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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Vladimir Bobinski
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Enthusiasts who should clear signs of young naivety really don't help the situation. :sick:

Trued or false, based on nothing but rumour, he clearly doesn't understand the concept of professional slander & defamation.

He asks and states categorically, "why did staff on the smiler send this full car when they knew, when that car stopped there"

He needs a slap.
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tgm999
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The Sky Sailor wrote: I'm also slightly worried that The Smiler may end up closed permanently as it's now kind of bad publicity. This would be such a shame for me as it has to be one of the greatest coasters in the world. What are the chances that this could happen?
On twister a spinning coaster at light valley a women was killed when two cars collided while an engineer was operating the ride in maintenance mode. Trains on the big one at Blackpool have collided on two occasions at the same place resulting in injuries. Someone fell to their death from hydro/drenched at Oakwood and their is more and they are all still operating.
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Ryan.B
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Vladimir Bobinski wrote:

Enthusiasts who should clear signs of young naivety really don't help the situation. :sick:

Trued or false, based on nothing but rumour, he clearly doesn't understand the concept of professional slander & defamation.

He asks and states categorically, "why did staff on the smiler send this full car when they knew, when that car stopped there"

He needs a slap.
They didn't know otherwise that train wouldn't have been dispatched in the first place, and they stopped it on the lift' it could have been anything as to why it restarted, but it didn't have time to stop again. How people can say they knew, I really don't understand. What I'm wondering about is why they dispatched it with passengers on, but again, that could of been a computer error and I'm not sure if they wait for the train to complete the whole circuit. We may never find out what happened exactly, but we will probably find out if it was human or computer caused, it still sickens me why people where filming it (the actual crash and helicopters) I highly doubt they want to be filmed and on TV everywhere. We can only hope for the best.
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Jevaaaans
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The question I have is are Gerstlauer going to make any announcement about this? I'm sure that they would be able to give some much needed information and piece of mind to the public regarding the safety of the coaster.
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Kraken
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I strongly suspect that it will be the Health & Safety Executive who decide when Alton Towers reopens to the public.

As has previously been said on here - the likely cause of this accident was either a huge failure of the ride PLC (control system), or, human intervention that allowed [or unknowingly forced] a train to enter an occupied block of track.

To wipe a PLC of it's information, something like a power surge or lightning strike would be needed - and even then, the ride should go into shut-down mode [stopping all ride movement at the first available point] because it cannot locate the trains. Any train on a lift would stay on the lift, stopped. For a train to be forced over the lift - after being stopped there for some time - suggests someone was telling the ride what to do.

If human error was to blame, the HSE will take the view that "this was a serious breach of Health & Safety, what is there to stop it happening elsewhere / on another ride?"
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Slug3k
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Apologies if this has been mentioned but how many cars were in operation that day? Did any cars get dispatched during the lead up to the incident or did they just send one with passengers? Would be interesting to know if they did/ didn't send any other cars?
Last edited by Slug3k on Wed Jun 03, 2015 10:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Baggie79
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First of all I love Alton Towers and have been visiting for the last 25+ Years so I have absolutely no inclination to question AT.

My only worry with the Smiler (A ride I enjoy btw) from day one is that AT paid a firm £18m to precision build a coaster that would have gone through months if not years of planning to make sure it was correct to the mm to ensure everything worked perfectly, GH had the money and the time and then after all this I see an £18m coaster that has to be routed through a toilet block because the constructors had miscalculated and even worse still misbuilt this coaster. Is anyone really amazed that after this misjudgement the ride has had problem after problem?

Such a shame as this could have been a very good ride.
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I am suppose to be visiting next week. I can see the park maybe being open but the smiler I think being out for the rest of the season

It's such a shame. It is such a fantastic ride experience and to see what's happened the past 36 hours is so disheartening.

I love this ride and can't bear to see Alton get this reception. I just hope this can be resolved in the best manner possible and the people involved make a great recovery. No one deserves to be going through what they are right now.
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S.J_O'Grady
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Deadjack5 wrote:I am suppose to be visiting next week. I can see the park maybe being open but the smiler I think being out for the rest of the season

It's such a shame. It is such a fantastic ride experience and to see what's happened the past 36 hours is so disheartening.

