Roller Coaster Crash at Alton Towers

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

WTF is wrong with the media these days. have we become so conditioned to senseless violence, injury and tragedy that we have to sensationalise this sort of thing?

To date, I don't believe that any major airline model aircraft is completely incident free - even the A380 has had some major mishaps (ok im not sure about dreamliner but give it time) - but people still flock to airports every day...

bloody sickos.

[djmcbell]

I'll be honest, I do agree partially with the "news" report's point of view, but not with it reporting it like it's national news.

We have to accept two things:

1 - people were injured on the Smiler

2 - the Smiler will, at some point, reopen

Now, we all know that Alton Towers takes safety very seriously, like most theme parks. And after the Smiler incident it'll be even safer. I, like I imagine everyone else on this forum, will have no reservations about riding the Smiler once it reopens. I've ridden it before. I've ridden other rides where people have been injured before with nary a thought.

Now, the part I agree with them on - people saying "oh we'll test it". Yeah, that's crass.

As for the rest... well, there have been lots of incidents over the years, some involving fatalities, at parks all over the world (yes, even Disney is not immune). I don't think they've received the same amount of press.

Personally, I think a lot of the hysteria (and it IS hysteria - we know the train was released when it shouldn't have been, and Alton Towers will have put every single restriction imaginable in place to stop that happening again, so everyone wetting their pants at the prospect of a repeat is an idiot) is down to how media is consumed nowadays. Within an hour of the accident, I'd imagine there would be a HUGE Daily Mail story on it, with bystander video, along with lots of other little stories nearby and hordes of hysterical commenters shouting about how all roller coasters are inherently dangerous and should be shut down (again, this coming from the DM, bastions of "ban this sick porn" and "check out our gorgeous models with sizzling curves baring all at the beach").

Smiler will reopen and be safer than it was before, just like Treetop Twister at Lightwater Valley.

What, did everyone forget that one?

[Theme Park Girl]

News that is a week overdue, but I just came across it today and thought I'd share! The Smiler has finally reopened to the public. Seems to have been a popular decision too, given the lengthy 90 minute queue on the morning of its return 

http://metro.co.uk/2016/03/19/hundreds-queue-to-ride-the-smiler-crash-rollercoaster-on-day-it-reopens-5761944/

[djmcbell]

Been all over the news here in the UK today that Merlin have admitted guilt for the Smiler incident, opening them up to "unlimited fines".

Which, to be frank, is the right thing to happen. Human error = safety checks that have, in this one occasion, gone amiss = Merlin ultimately at fault.

Of course, the majority of the baying public (on the DM at least) believe they should face even bigger fines (bigger than unlimited?), set the victims up for life and close down the park as all their rides, apparently, are about to explode and destroy mankind.

[Theme Park Girl]

Wow, that sucks. I thought it was the ride operators that day (specifically the engineer department from what I can recall reading) who were to blame for the incident? As they didn't follow proper procedures and released the second card full of riders before ensuring the first test cart had cleared the track? 

Also I thought that the Merlin CEO toom full responsibility for the incident from the very beginning, in that interview that was posted on here. They said that the victims didn't need to sue because they would be fully looked after by the park... ???

[djmcbell]

Yes, Merlin have apparently behaved pretty well throughout all this by taking full responsibility from the start. It was, I believe, human error on behalf of one of the ride ops / mechanics or someone like that which led to the car being let into the section where the stalled car was, but legally, blame lies with Merlin for (I think) their safety precautions allowing this to occur.

[rappa]

Basically that's how it goes. Family/regulatory body go after Merlin (parent company). They can then go after the employee that acted negligently. 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Ride safety system used properly by operators when something is amiss.

In other news - lets lose our minds about how unsafe this ride must be.

 

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/wtf/rollercoaster-riders-on-the-smiler-at-alton-towers-not-smiling-now-after-ride-gets-stuck/news-story/09222e37258890a55c9b047a2d8c55a8

 

[Theme Park Girl]

Pffft. Love the typical assumptions by onlookers that the ride had "broken down". It clearly states in the article that staff deliberately halted it in response to allegations that debris had been seen fallen off one of the carriages.

Sadly this coaster is now suffering the same fate as all the others whom have suffered a past major incident... being demonised. Every single minor safety stop and bout of downtime that takes place from now on is going to make media headlines.

