Menu
What's new
By:
Filters

Accident at Alton Towers

Wow, those images of the damaged train really show how lucky it was that there weren't any deaths on that front row.

Literally a few inches more and it could have been even worst.

This ones particularly bad, no wonder the girls lost their legs.

hse_alton_towers_smiler3_web.jpg
 
God that's horrible to see.

So is this admission of guilt based on there not being a system in place for a ride op to follow when a fault throws up, or a ride op being told by someone higher up (engineer, manager etc...) to reset the ride in such a way?

Imagine how the guilt those responsible will be suffering from too. They don't get a 7 figure pay off and an appearance on Loose Women, and if it's been as a result of being ordered to do something by a superior, that's a horrible thing.
 
I thought it wasn't the op that reset it but the engineer themselves? It seems this is an admission of "we didn't have a procedure in place to properly deal with a situation of repeated false alarms being thrown by the control system. Now we do."
 
One part I did take issue with when reading it earlier was that it stated there was "no manufacturer errors".

Who is at fault for it valleying in the first place then? That plays a part in this accident.
 
Smithy said:
One part I did take issue with when reading it earlier was that it stated there was "no manufacturer errors".

Who is at fault for it valleying in the first place then? That plays a part in this accident.
Click to expand...

Good point... but from another perspective perhaps in the design stage Gerst could have been like this to Alton... "if you want to proceed with this design there is a risk that this area could on occasion cause a stall/valley if certain conditions are met"".... or am I barking up the wrong tree? Ideally no ride should be designed like that but given the time constraints and complex design did Alton push this through even if there were some trade offs??? Something to think about? Maybe others have more background info on the design and construction

At the end of the day, the fact it can stall/valley where it does suggests it is a poor design so...
 
I can't imagine Gerstlauer would willingly install a ride they know has a higher-than-average chance of stalling given the effects it'd have on their reputation and future business.

It's not necessarily a poor design, it could be a poor installation and that could be the fault of the contractors. Given there were also issues with the track coming apart and bolts coming loose, either of them could be at fault.

Thinking back the ride has given them an almighty amount of trouble right from the off; I wonder if it'll deter them from going for record breaking technology with future installations.
 
I saw those pictures of the crashed trains of the Smiler earlier, I couldn't believe how far the fronts were buckled in, has anything been mentioned about the fronts being reinforced? I mean I'm sure it won't happen again, but just as an additional precaution.
 
Was surprised (not sure if I've never noticed or forgotten if this was discussed previously) that the cars don't have a bumpstop on the front of each car but they do have one on the rear and that seems to be what's caused such an impact down the middle.
 
I'm not a physics expert, but aren't those bumpers merely for small scale bumps and collisions in the station, not for full on crashes like this. I can't really see how adding a front bumper would've helped reduce the impact in any significant way to be honest.
 
Yeah, the little bumpers you see on coaster trains are for minor bumps in the station or in the maintenance shed - I don't think they'd offer any real protection in a crash like this.
 
Oh dear - I've just realised how the front of that car responded to the impact.

People in this thread have been saying "a few inches more and it would've been worse" regarding the bars at the front of the "crumple zone" being a few inches away from the front of the seat.

I also thought it was a case of the front crumpling in, but if you look at the front of the car on the HSE pictures, and compare it to a "before" picture, the metal surface to which the Smiler face is attached vertically is nearly horizontal. The vertical metal surface you see in the pictures at the front of the car was actually the horizontal underside of the section that supports the chequerplate floor.

This means that in the impact the front of the car actually folded down towards the seats nearly 90 degrees. The bars, as far as I can see, must therefore have made contact with the front of the seat during the collision with enough force to have bent them back into the vertical position in which we see them now.

I really hope I'm wrong...
 
silenthillXD said:
I'm not a physics expert, but aren't those bumpers merely for small scale bumps and collisions in the station, not for full on crashes like this. I can't really see how adding a front bumper would've helped reduce the impact in any significant way to be honest.
Click to expand...

They wouldn't, not in a significant way at least, I was just surprised that they've got one on the rear of each cart and not on the front.
 
Robbie said:
I've said before, it seems an odd year to let the Charlie licence lapse as it's actually Dahl's centenary and lots of events are planned across the country, with film festivals, tours, plays and "Roald Dahl Day" in September. With Spielberg's BFG movie out at the start of summer it's a bandwagon they could have easily jumped on for some cheap marketing but now they're going to look a bit like party poopers.
Click to expand...

It was a ten year license that expired on April 1st. Simple, really.
 
dj-fireball999 said:
Robbie said:
I've said before, it seems an odd year to let the Charlie licence lapse as it's actually Dahl's centenary and lots of events are planned across the country, with film festivals, tours, plays and "Roald Dahl Day" in September. With Spielberg's BFG movie out at the start of summer it's a bandwagon they could have easily jumped on for some cheap marketing but now they're going to look a bit like party poopers.
Click to expand...

It was a ten year license that expired on April 1st. Simple, really.
Click to expand...
That still doesn't stop it being an odd decision! It's not like they've suddenly stopped publishing the books.
 
Twitter ablaze as the likes of the Mail and the Express are reporting that RIDERS TRAPPED UPSIDE DOWN FOR HALF AN HOUR AS SCREAMS HEARD ON NEW GALACTICA RIDE and **** mongrels all over ALTON TOWERS NEEDS SHUTTING DOWN, HOW MANY MORE ACCIDENTS FFS and all that jazz.

The ride was e-stopped on the lift hill because the weather turned, so I've seen. Either way, it stopped on the lift hill. It's not the end of the world.

My first thought was I wonder if the VR is programmed with this in mind so on your headset you see a spaceman coming towards you to fix it. Now that'd be cool.
 
^Like everyone else I saw all that earlier, didn't expect anything less than rock-bottom quality journalism from the tabloids :roll: . As I knew would happen post Smiler, every little breakdown and technical fault will be straight in the top national news outlets as one of the top stories.
 
I'm surprised they haven't reached out to roller coaster safety expert, Vicky Balch, for comment.
 
Smithy said:
My first thought was I wonder if the VR is programmed with this in mind so on your headset you see a spaceman coming towards you to fix it. Now that'd be cool.
Click to expand...


Ha. Made me chortle.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top