The Smiler Incident 02/06/15

General discussion regarding the UK's No.1 Theme Park. Talk about anything and everything Alton Towers here.
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Welsh_Tenor
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So as a relative newbie, can I ask a stupid/obvious question please?

Once off the lift/chain hills, rides are effectively free running through the track unless there are specific boosters or stops on the track? Is it possible though for someone to remotely (whether that's computer of human) to put the brakes on the car regardless of where they are on the track? It's not a case of gravity having to work its way through the rest of the track for the car to then come to a forced stop at the end of the ride?

Thanks!
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Sentri558
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Welsh_Tenor wrote:So as a relative newbie, can I ask a stupid/obvious question please?

Once off the lift/chain hills, rides are effectively free running through the track unless there are specific boosters or stops on the track? Is it possible though for someone to remotely (whether that's computer of human) to put the brakes on the car regardless of where they are on the track? It's not a case of gravity having to work its way through the rest of the track for the car to then come to a forced stop at the end of the ride?

Thanks!
The Smiler has brakes on the cart (I believe) as it is a newer ride. What you said would be true about Nemesis, as it is 21 years old.

EDIT: The on car brakes can be controlled from the ops desk in the ride. I think >_<
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dazza4783
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Sky News just said they are hearing that 1 person has died, hope that isn't the case.
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LiamJDouse
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dazza4783 wrote:Sky News just said they are hearing that 1 person has died, hope that isn't the case.
Ive just read the entire article and there is no mention of death.
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RCandrew
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I don't understand how the car with people on it was let over the lift hill if the empty car hadn't finished its run yet?
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ohirome
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This is awful news if true. Properly awful. I realise its not the time for speculation, but surely this is an ops mistake over anything else? Not judging, we all make mistakes, its just interesting/baffling how this could have happened if everything can be manually controlled. Surely the trains are being monitored at all times...?
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Jack
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Nobody has any control over the cars once they leave the lift hill or any powered section of the ride :)

I'm very surprised and shocked this was able to happen and I don't doubt Gerstlauer will have an angry theme park and injured theme park guests on their back. I do hope that all involved are alright and that the 4 who are seriously injured make a quick, full recovery :)
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Vladimir Bobinski
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True or false, I don't know how they would know something like that, last I checked emergency services were still dealing with this. Alton Towers PR need to spend less time answering idiot teens asking when the ride will be open moaning there day is ruined.

I couldn't care less if an empty train stalled, what I want to understand is how another carriage entered the same section of track, between breaking points. Sensor failure, system control failure. Without stating the plain obvious, it shouldn't be possible. I can't see it being "Operator Failure" in any circumstance, only an engineer key would be able to override certain safety systems, i.e manually engage a lift, etc.

The second minor related question is why was an empty carriage going around at the time, that would imply a previous issue and clearing the carriages through.
Last edited by Vladimir Bobinski on Tue Jun 02, 2015 4:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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dazza4783
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LiamJDouse wrote:
dazza4783 wrote:Sky News just said they are hearing that 1 person has died, hope that isn't the case.
Ive just read the entire article and there is no mention of death.
Not on the article, on the TV. They were talking to the emergency services and said that they were hearing that 1 person had died, but the emergency services person couldn't confirm it.
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scottwsmith
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Currently I'm pointing my finger at the staff operators for allowing the second carriage to enter the circuit.

However it depends on if staff operators can see the entirety of the track from the cabin.
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Screech
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Very latest is the 12 minor injuries are expected to get discharged from the scene shortly where the 4 majors, who are all conscious, will be air lifted to hospital.
Please don't help spread the death rumour.
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dazza4783
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scottwsmith wrote:Currently I'm pointing my finger at the staff operators for allowing the second carriage to enter the circuit.

However it depends on if staff operators can see the entirety of the track from the cabin.
The ride system shouldn't even let the second train start going up the first lift until the first has reached the brake run before the second lift, it certainly shouldn't let it leave the lift hill. Although if it was being tested as had been having issues it was most likely set to manual and was still set to that whilst the full train was sent out.
Last edited by dazza4783 on Tue Jun 02, 2015 4:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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MakoMania
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In my opinion this is both Alton Towers and Gerstlauer's fault. Gerstlauer's ride system souldn't have allowed this and Alton should be continuely testing the system's ability to stop this. Really hope the death rumour is not true.
SeaWorld has rescued over 35,000 animals in need![/i]
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dazza4783
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Screech wrote:Very latest is the 12 minor injuries are expected to get discharged from the scene shortly where the 4 majors, who are all conscious, will be air lifted to hospital.
Please don't help spread the death rumour.
That's a relief, hope everyone is ok.

Edit: A video has appeared on twitter from just after the crash.

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Quite disturbing really, listening to the panic from people on and around the ride.
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trotters98
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scottwsmith wrote:Currently I'm pointing my finger at the staff operators for allowing the second carriage to enter the circuit.

However it depends on if staff operators can see the entirety of the track from the cabin.


Having been in the operators cabin on a work experience placement last year, I can say that there is two large screens displaying around 30 live images from around the track, so the operator can see the majority of the track.

Whether the op was at fault or not is another question...


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sambartle
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Pretty bad that someone managed to shoot video of the loaded car sitting in a stopped position on the lift hill, and panned round to the empty stranded car BEFORE the accident.... (Literally just been on BBC News)
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Rita 2005
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The BBC News Helicopter is now on site and live pictures are on their channel now.
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dazza4783
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Rita 2005 wrote:The BBC News Helicopter is now on site and live pictures are on their channel now.
Looks like all the passengers are still on there.
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Screech
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I don't get that twitter video- that shows it rolling to a stop, but I'm watching the live news and it looks like it's stopped dead into the empty one?!
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ponder
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This quote on the BBC site from a guest on site doesn't make good reading for Alton Towers.

"There was a big crash, and I think there were quite a few people that were angry because they said that they had told the staff that the coach before had stopped but they hadn't actually called through."
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