• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Incident on The Smiler 02/06/2015

Status
This topic has been locked. No further replies can be posted.
Thats the fix for smiler, add air bags and proximity senors on to the front and back of the cars. Then if it happens again instant bumpers :D
 
Redesigning the trains has so many knock-on effects on safety that it's just not going to be done unless it's an HSE recommendation. Providing a crumple zone at the front would change the weight balance of the train and wheel loadings. The damn thing struggles to get around the track as it is, and modifications of this nature would require a massive chunk of R&D budget.

The very first thing to solve is why the second train was released into a blocked block, the next is reduce the stall frequency and the third is the flimsy 'public perception' changes.
 
I don't think they will change the vehicles at all, it won't do much good for public confidence if they reopen it and say 'it's alright, we've added crumple zones to the vehicles so next time it crashes the injuries won't be so servere' ;-)

Surely it will be more beneficial if they reopen it and say 'we have now added a safety system that stops two vehicles being in the same section of tra... oh wait... :p

In all seriousness, I think the only things that will be changed on the ride will be procedural, or possibly changing the control system to not allow another vehicle to be dispatched until the one in front has passed that section of track.

Although doing that or re-profiling the track still doesn't eliminate the possibility of a vehicle stalling elsewhere on the track, any coaster has the potential of stalling in extreme circumstances.

Oh well, it'll be interesting to see what they actually do, for now the speculation has been very entertaining. :)
 
Another thing they can do is if the wind is over a certain speed then all cars must be full of either people or weighted dummies. This would make the chance of stalling much lower but wouldn't eliminate it. They could also change the bar on the ground so it's slightly lower. Although they might do nothing if the HSE say that there is nothing wrong with the trains..

I just wouldn't want to be operating the smiler (or any towers ride) if it stalls, although there will probably be an extended procedure now.
 
Hi all,

Thought I'd mention this because it made me feel better when he told me.
My Husband has had the luck of being on an H&S training course with one of the H&S execs that were on the site of the Smiler for 4 weeks investigating!. This man confirmed that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the ride. Leah and Joe even have said they stopped on the lift hill for abut 20 minutes which was exactly what the ride was meant to do due to the stalled train. Clearly it was overridden.
I think the GP don't realise that this ride was actually designed to Duel, therefore you should have a car on each lift hill going up at the same time. The large queue lines didn't allow for this as the staff wanted to get people on and the queue line down of which is understandable. I suspect the ride will go back to Duel only, which if anyone has had the luck of timing it right (luckily I have) is great fun!
Obviously this wont prevent stalls, but that is what its supposed to do.

Sadly human error doesn't put peoples minds at rest, and doesn't change anything but I do hope they will re-open, get some new procedures in place and move forward from this.

Also every breakdown on any ride there now is getting people to jump on the bandwagon for "safety issues." Been going there over 30 years and only ever had one problem when I was 7. Oil Valve blew on the corkscrew and we climbed down the lift hill. No harness or anything!! lol

Hope Smiler opens for Scarefest I really do as the ride if operated correctly is absolutely fine. Like anything really!
 
I have heard that the smiler is being tested but could be Chinese whispers and people claiming to be in the know, but there must be some sort of trains going around I would have thought to keep the ride 'run in'?
 
Could be nothing but I suppose there is every chance they may be doing some testing, especially if they have new and/or improved systems that need implementing. Would make some sense.

:)
 
If Towers were clever, they wouldn't be testing it in park hours, just so it pretty much avoids any news/social media...
 
If it's testing it will be later during the evenings, much like they did with much of the initial testing in 2013.

:)
 
it was said that the head of ride operations, terry Dunn maybe? Was next to the smiler and said that the ride was being tested and timeframe was open regarding the ride. But I have since seen it on Twitter so who it was mentioned it to me could be telling porkies or seen it on Twitter before me :)
 
If they're testing it they will be doing it when the park is closed. Plus if anyone 'in the know' does know whether testing is going on or not, they're not going to confirm it on here anytime soon, as I doubt the ride being tested is something Towers want being leaked out to the public (that includes us), if true of course.
 
