The Smiler Incident 02/06/15

[oliverfox]

Hi, first post on here but have been religiously following this thread in particular in the wake of the recent incident. Now of course I don't want to come across as selfish or with a disregard for safety, and I really do hope the injuries sustained will heal (along with the emotional trauma!), and it's obviously more important to fix what could be either human or computer error first…
However I do have one question. Has anybody else got wristbands for the 4th November? Me and a friend were at the park last month and completed the big six challenge for our free entry into the park on the 4th November. I'm skeptical about the Smiler opening again before the end of the season, and should this be the case, it's obvious this challenge can no longer be completed, even if the rest of the park is opened. What is the deal with these wristbands and the likelihood they will still be honoured? I'm not going to throw a paddy and go running to the media should they not be, but it will be interesting to see how this is dealt with, especially if the Smiler does not reopen this season.

[bengutt]

I cannot believe how the Mirror and the Guardian have represented the park in their reports on the incident. I have heard of disgraceful reporting, but this is something else
.....
Ive seen report after report of how terrible the Smiler and Alton Towers are, when is somebody going to stand up and represent the Towers how they deserve to be? Every newspaper in Britain seems to be swiping at Alton left right and centre, its unbelievable and its simply disgusting.

I'm fed up with "main stream media" events like this get pumped out as though its the worse thing to have happened in the world ever, and while for the people involved it probably is, for the rest of us it's another sad event in the world.

Due to the current lack of fresh horror going on in the world, this is the news item they are using to sell papers/get viewing figures. The outlets priorities are money, money, money and in order to get that you need to be sensationalist. Look at sky news implying someone had died early on.

If more sellable news was going on this would be page 5 news and the papers would hardly mention it.

There are a lot of very bad things going on in the world where 100's if not 1000's are being killed, and our UK papers focus on this.

[chrish]

I see the Mirror have picked up on the smiler game. What a great headline to give the wrong impression.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/al ... er-5826471" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks like the media are now reporting that Alton Towers bosses are reportedly discussion pulling down The Smiller. Bloody media ](*,)

It's never mentioned once in the article, apart from the select few comments the public make on social media:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... miler.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/al ... er-5826203" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/UPDATE-C ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And a "trustworthy" source that mentions nothing about it:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-33018584" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[tgm999]

I see the Mirror have picked up on the smiler game. What a great headline to give the wrong impression.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/al ... er-5826471" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Oh dear mirror oh dear.

[xxbennxx]

Yes the media may be sensationalising this incident but it is simply what they do.

One of the recent reports i have read however, i have no reason to doubt and is the most shocking to me.

it is with one of the 16 riders who wished to remain anonymous, however he states that the company have had no contact with him whatsoever since the incident.

Having studied business and business management since the age of 13, and having achieved a masters in the subject, this is simply unacceptable on the part of Merlin, there should be a clear and open dialogue with all 16 to assure them that the investigation is underway, and regardless of the outcome, assure them that they are being taken care of.

It does not matter whether it was human or computer error. This happened to paying customers, at a Merlin park, on one of their premier rides. They are at fault and the buck stops with them. Even if there was an inherent fault with the system provided by Gerstlauer.

Though to addto the speculation and knowing for a fact that the full train was held on the lift for a minimum of 10 minutes, as confirmed by people on board the carriage. This was almost certainly a degree of system reset/human error. The stalled train appears to have been overlooked.

This is a terrible incident for all those involved, the park are acting well publically. But they appear to be overlooking at least some of the victims privately. And from a business standpoint, that is simply not acceptable.

[obli7ion]

Not all media articles have been completely negative; this is from Rosamund Urwin's column in the London Evening Standard on Thursday 4 June.



Crash won’t keep me off a rollercoaster

I've always liked theme parks. As a child I prayed for a growth spurt so I could ride the “Vampire” rollercoaster at Chessington. Even as adults, my siblings and I have made regular pilgrimages to Thorpe Park — a chance to regress, to get high on adrenaline and sugar, and to soar through the air like birds, a (not very) grown-up version of your parents throwing you skywards.

The attraction of the rides is fear. But they are supposed to scare us while we remain completely safe. It is risk sanitised, the scream machines mere simulators of danger. Which is why it’s such a shock when something goes wrong.

No one is supposed to end up in hospital, as four people have following the collision at Alton Towers on Tuesday. It will be no comfort to the injured, but such accidents are incredibly rare. That’s why it’s news. A car crash in which four passengers were hurt would never be given front pages or rolling TV coverage. So theme parks — which trade on our desire for danger — are still places we should feel safe

[Stellafella]

Breaking news on sky.
Saw is to remain shut for foreseeable too

[Welsh_Tenor]

Breaking news on sky.
Saw is to remain shut for foreseeable too

A problem with Gertslauer/ride software perhaps then after initial investigations if Saw is staying shut too?

[ROYJESS]

Four rides now closed,

still sounds like human error?

http://www.itv.com/news/story/2015-06-0 ... ler-crash/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[tellytart]

As Smiler and Saw are manufactured by Gerstlauer, and Rattlesnake and Dragon's Fury are by Maurer, either they share a common control system which has problems, or all four rides have been found to have CCTV blind spots for the operators?