A shame really, given it was human error to blame for the accident last year

Edited September 2, 2016 by Theme Park Girl

[XxMrYoshixX]

This is why I don't read News Limited trash, since things like this can occur. Sadly, the fact is that 85% of Australian media is controlled by them, so the GP get too scared to ride things like Smiler which constantly get demonised for little things which aren't anything to write home about (emergency stops or downtime) after a major accident last year.

[elemist]

Merlin were found at fault and fined 5 million pounds.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/sep/27/alton-towers-owner-fined-smiler-rollercaster-crash

[Reanimated35]

6 minutes ago, elemist said:

Merlin were found at fault and fined 5 million pounds.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/sep/27/alton-towers-owner-fined-smiler-rollercaster-crash

That.....that's it?!?!? 

[rappa]

Now this is done, is there a copy of the investigation available anywhere?

[Reanimated35]

34 minutes ago, djrappa said:

Now this is done, is there a copy of the investigation available anywhere?

The only request I could find was denied but that was during the investigation. Doesn't look like one is available yet, from what I can see anyway. 

Maybe keep an eye out on this site and something might pop up soon. 

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/the_smiler_crash_report_and_inve

 

[Jamberoo Fan]

1 hour ago, djrappa said:

Now this is done, is there a copy of the investigation available anywhere?

I think you can find it here in the media pack (174MB) that was released in relation to the fine. It is 32 pages long with 222 pages of appendices.

The media pack accompanied the press release.

Edited September 27, 2016 by Jamberoo Fan

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

10 hours ago, reanimated35 said:

That.....that's it?!?!? 

Thats the fine itself. The park will still be responsible for damages and personal injury claims - of which they've already taken full responsibility. I daresay the costs of these will far outweigh any fine.

[Reanimated35]

On 28/09/2016 at 0:28 AM, djrappa said:

Now this is done, is there a copy of the investigation available anywhere?

Thanks @Theme Park Girl for the link. 

While not an official report, it gives a lot of insight to what happened. 

It comes down to human error and a huge mistake that should never have happened. 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/alton-towers-smiler-rollercoaster-crash-8897449

[Theme Park Girl]

Came across this article today, and thought it was a good read. Has a detailed breakdown of everything going that happened that day, and exactly how the accident occurred - essentially all due to a communication breakdown over an extra train being added to the track. 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/alton-towers-smiler-rollercoaster-crash-8897449

Very sad to think it could have very easily been avoided. Heaven knows the ride system itself tried to prevent the incident from taking place, but it's safety system was manually overridden

ETA: Snap @reanimated35, you got in a few seconds before I did ?

Edited October 3, 2016 by Theme Park Girl

[Jamberoo Fan]

22 minutes ago, reanimated35 said:

While not an official report, it gives a lot of insight to what happened. 

Did you notice my post, @reanimated35? I believe it is the official report but no one has responded to my initial post to verify my opinion:

On 28/09/2016 at 1:46 AM, Jamberoo Fan said:

I think you can find it here in the media pack (174MB) that was released in relation to the fine. It is 32 pages long with 222 pages of appendices.

The media pack accompanied the press release.

[rappa]

My post I made at TPR sums up my thoughts on this:

To me it shows massive flaws in the rides control system and I'm surprised that this was not detailed more in the findings. 

Why was the first alarm when the car with guests attempted to leave the lift and enter the block with the stalled car?
There should have been a "block occupied too long" fault when the empty car failed to leave the block. 
This would have been much more of a red flag for the engineers than the fault they received. 

Other manufacturers have these faults built into their systems. 

I also think a multi car ride like Smiler should have provisions in the control system for being aware of the current number of active cars. Then it would not allow the ride to run if it did not see at least 5 occupied blocks. Regardless of human intervention in auto or evac mode. 

I'm not aware of any coasters (except maybe Disney who do their own controls) that do have awareness of number of cars running. They are simply programmed to accommodate any number using their block logic.

[Adam C]

I was on the Smiler last week.  There was no line and my son and I walked into the front row.  It was interesting that some riders opted not to sit in the front row but that's their perogative.

Another thing about my day at Alton Towers was at every ride I attended, the staff member would ask me if I'd been on the Smiler?  Perhaps a bit of subtle marketing or plugging?  

I'd finish off by saying that the ride itself made me feel the most bizarre/dizzy of any coaster I've been on. (It did have 14 loops)  Definitely one to ride before lunch and not after.

[downunder]

^It looks like the roller coaster equivalent of a centrifuge. I wouldn't have a problem riding it, front row or otherwise.