A jury in the US state of Florida has awarded $310 million (Rs 2,624 crore) to the family of a teenager who was killed after falling off a Free Fall Tower drop ride at Orlando’s ICON Park in 2022. Tyre Sampson was only 14 years old when he plummeted 70 feet from the ride at the amusement park that he was visiting on a spring break trip with his football team. The kid’s parents, Nekia Dodd and Yarnell Sampson, will each be receiving $155 million (Rs 1,312 crore) from Funtime, the ride’s manufacturer, that has been held responsible for the deadly incident.

“This verdict is a step forward in holding corporations accountable for the safety of their products. The jury’s decision confirms what we have long argued: Tyre’s death was the result of blatant negligence and a failure to prioritize safety over profits,” read a statement by attorneys representing Tyre’s parents.

“The ride’s manufacturers neglected their duty to protect passengers, and today’s outcome ensures they face the consequences of those decisions.”

The trial only lasted a day as Funtime failed to appear in the court to defend itself. The family had already reached an undisclosed settlement with ICON Park. It now faces the challenge of pursuing the $310 million damages from Funtime, which is based in Austria and will need to seek a court order from an Austrian court to collect.

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How did Tyre Sampson fall to death?

The Missouri teen plummeted to his death after slipping out of the seat on the 400 ft-tall ride. The Free Fall ride which placed 30 riders in seats attached to a tower, secured the passengers with a shoulder harness and then dropped them 430 feet. Surprisingly, it did not have seat belts, something which most drop rides have as an additional safety measure.

Mr Sampson also weighed 173 kilograms, which exceeded the ride’s 129-kilogram weight limit but was still allowed to sit on the ride. Due to his size, the harness did not lock properly and he was ejected from the seat when the ride braked at height.

The ride has since been disassembled with Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis greenlighting the Tyre Sampson Act in May 2023 which aims to bolster safety requirements for amusement park attractions. The family has also demanded an industry-wide revamp to implement “stricter safety measures and oversight” to prevent such tragedies from happening again.

Visitors at an amusement park in the US were stuck upside down for about 15 minutes after their ride experienced a malfunction, according to the New York Post. The incident took place at the Arkansas State Fair on Saturday on the X-Drive, a 16-seater attraction that places riders on the other end of the spinning arm and features rotating seats that flip the riders freely. In a statement, North American Midway Entertainment Services VP Scooter Korek said that the “ride’s computer received a fault” because of which it was stuck for about 10-12 minutes. Maintenance staff responded and eventually got the ride to spin, the outlet reported. 

“The ride’s computer received a fault. What it does is when it finds something that it doesn’t like, it shuts it down. So, the ride was in the air, not in its landing position, for about 10-12 minutes,” Mr Korek, per the Post. He also stated that he still trusts the ride’s safety. 

“Let me break it down to you in a nutshell. Any of my family members can go on any of our rides any day. That’s how good I feel about our programs, our safety programs, and the people who work for us to operate and take care of these rides,” he said.

However, a mother, whose two children were stuck upside down on the ride, slammed the organisers. Sharing a video on Facebook, Ally Metzger claimed that her kids, 8 and 11, were raised several feet off the ground when the ride stopped working. “They’re trying to get my kids down, they’ve been stuck upside down for 15 minutes at least,” she wrote as workers attempted to manually spin the ride to help the stranded passengers. 

“There’s a bunch of people trying to get the ride to spin, and they would get it almost halfway down. Then it would go right back up to the very top, with my kids still upside down. So, I’m panicking. My partner’s panicking,” Ms Metzger told a local media outlet. 

Ms Metzger’s 11-year-old separately said that she doesn’t remember much of what happened. “She told me when she came home that she only remembered crying, and then, like, just got dizzy. Her legs were hurting. I guess because the circulation was out,” the mother said.

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Following the incident, Ms Metzger railed against the fair, demanding her money back and calling out one of the employees. “After what was spent to get in this place? RUN ME MY REFUND,” she wrote on Facebook. “Oh and I filled out a cute complaint,” she added. 

The complaint was aimed at one ride attendant who allegedly told the parents to “calm down its only been four and a half minutes and you’re making it worse.” “Shout out to the nice lady at the med tent who made sure my babies were ok and gave us our money back. I remember why I don’t come here,” she added.