Operator “mis-adjustments” on an Orlando, Florida, amusement park ride was a contributing factor when a teen slid out of his seat and fell to his death last month, officials said Monday.

Tyre Sampson, 14, of Missouri, was killed on March 24 after plunging from the Free Fall attraction at ICON Park, officials said.

Nikki Fried, commissioner of the state’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, said Monday that a forensic engineering firm determined the ride’s operator “made manual adjustments to the ride resulting in it being unsafe.”

“Manual adjustments had been made to the sensor for the seat in question that allowed the harness-to-restraint opening to be almost double that of the normal restraint-opening range,” Fried said at a press conference.

“These mis-adjustments allowed the safety lights to illuminate improperly, satisfying the ride’s electronic safety mechanism that allowed the ride to operate even though Mr. Sampson was never properly secured in the seat.”

Determining if operator error was a factor is only the initial stage of the investigation, Fried said, noting there are many other factors that may have potentially contributed. The investigation remains ongoing, she said.

A representative with Orlando Eagle Drop Slingshot LLC, which owns the Free Fall, was not immediately reached for comment.

Officials called the Free Fall ride an “immediate serious danger to public health” in an order released to the public earlier this month.

The order formally closed the ride on March 25, the day after the teen fell to his death from the drop tower-style ride in front of horrified onlookers.

When it opened, the Free Fall’s nearly 400-foot drop was billed as the highest in the world. The ride was inspected for the first time on Dec. 20. No deficiencies were found and the ride passed its inspection, officials said.

Photos and video posted online apparently show that Tyre — who was over 6½ feet tall — was not fully buckled into the ride, with a safety harness sitting far above those of the other riders.

In video of the incident obtained by NBC News, a voice is heard asking: “Why doesn’t this have the little clicky click to it, like the seat belt?”

As the ride lifts off, a voice from the ground is heard shouting: “Hey, did you check your seat belt on the left side? Seat belt! Seat belt!”

Tyre was visiting Florida for spring break with his football team. He was a straight-A student who “had a bright future ahead” and was never in trouble, his uncle Carl Sampson said.

Michael Haggard, one of Sampson family’s attorneys, told NBC affiliate WESH of Olrando, that he is focused on the apparent absence of a legally required declaration of the ride’s maximum rider weight.

Tyre is reported to have weighed around 300 pounds. The ride’s maximum rider weight is around 285 pounds.

WESH reported that no maximum rider weight limit is displayed anywhere on Free Fall’s signs — only a maximum height.

State Rep. Geraldine Thompson, who spoke at Monday’s media briefing, said it’s critical to determine when the adjustments were made and who authorized them. She said officials need to consider safeguards, such as it additional inspections if adjustments to rides are made after the initial inspection.

She also said it’s her understanding that two seats were adjusted to accommodate heavier riders.

“Which should not have happened, based on the manufacturer’s guidelines,” Thompson said.

“My understanding is that adjustments were made to seat one and seat two, therefore, if you have a larger person, they were assigned to seat one and seat two.”

Thompson added that it’s also critical to wait and see what evidence is presented by the ride’s operators and its manufacturer.

There is no direct federal or state oversight of what thrill-ride manufacturers put in their manuals dictating safety measures, Florida officials have said.