I've just noticed that Google has The Smiler listed as 'Permanently closed' (Google 'The Smiler' and it's at the top right of the screen).
 
Indeed, it has been since the incident. No idea how that is managed on Google but it doesn't really mean anything.

:)
 
Ok, I've stayed as a quieter observer on this topic for a while now (almost since the crash!), and after reading what everyone has been saying, I thought I'd jump in if I may, and offer my thoughts to you enthusiasts as someone who is an occasional visitor to Alton Towers.

A lot of points have been made on here about the safety of the park. I'm sure that Alton Towers were to expect safety to be heavily criticised after such a massive, massive incident, but as many on here have said and I'll echo, incidents such as the one that happened on The Smiler are such a rarity nowadays. What has surprised me is how much the press have picked up on this incident and blown every small thing they do wrong up to be something huge when it is essentially a nothing story (eg. multiple coasters breakdown, evacuations, etc). So as an occasional visitor to the park and not an enthusiast as such, has the safety of the park put me off visiting in the future? The answer to that, is no it has not. As a paying member of public, if I was to visit the park in the future, I would be 100% satisfied at Alton Towers' safety, and with AT adding another layer to that safety also to "ensure this never happens again", is a very positive move from them which has helped to reassure many other members of the public.

Rebranding The Smiler - personally I wouldn't like this to happen if they can avoid it (which I'd guess would be quite difficult to do right now following this tragic accident). The whole theme of the ride including the music fitted the whole area, and standing underneath this massive machine with the music playing sounded absolutely awesome. If they were to do anything to "tone down" on the theme, then I can see the taglines and possibly music being slightly reworked (not sure how!). I can't see them wanting to rename the ride, at the end of the day, whatever the ride's name or theme is, people will still refer to it as the ride that crashed and people lost legs on.

I have absolutely no doubts that this ride will reopen soon, however what is unknown at this time is just how soon will that be. A lot of people have speculated this, but pending H&S and lifting all restrictions (if any?) on running the ride, I really do think that Alton Towers' best case scenario is to quietly re-open the ride late September/October ish time on a limited, light schedule. That way, any bad PR they will likely get will be out of the way before the park reopens for 2016. I did debate whether re-opening the ride next year would be better, but I can almost see the press reaction to that, and with a new coaster potentially opening at the same time, it could further put the public off of visiting the park. It's going to be a lose lose situation whatever way you look at it - it's almost inevitable that the press will pick up on it and it will likely all kick off again thanks to our wonderful(!) UK press, it's just a case of damage limitation and looking to cause as little impact on the park's popularity as possible. Near the end of the current year of the park being open is the most suitable time I can think of it being, as the park will want the press to get any negative PR out of the way and get ready to reopen again in 2016.


But that's just my thoughts. I don't think a redesign is needed (maybe a few minor tweaks to the cars) as if it is redesigned then it makes it look like the ride wasn't safe enough to begin with. Road cars aren't designed to be completely crash proof, but they can add in features such as airbags to minimise impact and hopefully protect drivers from major injury, so maybe that might somehow be an option if they were to make any tweaks or changes at all to The Smiler cars? (It's only an idea don't shoot me down if it's not going to work!)
 
Rob said:
Good job this isn't a business forum then isn't it! Amuses me that you expect theme park enthusiasts to think like business people. Although I maintain that how the front of The Smiler's trains look when it re-opens will be the very least of people's worries, of course there will be the odd one but it's totally insignificant. And the media will have bigger things to pick up on, such as the fact that it has re-opened.

Thirteen's trains are very flimsy and weak, ok not as heavy but would they be safe in a crash? Quick, go change the design of the trains!

:)
Click to expand...

The subject matter of this forum is a profit-making business.

Or is the game to pretend it isn't?
 
Status
This topic has been locked. No further replies can be posted.
Top