[EdwinOkli]

Surely closing the two unrelated rides at Chessington must be a sign that it is an error not limited to Gerstlauers. That, or they're being overcautious.

[bengutt]

I wouldn't read too much into this, HSE and Merlin have probably identified areas that they can improve on with their training and operating procedures.

[Wedjie]

Interesting that they've closed 2 chessy rides too.

SAW has been understandably closed as being the same ride time (infinity and Euro fighter, tomayto tomarto).

Will be interesting to see if any others have been closed, Abyss for example.

[ROYJESS]

Interview with Nick Varney just on the news. I hope that I've got the following information right from the interview.

Alton Towers will be closed tomorrow but are looking at opening again in the next few days.

With regards to the other rides, Saw will remain closed due to being the sister ride to Smiler, and the other rides at Chessington has been closed as the operating system won't allow them to implement their new safety policy and will need to update the systems to these rides first.

[matadventure]

The Evening Standard states the closure of Dragons Fury and Rattlesnake has been done to give the company time to implement additional safety protocols.

"Merlin Entertainments, which owns the three UK theme parks, said in a statement that the decision to close the rides would give the company time to implement "a series of additional safety protocols" across its "multi-car rollercoasters".
(Source: http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/alton ... 99811.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; )

Nick Varney was quoted saying.
"Whilst the investigation into the causes is continuing, we have identified a series of additional safety protocols that we are implementing immediately across our multi-car rollercoasters.

"These will act as an additional safeguard to further strengthen our operating and safety standards. This has been a devastating experience, and we are committed to learning the lessons from it."

[langolier]

Have to say Nick Varney has managed the response to the incident superbly. He has provided a textbook response to an incident of this nature. He comes across very well in the interviews I've seen. Also, closing down the park (although probably more to do with HSE demands) was definitely the right thing to do. In addition, the immediate closure of Saw, also a Gerstlauer ride - was the right move, along with the upgraded safety procedures which have been announced on rides across Merlin attractions in the UK (leading to 2 Chessington rides to close in order to implement the training for these procedures properly). All of this is crisis management at it's finest.

Many CEO's of extremely large companies panic and perform very poorly in these types of situations - the CEO of Malaysia Airlines being a prime example.

[kavanagh21]

I think the fact that the four closed rides are across parks and across manufacturers suggests that the "problem" lies - at least partly - with the way the rides are operated or supported by non-ride systems (i.e. CCTV) and human control interaction. I highlight problem because it may not be that the rides have problems per se, but some of the procedures and protocols that they use for their operation may need updating.

The note that SAW is being closed indefinitely (as opposed to the slightly softer language for the Maurer rides of "taken out of service") does suggest that there is some flaw or software loophole with the Gerst systems that could be closed/altered to prevent this happening again. As was suggested earlier, the operator may have mistakenly sent the car the wrong way while the ride was operating in "Code Zero" - this is presumably something that Gerst could prevent in software, perhaps a confirmation request or a check of track sensors to alert the operator to the presence of another carriage on the track.

I still wouldn't rule out an aspect of human error (as sad as it feels to say it).

[panhandle]

Firstly, I also hope the injured recover from the serious physical and potentially serious mental issues from this awful accident -this includes the staff. Having not been there I couldn't comment on the weather but could simple physics be the reason the first car didn't complete the batwing ie the wind, empty car, less velocity. These modern day coasters are designed on the finest margins of physics, you only need to look at Top Thrill Dragster and Kingda Ka not making it over the apex/crest and rolling back to see the impact of small margins (although I do appreciate The Smiler is in the ground and not 120m high!)
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The park will no doubt have some form of indemnity insurance to cover such incidents whether it be the cost of healthcare or compensation, AT/Merlin will be doing everything to remunerate those affected financially, not necessarily to help the PR but I believe that's the type of company they are. They could either fund this from cash or put a claim to the insurers, a bit like if we decide to claim on house insurance for a lets say a pair of specs that only cost £150 and you would have to pay £50 excess and take our chances with premium increases next time around.

Looking at the bigger picture regards closures etc, the losing money on a daily basis whilst not insignificant won't be too much of a concern or even having to scrap an £18m coaster simply because shares in Merlin have seen over £100m wiped off its value and this is only based on about 3% I believe. Its paramount to keep the confidence in the overall operation high, be on the charm offensive regards PR and do everything they can to assist those affected and those investigating.

The disclaimer here being this is my own personal speculation and thoughts, I hope AT can recover its image as a truly magical place.

[Capt.Barnacles]

The Health and Safety Executive have just released this statement:

http://press.hse.gov.uk/2015/health-and ... on-towers/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The statement includes that 'The decision about when to reopen the park is the for the owners to make' and that the only ride at the park with a prohibition notice for operation will be The Smiler. The Smiler will not operate until a solution is found/action is taken to deal with the cause of the failure.

[Hitch]

Just imagine how much worse this could have been if the ride had floor-less trains or lap bars like the other infinity coasters do. I think its quite lucky that The Smiler has the train style that it does. Some people are suggesting the trains should be designed to take an impact but I personally think more focus on the actual computer system is needed.

I also think more should be done to prevent the ride from stalling, If the ride stalled because of a computer error like it did a few years ago, maybe they will remove some of the trim brakes completely. Just my current thoughts.