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Post by craig67 on Jun 2, 2015 14:14:51 GMT
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Post by Jamo on the wing on Jun 2, 2015 14:30:50 GMT
Doesn't sound too clever.
Having been on the Smiler I wouldn't fancy crashing into anything.
Hope everyone is OK.
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Post by Okie Stokie. on Jun 2, 2015 16:54:01 GMT
It looks nasty I hope everybody is OK.
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Post by smithy120106 on Jun 2, 2015 17:01:21 GMT
Not looking good multiple amputees ,, 4 life threatening ,, people still stuck
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Post by 36dd on Jun 2, 2015 18:47:19 GMT
Not looking good multiple amputees ,, 4 life threatening ,, people still stuck Just seen the Midlands Today report saying leg injuries etc, obviously the ride will permanently close down? Been on it a couple of times for the thrill factor it's the best in the park, but if they is clear safety concerns then it needs demolishing. Best wishes to the teenagers who were unfortunate to be on the carriage when it crashed. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2015 18:59:58 GMT
Not looking good multiple amputees ,, 4 life threatening ,, people still stuck Just seen the Midlands Today report saying leg injuries etc, obviously the ride will permanently close down? Been on it a couple of times for the thrill factor it's the best in the park, but if they is clear safety concerns then it needs demolishing. Best wishes to the teenagers who were unfortunate to be on the carriage when it crashed. Depends on the outcome of the injured and the HSE report. It could be a closure and dismantle. It could be as simple as removing the two train system and just operating one. |
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Post by 36dd on Jun 2, 2015 19:16:33 GMT
Just seen the Midlands Today report saying leg injuries etc, obviously the ride will permanently close down? Been on it a couple of times for the thrill factor it's the best in the park, but if they is clear safety concerns then it needs demolishing. Best wishes to the teenagers who were unfortunate to be on the carriage when it crashed. Depends on the outcome of the injured and the HSE report. It could be a closure and dismantle. It could be as simple as removing the two train system and just operating one. Alton Towers have always had problems with the ride, especially last year when it kept breaking down. After today I think it will be game over for the smiler? |
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Post by yeokel on Jun 2, 2015 19:28:25 GMT
I think they need to have a close look at their safety procedures.
The way I read the BBC report, they had a maintenance issue, fixed it and then sent an empty car round the track to check it out.
But, they then sent a loaded up car round before the empty one had got back - which it wasn't going to do because it had got stuck somewhere.
An accident waiting to happen, to coin a phrase.
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Post by Nick1984 on Jun 2, 2015 20:02:15 GMT
Was the empty car sent as a test, or was it just sent out to be filled by the next bunch of people?
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Post by 36dd on Jun 2, 2015 20:34:31 GMT
Was the empty car sent as a test, or was it just sent out to be filled by the next bunch of people? Led to believe it was a test car, as there been problems during the day? |
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Post by prudhoe on Jun 3, 2015 0:30:45 GMT
At £18million i can't see them wanting to scrap it myself. Not the kind of investment they'd want to just write off. I can see them shutting it for the rest of the season then back next year with a big fan fare of some wonderful new safety features been added.
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Post by 36dd on Jun 3, 2015 5:42:41 GMT
At £18million i can't see them wanting to scrap it myself. Not the kind of investment they'd want to just write off. I can see them shutting it for the rest of the season then back next year with a big fan fare of some wonderful new safety features been added. All depends on the reputation of the park, smiler is just one ride, they have invested in far more to promote it as a resort. They wouldn't risk the chance of losing customers because of the smiler. I'd think twice bout riding it now after what happened yesterday. |
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Post by RichieBarkerOut! on Jun 3, 2015 7:50:54 GMT
At £18million i can't see them wanting to scrap it myself. Not the kind of investment they'd want to just write off. I can see them shutting it for the rest of the season then back next year with a big fan fare of some wonderful new safety features been added. All depends on the reputation of the park, smiler is just one ride, they have invested in far more to promote it as a resort. They wouldn't risk the chance of losing customers because of the smiler. I'd think twice bout riding it now after what happened yesterday. There will be precedents for dealing with this type of incident, and how to manage public perception. So far, having the CEO doing interviews and shutting the whole park down for a while, is very smart (and appropriate) disaster management. Just compare Merlin Group's behaviour to how Thomas Cook did, where those poor kids got killed. |
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Post by 36dd on Jun 3, 2015 7:56:35 GMT
All depends on the reputation of the park, smiler is just one ride, they have invested in far more to promote it as a resort. They wouldn't risk the chance of losing customers because of the smiler. I'd think twice bout riding it now after what happened yesterday. There will be precedents for dealing with this type of incident, and how to manage public perception. So far, having the CEO doing interviews and shutting the whole park down for a while, is very smart (and appropriate) disaster management. Just compare Merlin Group's behaviour to how Thomas Cook did, where those poor kids got killed. Cant disagree with that, re the communication from the merlin group. obviously incidents like this take time to sort out. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2015 7:59:58 GMT
I think visitor numbers and takings may take a big hit .
