In August of 1999, Joshua Smurphat, his mother and his friends went to the Paramount Great America amusement park in Santa Clara California, for a day of excitement and thrills. Unfortunately, Joshua would never return home. Whilst riding his favourite ride, the Drop Zone Stunt Tower, disaster struck as he was ejected and sent plummeting to the ground. This is the infamous story of the Drop Zone Stunt Tower Disaster. The incident rose to infamous status after the death of Tyre Sampson.
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Source:
https://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/news/archives/november99/stories/110599_01.shtml
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Mother-Sues-Over-Son-s-Death-on-Park-Ride-She-2804733.php
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Thrill-Ride-Harness-Opened-In-Fatal-Fall-2912450.php
http://jangoodwin.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/fatalattractions.pdf
https://themeparkreview.com/forum/topic/34583-most-notable-accident/page/3/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK-
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I never did like these drop zone type rides. And it’s easier to see now why that is – too many accidents or near-accidents have occurred on them. Roller coaster rides are way more preferable. 👍
I hope the family sues the fuck out of this channel for that awful thumbnail. The lack of shame and sensitivity makes me want to end myself
I’ve been to this park countless times and I’ve never rode the ride… (pretty sure they changed they name, I moved this summer so I haven’t visited it in a couple months) It’s still there and this video makes me want to ride it less
Someone needs to burn that place to the ground. This is why six flags kicks that parks ass
What makes me sad and angry at the same time is that his incident was forgotten but when an incident happened again with another one they started to care.. but not really.. the investigators are bad at their job and couldn't identify the cause of joshua's death stating that there is no error in the machine was found (maybe so their machine doesn't get closed…)
And till to this day the machine is still in operation.. whoever is responsible for that death he won't get away with this eventually, rip joshua
Reminds me of the video of a rollercoaster where a support beam for the track is completely cracked through and moving when the cars roll by.
Darwin award
On this similar Drop Zone Tower. My harness came loose and I had to hold it down with all my might. Scariest moment that could’ve ended similar
I am a mentally disabled person (I am autistic) that loves adrenaline activities, so it is especially heartbreaking to hear about something like this happening to a fellow adrenaline junkie with a disability.
r i p joshua 🙏
😮
I'm so devastated for his family. I can't imagine how they would go on other than believing one day in heaven they'd see him again. I'm crying just thinking how terrified he must have been those last seconds. 😢
He just look like a similar as Caleb Schwab with the picture holding a baseball bat
I would never be the same again…RIP Joshua
as someone from the UK I can't really call a 16-year old a kid .as the age of majority to leave home is 16 over here . the workers were just untrained young adults
What was the error message that showed up? It was enough to force shutdown of the ride for the rest of the day but AFTER one more ride? Is there a source for this information? I find it hard to believe an error message would show up that requires the ride be shut down for the rest of the day but "it's already loaded so we'll shut it down after this one"….did that really happen?!?!
They should check all safety aspect before the ride begins,this is so sad no way should a 14 year old kid have such a responsable job, just shocking.
Shocking and sad.
oh dear god that is a horrible way to go out
I have rode this ride many times for it is one of my favorite rides at great america. I am just hearing about this story now and it is chilling to think that this happened at a place I loved going. RIP to Joshua
How it wasnt based on operator error baffles me. He wouldn't have fallen if he was locked in properly….. gimmie a break. I hate these big business lawyers. And it's sick to think people are still riding the ride where someone fell to their death. Unbelievable
That's why I stick to mini roller coasters, no loops or very high drops. Love the bumper cars.
That's such an unfotunate photo
Ah yes WE KILLED YOUR KID But you'll have no compensation from us despite the fact we were definitely in the wrong 🤣
The fat kid needed some exercise to be strong and hold on
… lol
No attention was brought to this case because he was a white kid. Tyree Sampson's case, instead, was about a black fella, so media rushed to cover it. Twisted world we live in, where whatever happens to you is not important if you're not a "minority"
4:08 why not what he actually said instead of paraphrasing? Bell end
So the ride gave an error message, the operator was underage, and let the ride go for one last time instead of taking the error as immediate, and now a kid died on his favorite ride.
Joshua looks like an old woman
I still remember vividly when this happened. I was a small boy who was terrified of rides but forced myself to go on all the rides that I was able to reach the height requirements. My brother and cousins did drop zone many times over the summers in the late 90's and early 00's with our season passes. The year Joshua passed I was terrified of drop zone especially because kids starting rumor's that Joshua had flown out of the park and into the the parking lot. So for many years I avoided the ride until about 04-05 that I finally gathered the guts to ride it. I am in my early 30's now and recently started taking my European wife to great America since she never did theme parks as a child. She absolutely loves Great America and always wants to go when we have the chance, I still to this day think about Joshua when I enter the park and come to drop zone. RIP you are a reminder that our lives are fragile and anything can happen but to also not let fears stop you from living your best life.
Unfortunately, being fat is dangerous in that situation.. under g forces fat is very maluable and will slide itself under the harness bar and then theres slack between the bar and the persons body when the fat is pushed down by g forces.. in car racing it happenes too thats why we have a "anti submarine"belt in between our legs so we dont "submarine" under the seatbelt.. ive seen this in a parachute accident too.. the old lady was strapped in properly but when parachute opened the g forces made her fat slide right through the harness and she fell out.. very sad circumstances.. dont understand how the hell there was no seat belts betwwen the legs on that ride. Its jus common sense. And to think that ride creators have 0 common sense is very scary!!!