ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – A 14-year-old Missouri boy who fell to his death from a 430-foot (130-meter) drop-tower ride in central Florida’s tourist district appeared to slip out of his seat at the halfway mark of its plunge to the ground, according to a law enforcement report released Tuesday.
The father of a friend of Tyre Sampson who witnessed the March 24 accident told deputies that the teen appeared to fall out of his seat when plunging passengers on the Free Fall ride passed a yellow reflective tape halfway down the tower. The ride reaches speeds of 75 mph (120 kilometers), according to an Orange County Sheriff’s Office incident report released through a public records request.
When the teen hit the ground, he appeared to be breathing but was unresponsive, Leon Howard told deputies.
Howard’s son, also named Leon Howard, was friends with Sampson from a travel football team and was also on the ride at the time of the accident. Sampson, who was 6 feet, 2 inches tall (1.9 meters) and weighed more than 300 pounds (136 kilograms), had traveled to Orlando with his friend’s family for vacation.
The younger Leon Howard told deputies that at the top of the ride, which is taller than the Statue of Liberty, he became nervous and closed his eyes until the ride stopped.