Roller Coaster crash at Alton Towers

[Parkscope Joe]

So from the sound of it the cars crashed and the first and last rows sort of melded together, crushing the legs of the people in the front row.

WHY WERE THERE NO BUMPERS ON THIS RIDE?

 

[Tobias]

WHY WERE THERE NO BUMPERS ON THIS RIDE?

The ride does have bumpers, but they're only there for little bumps, not going high speed into a train compleately stalled on a section of the track.

 

[Hatetofly]

First I hope those involved are going to be ok and have a speedy recovery. Second I have to wonder if the Smiler will ever recover from the negative press...

 

[shiekra38]

First I hope those involved are going to be ok and have a speedy recovery. Second I have to wonder if the Smiler will ever recover from the negative press...

I think this will go the way of Son of Beast

 

[Tobias]

I know we're going to have to wait a while for the reports of what really happened, but if the rumors are true that the ride was in maintenance mode and it was all human error...I would be legitimately shocked if they closed/tore the ride down. (After all in that case it's not the rides fault someone pushed the button to dispatch the train on the lift.)

That kind of action would be incrediblely rare and on the unheard of side, I don't know a coaster that's been open for a couple years and get's closed/torn down over a incident that was human error. Even when you add in the smaller incidents that still doesn't add up to tearing the ride down as some of those incidents have been comparable to other coaster accidents which are still running to this day.

 

[Teebin]

And we were all recently mortified that guys played tricks on the safety systems after hours on Gringotts. That cost Uni an estimated 1.5 million to repair. I wonder how much Alton is in for with humans involved. Horrors.

 

[Jon84]

They are reportedly loosing £500,000 a day while the park is shut. This is gonna hurt them

 

[RonaldsModernLife]

Out of the four with serious injuries one has been released from hospital this morning but it appears that one of the injured may have to had a leg amputated (this has not been confirmed but reported in the sensationalist papers).

After seeing the video after the crash and hearing the screams, seeing how close the cars are together, it wouldn't be a surprise to hear that the people in the front row have some serious leg damage. Really terrible event.

 

[ynnoj]

It'd be naive to think they aren't considering tearing down the ride. Aside from this horrendous incident, the ride has been plagued with problems from day one which only adds to the negative safety perception of the ride, and across the park.

 

[Jon84]

It'd be naive to think they aren't considering tearing down the ride. Aside from this horrendous incident, the ride has been plagued with problems from day one which only adds to the negative safety perception of the ride, and across the park.

Thats a lot of wasted cash. Sounds crass but it'll blow over, they will leave it. Ridership will pickup

 

[anihilnation]

Mark, saw your article while browsing Pixels, very good work.
In an interview, one of the passengers said the coaster had indeed stopped on the lift, they even joked around they were like guinea pigs, then the lift started up again and ...

 

[grizzlybarely]

So this is basically what happened when the monorails crashed?

 

[anihilnation]

So this is basically what happened when the monorails crashed?

More severe though, and to make matters worse, after the crash the two trains just kept on going up and down for a while.

 

[Jon84]

3 Other Coasters in the Merlin Group (Saw inThorpe Park and 2 in Chessington) have now been closed pending a procedural review

 

[Ash]

I think they'll write smiler off. The press over here have been having a field day (or few days) over this. It's shady past has been well documented and Alton Towers/Merlin are clearly in PR damage limitation mode. The ride cost 18m... they'll probably sue Gertslauer over this and tear it down. That's what I predict.

 

[Jon84]

If this is an ops issue, I dont think Gertslauer will have any issues. If the coaster does go, it won't be replaced with anything for a long long time. They are gonna have millions to pay out in this financial year which is going to knock on other plans

The 17yo girl had her leg amputated according to recent press. Her solicitor has already mentioned compensation in a statement.

 

[Ash]

I wondered if even if its an ops issue Merlin will say the reputation of it led to them pulling it down which was down to Gertslauer and also maybe they would say that the RVS should have held up better in case of impact?

 

[ynnoj]

Alton Towers Smiler ride crash due to 'human error' - BBC News

Will re-open next year.

 

[anihilnation]

Alton Towers Smiler rollercoaster passengers stuck midair | Daily Mail Online

 

[Jon84]

Alton Towers Smiler rollercoaster passengers stuck midair | Daily Mail Online

I kinda wish the victims of last years crash would pipe down a bit. Them calling for Smiler to close will have no effect on the operation of the ride. It was human error, which will have now be made failsafe with new procedures and training. It was terrible what happened to them, but it does seem that they adding their to pence for more attention.

Technical issues happen on rides around the world, I'm sure there are others that are plagued with issues regularly.