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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wayne g
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I really must say i think that Facebook page is not a good idea. As much as i appreciate you are only offering your sympathy with the best intentions, I'm sure that the injured people would much prefer as little publicity as possible.
I say this without offence as i know that there really is none intended but, the media will hound these guys incessantly so more publicity from total strangers is highly likely to be the last thing that they would want.
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Wedjie
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I think them accepting liability before the investigation is completed doesn't necessarily mean it was 100% their fault.

I think it's more of a public relations thing in the short run, until the investigation is completed. They may end up claiming the money back of Gerst.
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rcopus
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Just because Alton Towers have accepted responsibility it doesn't necessarily mean Alton Towers are admitting liability and that it was human error.

The ride is Alton Towers' ride, who on earth do people think would admit responsibility? The manufacturer, the contractors that built it? If a car crashes on the motorway due to a mechanical issue you don't find Audi coming along and paying out to the claims of first parties.

Alton Towers are who guests pay their money to and it is them who provide the service, no one else has anything to do with this situation at all. If it turns out the manufacturer have provided a faulty system then that would be between the Alton Towers and the manufacturer.
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Themeparksandy1981
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The big different is with this accident to other accidents is mobile phones and social media. Like how quick that video of the 2 trains on the batwing was upload to the internet. Like years ago this would have just made local and national news but now it's world wide.
Also reading about claims. I heard others have said about sleepless nights and stress has stopped them going to work.
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moog666
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Long time since I posted on here.

To be fair Merlin accepting liability at this stage and paying out could just be to get things moving and for a swift resolution.

Gerst could still be at fault and if they are Merlin can simply sue them for the payouts they have had to make.
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Sr88
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I have a feeling that if it was a Gerstlauer problem, more of their coasters could well be closed, not just the Merlin ones, and we would possibly have heard more about that.

And for those who might say that other companies would not want to close their rides if they aren't involved, I am sure that Gerstlauer would have ordered them to close the rides. Also, I almost certain that other companies will have been in contact with Merlin asking about this.
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robrymond
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Long time since I posted here too. AT have handled this very well from what I see and I'm glad they are allowing people to refund there pre-purchased tickets if they don't wish to visit.

I rode Texas Giant at Six Flags Texas around this time 2 years ago. A week later a women fell out of the cart. It was part human, part mechanical error, the ride was closed until September when it reopened with new safety bars. American ride safety isn't quite up there with ours!

In the US they do things a lot quicker, so I don't expect Smiler to reopen by the seasons end, but I wouldn't hesitate to ride again.
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Sr88
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http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/al ... ld-5844062
It would seem there are threats of having the record removed. Obviously, this could only happen if an inversion is removed, which I personally don't see happening, and it is the mirror and completely unsourced, but I figured I'd just post anyway, so everybody can see it.

Once more, apologies if it has already been posted.
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Aidan Lowe
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Well clearly it won't stand in this years Guinness World Records as its SBNO until further notice but tbh who cares about that records book anyway :p
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Themeparksandy1981
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HSE could be looking at everything about the coaster.
1) Is it a problem with the batwing as it's stalled a few times here.They could force them to remove it or refine it as it's the only trouble spot on the coaster.
2) If the stalled train was a new train added to the ride could it be a problem with how well each train is maintained as the other unloaded cars went round no problems.
3) Is it a software problem as like they said the stalled train caused the loaded train to E stop at the top of the lift hill and tech team would have reset the program so the block wouldn't have picked up the stalled train which is a fault in Alton Towers training not to check camera's or go out to the ride area to see what the problem is.
4) Where the camera's face and if staff do watch them maybe force the park to add more and a camera in the control booth of each ride so management can monitor how focused the staff are.
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tallicay2k
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wayne g wrote:I really must say i think that Facebook page is not a good idea. As much as i appreciate you are only offering your sympathy with the best intentions, I'm sure that the injured people would much prefer as little publicity as possible.
I say this without offence as i know that there really is none intended but, the media will hound these guys incessantly so more publicity from total strangers is highly likely to be the last thing that they would want.