Not good at all.
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Post by Meggsy on Jun 3, 2015 18:35:32 GMT
Airplanes crash - you still fly
Trains crash - you still travel
Buses crash - you still travel
Cars crash - you still drive
A very rare and unfortunate event won't put me off riding at Alton Towers in the slightest.
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Post by BigKahunaBurger on Jun 3, 2015 19:23:09 GMT
Very sad, especially if the reports of a guest losing a leg are true.
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Post by 36dd on Jun 3, 2015 20:12:20 GMT
All depends on the reputation of the park, smiler is just one ride, they have invested in far more to promote it as a resort. They wouldn't risk the chance of losing customers because of the smiler. I'd think twice bout riding it now after what happened yesterday. There will be precedents for dealing with this type of incident, and how to manage public perception. So far, having the CEO doing interviews and shutting the whole park down for a while, is very smart (and appropriate) disaster management. Just compare Merlin Group's behaviour to how Thomas Cook did, where those poor kids got killed. I can't varify how true this is? But apparently that when the accident had happened the first priority of the park staff was not the injured people in the car, but of the other guests filming it on the ground due to publicity etc. Someone's head will role for this (pardon the pun). |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2015 20:16:30 GMT
There will be precedents for dealing with this type of incident, and how to manage public perception. So far, having the CEO doing interviews and shutting the whole park down for a while, is very smart (and appropriate) disaster management. Just compare Merlin Group's behaviour to how Thomas Cook did, where those poor kids got killed. I can't varify how true this is? But apparently that when the accident had happened the first priority of the park staff was not the injured people in the car, but of the other guests filming it on the ground due to publicity etc. Someone's head will role for this (pardon the pun). So it should as well. I know they have had problem after problem with this ride, but to send out carriages full of people out before test cars had come back in is insane. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2015 2:44:19 GMT
I can't varify how true this is? But apparently that when the accident had happened the first priority of the park staff was not the injured people in the car, but of the other guests filming it on the ground due to publicity etc. Someone's head will role for this (pardon the pun). So it should as well. I know they have had problem after problem with this ride, but to send out carriages full of people out before test cars had come back in is insane. It's more likely to be a sensor failure or a glitch in the software than human error isn't it? I don't mind a day out at Alton Towers and I think Nemesis and Air are brilliant but The Smiler just looks wrong to me. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2015 5:24:27 GMT
So it should as well. I know they have had problem after problem with this ride, but to send out carriages full of people out before test cars had come back in is insane. It's more likely to be a sensor failure or a glitch in the software than human error isn't it? I don't mind a day out at Alton Towers and I think Nemesis and Air are brilliant but The Smiler just looks wrong to me. You could be right and I may be a bit out of order by assuming someone is to blame without knowing the full facts. But something still doesn't seem right because there are plenty of operators on each ride so surely they would know whether a car had returned home,even if there was a malfunction with some sort of computerised equipment? I've always ridden Nemesis(which is still by far their best ride) wondering what the outcome of something going tits up would be,it doesn't bare thinking about. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2015 5:46:24 GMT
It's more likely to be a sensor failure or a glitch in the software than human error isn't it? I don't mind a day out at Alton Towers and I think Nemesis and Air are brilliant but The Smiler just looks wrong to me. You could be right and I may be a bit out of order by assuming someone is to blame without knowing the full facts. But something still doesn't seem right because there are plenty of operators on each ride so surely they would know whether a car had returned home,even if there was a malfunction with some sort of computerised equipment? I've always ridden Nemesis(which is still by far their best ride) wondering what the outcome of something going tits up would be,it doesn't bare thinking about. I suppose what you're saying is that there should always be "eyes on the ride" as a final failsafe, particularly when they had to send out a test car. So perhaps there is a human error? Either ways, it's very sad as I like what they do at Alton Towers and i'm sure that visitor safety is their number one priority. Whilst nobody should get hurt in a fun park, it seems as though a better designed car could have easily prevented the leg injuries. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2015 19:24:42 GMT
