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Incident on The Smiler 02/06/2015

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If its human error, it has nothing to do with gerst. They would have no problem using them again.

That said, bolts falling out the track and wheels falling off isn a good record.
 
Leah said:
If its human error, it has nothing to do with gerst. They would have no problem using them again.

That said, bolts falling out the track and wheels falling off isn a good record.
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That's what I was thinking. They've had lots of problems with the smiler before which certainly weren't human error!
 
To be honest, if this does turn out to be human error, Gerst are the real losers here. They're just starting to make a name for themselves, yet their reputation would be tarnished by an event totally outside of their control.
 
Unless essential safety features were overridden then I really can't imagine that this crash was the slightest bit possible so I'm betting on human error but I could be wrong. We'll just have to await the news from the HSE.
 
Harvey. said:
To be honest, if this does turn out to be human error, Gerst are the real losers here. They're just starting to make a name for themselves, yet their reputation would be tarnished by an event totally outside of their control.
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I don't agree with this. Gerstlauer will be just fine whatever the outcome. They've already opened two major coasters in Europe this year, Karnan and Junker, and because their coasters are more reasonably priced than those by say B&M, Intamin and probably Mack, demand will always be maintained by those parks that want a major coaster without the mammoth costs.

One incident, which may well not even be related to Gerstlauer, will not have an impact on the business.

They just need to make sure they don't end up going down the Intamin route whereby parks who purchase their coasters continually have to request follow up work because either the profiling is poor or the ride is just buggered. Intamin are suffering following years of issues, there are many parks around the world who don't even consider them now.

:)
 
I get your point, but I still disagree. Of course they are established enough to stick around and their pricing provides them with a firm place on the market - there is no doubt that Gerst coasters will continue cropping up all over Europe. But I do feel that regardless of which error(s) caused the crash - be it human error, operational error, manufacturing or systematic error - Gerst are going to be associated with the accident. Even if the final HSE report is published (which it probably won't be) and totally acquits Gerst, the manufacturer is always going to carry some of the baggage simply due to a lack of enlightenment. I just think it has damaged Gerst's reputation significantly even when it possibly is totally outside of their control, which is a huge shame.
 
Harvey. said:
I get your point, but I still disagree. Of course they are established enough to stick around and their pricing provides them with a firm place on the market - there is no doubt that Gerst coasters will continue cropping up all over Europe. But I do feel that regardless of which error(s) caused the crash - be it human error, operational error, manufacturing or systematic error - Gerst are going to be associated with the accident. Even if the final HSE report is published (which it probably won't be) and totally acquits Gerst, the manufacturer is always going to carry some of the baggage simply due to a lack of enlightenment. I just think it has damaged Gerst's reputation significantly even when it possibly is totally outside of their control, which is a huge shame.
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The industry is more knowledgeable than that, this is shown by how no non-Merlin parks have shown any concerns over their own Gerstlauer coasters. The industry knows that coasters are safe, the industry knows that one off incidents are possible but very rare.

I don't think there is anything to show that Gerstlauer reputation has been damaged significantly, that is quite a bold statement. For me the levels of roughness on many of their coasters is more of a damage to their repuation and a factor that is more likely to have a business impact. Parks are coninually striving for smoother and more comfortable rides.

As for public opinion, the vast majority of the public will not know which coasters are made by which manufacturers. And I doubt European and/or worldwide media are going to be going with news such as "small park in Denmark to open new coaster made by Smiler crash company". There will be no interest! However I can't see Towers getting a Gerstlauer any time soon as that would generate some news here. That's not a problem though as Towers don't need one!

:)
 
Tomorrow morning an interview with Joe Pugh, one of the victims from the front row, will be aired on ITV News, and he is also set to appear on This Morning.
 
Be putting the record function of sky into use then. Would like to hear what he has to say without the possibility of it being twisted and cut by the tabloid
 
Oh yippee! Funny how the news channels couldn't care less about getting the victims of serious car crashes on TV. No doubt we can expect Thursday's papers to be full of quotes.

:)
 
ITV is sensationalist, it's just not as blatant as the tabloids - it'll be far from without influence.
 
I'm guessing the questions will be more about the recovery and how he or they are all coping rather than the incident itself.
 
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