Theme park worker falls to death from world's tallest swing ride
A 21-year-old theme park worker who fell almost 200 feet from the StarFlyer swing ride in Orlando, Florida, has died.
Jacob David Kaminsky was conducting a routine safety check on Monday morning when he fell from halfway up the 450-foot-tall ride, advertised as the world’s tallest.
According to local media reports, the ICON Park worker was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Centre shortly after 7.40am, where he was pronounced dead.
Orange County officials named the victim on Monday afternoon, following notification of his next of kin.
“It’s a shock. we’re saddened by it. Any time there is an injury or something of this nature, it’s extremely sad,” said John Stine, ICON’s director of sales and marketing, to Fox 35.
He added: “But we're holding up and supporting each other".
The ride is now closed whilst authorities investigate the incident, said ICON Park officials.
Ashley Gipson, a spokesperson for Orange County Fire Rescue, was reported to have said that "there are some discrepancies in how far the fall was”.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Orange County Sheriff's Office are conducting the investigation.
The StarFlyer ride opened at the Orlando theme park in 2018, where it is billed as ”sky high safety” combined with “450-feet thrills”.
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