You could be right and I may be a bit out of order by assuming someone is to blame without knowing the full facts. But something still doesn't seem right because there are plenty of operators on each ride so surely they would know whether a car had returned home,even if there was a malfunction with some sort of computerised equipment? I've always ridden Nemesis(which is still by far their best ride) wondering what the outcome of something going tits up would be,it doesn't bare thinking about. I suppose what you're saying is that there should always be "eyes on the ride" as a final failsafe, particularly when they had to send out a test car. So perhaps there is a human error? Either ways, it's very sad as I like what they do at Alton Towers and i'm sure that visitor safety is their number one priority. Whilst nobody should get hurt in a fun park, it seems as though a better designed car could have easily prevented the leg injuries. Visitor safety will definitely be the companies priority,I'm just not 100% sure that it will be the number one priority for some of the staff that work there. A good percentage of the staff are young people who are just on a summer job,earning minimum wage and I have heard stories from people who have worked there in the past about how workers treat their jobs there. I'm obviously not talking about all the staff there and again I might be totally wrong about there being human error in this accident,but it seems to me that there must be some sort of human error involved when a car full of people is sent out before a test car has got back in. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2015 19:29:31 GMT
I suppose what you're saying is that there should always be "eyes on the ride" as a final failsafe, particularly when they had to send out a test car. So perhaps there is a human error? Either ways, it's very sad as I like what they do at Alton Towers and i'm sure that visitor safety is their number one priority. Whilst nobody should get hurt in a fun park, it seems as though a better designed car could have easily prevented the leg injuries. Visitor safety will definitely be the companies priority,I'm just not 100% sure that it will be the number one priority for some of the staff that work there. A good percentage of the staff are young people who are just on a summer job,earning minimum wage and I have heard stories from people who have worked there in the past about how workers treat their jobs there. I'm obviously not talking about all the staff there and again I might be totally wrong about there being human error in this accident,but it seems to me that there must be some sort of human error involved when a car full of people is sent out before a test car has got back in. Sadly, you're probably right as they were obviously testing the thing. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2015 19:32:19 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2015 19:32:48 GMT
Visitor safety will definitely be the companies priority,I'm just not 100% sure that it will be the number one priority for some of the staff that work there. A good percentage of the staff are young people who are just on a summer job,earning minimum wage and I have heard stories from people who have worked there in the past about how workers treat their jobs there. I'm obviously not talking about all the staff there and again I might be totally wrong about there being human error in this accident,but it seems to me that there must be some sort of human error involved when a car full of people is sent out before a test car has got back in. Sadly, you're probably right as they were obviously testing the thing. My lady has just said that it was on the radio earlier about one of the casualties has lost a leg,with 3 others having suffered other life changing injuries. Apparently the emergency services weren't informed until 11 minutes after the incident. Terrible. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2015 3:02:58 GMT
Police have obtained photographic evidence of the Smiler crash to use for legal procedings. Alton Towers however are charging them £6 per photo or £8 for a keyring.
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Post by partickpotter on Jun 5, 2015 12:32:52 GMT
Police have obtained photographic evidence of the Smiler crash to use for legal procedings. Alton Towers however are charging them £6 per photo or £8 for a keyring. I shouldn't laugh at this - but I did! |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2015 18:39:00 GMT
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Post by scfcmacca on Jun 5, 2015 20:08:03 GMT
As an ex employee to towers guest safety is crucial and the number one priority this is drilled into ride operators day in and day out, ride ops have extensive daily training to ensure they know the drills heart by heart in case anything goes wrong. The ride ops are on more than national minimum wage and hold a ride operators licence detailing which rides they are qualified to operate (very much like a drivers license).
Now without knowing the ins and outs of this I can only speculate but I'm certain this is a mechanical error and not human in the slightest, although it sounds ignorant staff will only do what the computer tells them to, so if guests told them there was a train on the track they would still only listen to the computer system as this should stop any crash from happening. As I'm sure you have all read the track is split into sections only one train can enter one zone only the censors should of stopped this from happening, obviously there was a fault there.
The staff sent the empty train around the track as the computer flagged a problem with the train not the track, this enabled staff to let the fully loaded train go behind it as there was no fault with the track just the train in front. Unfortunately the computer system has failed and leaves us here.
With defending the staff there, there seemed to be a delay in arranging medical care for the injured this is unacceptable and they are certainly not trained to delay that much. I can only put that down to sheer panick leading them to forget what to do in a crisis
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