling shot company said the ride will not operate if all of the harnesses are not locked. There had to have been alarms bypassed if that's the case.
He says there are "safety checks in place before launches" it will not operate if those checks are not green lighted which makes me think there is a control panel with lights.
The boy did not fall, he was thrown from his seat but unless people are allowed to watch that full video, they don't realize what actually happened.
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