I love this ride and can't bear to see Alton get this reception. I just hope this can be resolved in the best manner possible and the people involved make a great recovery. No one deserves to be going through what they are right now.
Completely agree. It's such a fantastic ride and it's so sad that it'll be stuck with this reputation for all of its future. Hopefully, new operations will be put into place to prevent anything like this from happening again, and those involved will make a quick recovery.
Life is a roller coaster. You can either scream every time you hit a bump or you can throw your hands up in the air and enjoy it.
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Smiffy107
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Joined after seeing the smiler incident all in the media and myself being a huge AT fan for most of my young life (23) I went on the smiler back in 2014 with my mother who might I add was terrified! (hasn't got the best nerves for RC's) I however loved every minute of it BUT with that all said...I think HSE will have to have a serious talking to ME about the best course of action.

I think with Smilers History and whatnot, I think there is ONLY two outcomes, A) the park re-opens next week with the smiler getting scrapped later this season (I hope to god this does not happen, most unlikely considering the cost of the ride), or B) the park re-opens once HSE have had their say and the ride spends the rest of the season either being tested/improved OR closed until further notice (testing would be the better port of call).

I didn't want this to be my first post here haha but with this incident, I fear the Smiler might lose ALOT of trust from fans of the ride myself included, this tragic accident has put off it for quite some time. (I hope everybody involved makes a full physical and Psychological recovery, staff at AT included)

I think this accident happened due to a machine malfunction and human error, obviously the carriage did not have enough momentum to get round the inversion and rolled back and got stuck and then somebody misjudged the situation and thought it had returned when it had not, thereby resulting in the events we are discussing

hoping your all well :)
The woman asked 'spare a farthing for a beggar', the earl cruelly dismissed her, and instructed his driver to head back to the towers, scorned the old woman screamed the curse 'FOR EVERY BRANCH OF THE OLD OAK THAT FALLS, A MEMBER OF YOUR FAMILY WILL DIE!'
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langolier
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Does anyone actually know if the engineer puts the ride in maintenance mode, whether this can potentially override the block brakes system (ie allow two cars to be in the same length of track) - or should the block brakes operate in all circumstances whether in maintenance mode or not?

Also, if the ride is in maintenance mode, do Alton Towers procedures suggest that no passengers be on the ride while it is in this mode?
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Aidan Lowe
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A word from a press release today from HSE's Neil Craig:

http://press.hse.gov.uk/2015/statement- ... on-towers/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
“This was a major incident and members of the public have suffered serious injuries. It meets the criteria for an HSE investigation and our inspectors were at Alton Towers yesterday to begin making inquiries.

“We have assembled a team of specialist inspectors and technical investigators and they will be on site today to continue our investigation.

“Our role is to establish the facts. We will want to determine that those responsible for operating this ride have done what the law requires. We will also ensure that if there are any lessons to be learned they are shared as soon as possible.

“Although the investigation is in its early stages, we will take action to protect the public if we uncover evidence that could affect the safety of other rides at the park or elsewhere.”
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Ryan.B
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IF it is human error, I would think most merlin ride operators would be checked, again, I don't care about the business, or money at the moment, and neither should Alton, it's about the injured and the suffering. It will make the smilers reputation worse, but it won't close. Even in votes on enthusiast pages more people are wanting it to leave.. At the moment I just pray everyone involved can carry on enjoying their lives, and having injuries fixed. :(
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TheBeast
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We could put together a petition to have the Smiler closed/rebranded if we wanted...id be curious to see who would vote for tbh

I dont think any of the attendants deserve any punishment if im honest, although Alton may need to if the situation unfolds like that. I have no doubts the attendants will be beating themselves up about it...they will have enough on their plate tbh.
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Ryan.B
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Someone already put one together, I highly advise against it. Although this was terrible we cannot start petitioning for it to be closed, as it will most likely never happen again, the likelihood of it happening was so low, but it happened. If something similar happens again (I doubt it will) they would probably close it, but remember, although it does have its faults, and this was terrible, closing it would make it a lot worse. People would be asking why it closed if it's safe, people would be put off riding other rides and parks due to them believing all rides have big problems like this, even if there was a petition it would possibly end up badly for everyone- More rides would be closed due to money lost, or SBNO, less people would visit, and then, more money lost which could lead to the park being sold although highly unlikely.