I agree with this, I think that the guys involved would like to just recover and be with family. They've been hounded enough already what with pictures of the incident all week. Besides I just want to add my hate for Facebook, thank you lol
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missingaa
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Themeparksandy1981 wrote:2) If the stalled train was a new train added to the ride could it be a problem with how well each train is maintained as the other unloaded cars went round no problems.
A newly added train would have had cold wheels, and would have run slower, especially in the winds and reasonably cold temperatures that were present that day. I read (and posted earlier in this thread) a statement from a Smiler ride op who says that it is policy to send cars around with weights in them the first time they are run, in order to overcome this. So if that policy is true, and this was the newly added train, why did it have no weights in?
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oliverfox
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If the Smiler is an 'experiment' by Gerstlauer, is there a chance they wouldn't shut their other coasters around the world, because they're running completely separate systems? Because the smiler was so innovative and new, is it likely that this is a completely different system that is not yet as secure as their other coasters' systems? Therefore, only the Smiler needs to be shut?
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Sentri558
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From a financial perspective, Merlin is throwing away money in the short term, likely to restore faith to the park in the long term.

Unfortunately, we've seen time and time again that large companies see these kinds of situations as setbacks, instead of the tragedies they are.

Hopefully, Merlin and Varney are doing this for the right reason. My heart goes out to those affect in the slightest by this event, and while in no wau fixing what has happened, at least the worst effected wont have to go to court for the compensation they deserve.
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TheBeast
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missingaa wrote:
Themeparksandy1981 wrote:2) If the stalled train was a new train added to the ride could it be a problem with how well each train is maintained as the other unloaded cars went round no problems.
A newly added train would have had cold wheels, and would have run slower, especially in the winds and reasonably cold temperatures that were present that day. I read (and posted earlier in this thread) a statement from a Smiler ride op who says that it is policy to send cars around with weights in them the first time they are run, in order to overcome this. So if that policy is true, and this was the newly added train, why did it have no weights in?
Maybe it did have weights in it, and that was the problem? If the train was overloaded, it may not have been able to make the loop, hence the stall. As missingaa states, the winds were high- a single gust could have reduced the speed enough to prevent the ride from hitting the correct speed. I guess that's because it is all calculated to go around the circuit at the fastest speed...who knows though?
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SPAD
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look at the pictures... there were no water dummies, it was an empty train!
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TsungUK
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SPAD wrote:look at the pictures... there were no water dummies, it was an empty train!
This is what surprised me; I've seen the trains going around first thing in the morning, they had the water dummies in them. Seems strange to send a train around totally "empty" considering the blustery wind conditions of the day.
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TsungUK wrote:
SPAD wrote:look at the pictures... there were no water dummies, it was an empty train!
This is what surprised me; I've seen the trains going around first thing in the morning, they had the water dummies in them. Seems strange to send a train around totally "empty" considering the blustery wind conditions of the day.
That could be one human error right there then. Do they often send empty carts around? I haven't had a chance to get to Alton since the smiler opened :( however I would ride it if it re-opens!
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dazza4783
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TsungUK wrote:
SPAD wrote:look at the pictures... there were no water dummies, it was an empty train!
This is what surprised me; I've seen the trains going around first thing in the morning, they had the water dummies in them. Seems strange to send a train around totally "empty" considering the blustery wind conditions of the day.
Especially if it was the new train that had been added, as people have said a new train was added just before the accident as the ride had been down for a while they added another one to help get the queue down.
This new train would have been running slower than the others anyway as the wheels wouldn't have warmed up yet like the others had. This would have contributed to it valleying if that was the case.
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Sr88
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Realistically, a ride shouldn't be built or designed such that any train, full or empty, can stall at any point.
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