I would highly advise not to start a petition, as if it was rebranded people would recognise the ride and think something else happened and they tried to hide it. All we can do is hope and pray for the victims, this will not have happened on purpose, so no one should get hate. A shocking and tragic few days. Look at it this way- it's the newest major coaster in Britain at this time, sadly these things do happen. Also I suggest against anything to support it involving the smiler, like wearing t shirts with the smiler on, fundraising yes, but anything to do with the smiler, and wearing clothing no. Just try not to mention it, spread it on social media and stuff like that. The victims won't want to talk about or see the smiler, also I advise not to watch videos and unless staff talk about it to you don't start going on about it to them when the park re opens, people on park/working will not want to talk about it. Everyone was shaken by this, it's clear that no one wants to talk about it. If you saw the expression on people's faces, no one was smiling, the atmosphere was so horrible and tense the staff were speechless. I just think it would be horrible to have it bought up to the people that witnessed it/were on park, it's the last thing they want to know. All that matters is that everything is resolved, people are treated medically as well. People were affected pyschologically as well.(including many people on here and myself)

Basically, don't talk about it to people who don't want to talk about it- staff/riders/witnesses/people on park/people involved and anyone who is upset about it. If you were on park you will have likely seen the staff and everyone. The fact the area was busy at the time makes it distressing. Please do not take offence by this post, basically,

Just respect people affected as for many it could be one of the worst days ever, not just those injured, those on park, anyone, I wasn't on park but I have been extremely distressed, and after seeing pictures appear on social media, and just normal tv, it is hard to avoid. I'm just going to say. Do not post pictures/links to pages without warning, and always link to a page, instead of posting a photic in this topic. Many are distressed and it was sickening how it was reported on the news, reporters just kept asking if anyone had died, and filming. If you were on that train, you would not want people filming you in helicopters. It is lucky in a way no one has died, the force on them, the crush injuries could be enough to kill someone, it is just so, so lucky no one was in the train in front.

It will take a long, long time to get over this, you don't have to have been physically hurt to be in a bad psychological state. All respect for everyone at Alton Towers, including people working on the smiler. Sending hate towards anyone, pointing fingers and blaming is not good, when no one is sure.

Disney staff has been involved in things like this, and for some people the psychological pressure is just too much too cope with, even if it wasn't peoples fault, people can have post trauma injuries, people do have flashbacks and pointing fingers at ANYONE is bullying at this point. If someone accused you of assault, or causing something like this how would you feel, it's like being put in a psychological prison, for what happened and then been proven not guilty after you have served your sentence. That will be what people feel the guilt as. It's a criminal investigation and people are pointing fingers at people, without knowing anything. Imagine someone saying you had caused it, it was your fault etc, and then the investigation going on for a long time, you would feel the guilt as if you did it. Stress causes illness.

(If anyone finds this is offensive, or inappropriate, or upsetting in any way, shape or form I will remove it so please tell me)
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FH-03
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Wow. A cart stalled AND a second cart was allowed into the block. Obviously a major malfunction with both the cart/track and the safety system. I hope they do a full check of the coaster and fix any problems before letting it open again.
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PJ.
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In the YouTube clip of the seconds after I am sure I saw a red light flash on the fence so if it was would that confirm maintenance mode active? But even so surely that mode wouldn't allow to override sensors would it? Thought someone said that was on the track the button needed to be pressed. Sad for everyone involved
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The Smiler is receiving a ridiculus amount of bad press. Yesterday, in my school, everybody in my year has suddenly become anti-smiler, even those who loved it before
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Slug3k
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Anyone know how many cars were in operation that day? Was it just the one car with passenger released?
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bengutt
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In my view there are two issues at play here.
Firstly something has gone wrong with the sensors/human error. This alone would have resulted in the crash, but it shouldn't have been as bad as the crash we have seen.

Secondly, I strongly believe there is a design flaw in how the cars have been constructed. There is no way a passenger cabin should be able to collapse onto the riders when crashing into a car in front. This possibility should have been considered, and mitigated.
Before smiler comes back into operation, I would suspect that the cars will all have reinforcing bars added to the front/underneath each of the car to prevent any possibility of riders being crushed.

Because of the flaw in the car design this crash has been very severe, it the design had been correct, we'd be looking at whiplash and bruising at worse.
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