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Incident on The Smiler 02/06/2015

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Rob said:
Believe it or not, I do not want to gain financially from this. Shock horror, I know.

And I would sooner give a free ticket to either friend/someone at work than sell it anway.

:)
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Giving it away to a friend or work acquaintance is still currency in a way anyway as it could lead to a favour for a favour etc ;)
 
ANYWAY

Back to the point, in a strange way I'm pleased that The Smiler is running to a certain extent. Most be purely to do with the investigation though.
 
Actually, you're all right. It's an UTTER DISGRACE that this accident leaving people with missing limbs, broken legs and substantial internal injuries inconveniences YOU. Totally unacceptable. In fact, Alton Towers should be PAYING YOU to visit.

The idea that people think they deserve compensation because of this actually disgusts me. Get some f***ing perspective, and maybe some sensitivity.
 
Anyway, all this talk of who benefits from free tickets etc is somewhat off-topic and not really related to the incident. So if we could all, myself included, get back on-topic that would be grand!

:)
 
It just been point out by my daughter that the [weighting] "dummies have no legs, and could upset the injured people."
 
Oh god! Let's hope the media don't go jumping on that next, test water dummies never have legs (or arms for that matter). Anyway the testing will be being carried out by the HSE I would imagine.

It appears they have had a train stopped at the top of lift 1 for a little while, similar to what happened in this incident.

:)
 
Slugjc said:
no such thing as private in the press. I think they have proved that over recent years. They want answers, not the truth.

yes I know the families wont be interested in public image, the lawyers will do that for them. But a good lawyer wil wait and build a case rather come out all guns blazing. Remember they have to make money too. My point is, is that when public look at this, they give huge support, they get things like 1 direction involved etc. But in big cases where people have been hurt, people after cash get no sympathy. That's how the great British public work I'm afraid.

dignity always wins through.
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Again, I feel you're being incredibly insensitive to these families by implying they have been undignified in their response to their loved ones being seriously injured. Thank you for patronisingly pointing out that lawyers have to make money too - I'm not really sure what that has to do with the issue at hand however. I feel this adverse reaction to the families' demands that Merlin is punished is limited to this forum though. So far (in the press, comments on social media and personal experience), I would say that most people are understanding of the families' response and if anything, believe they have acted with great dignity and respectability given the circumstances. It appears it is just yourself and potentially another member of this forum who have been so critical of the family/families.

EuroSatch said:
Are there unanswered questions that remain in the public interest though? The only one I can think of is the cause of the crash. Anything else is not mine nor anyone else's business other than the people involved
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That's very true but as already stated, the press are very rarely pushed to prove that something is in the public's interest unless the families make a complaint and I feel that's probably unlikely as it could extend/heighten the press exposure on them.

With regards to the issue over whether annual pass holders should have received something as compensation for the park being shut/multiple rides being closed - I can understand where you're coming from. As other's have said though, these issues tend to be better dealt with on the day itself as it's often difficult to reach a happy conclusion afterwards.
 
When the girl died at Oakwood, did we have his extensive coverage with daily updates? When Big Thunder Mountain literally fell apart on a passing train at DLP, did we have more than one news article?

No. I get that this was an awful incident, one that nobody imagined would happen. But it was an accident, and unfortunate, and the media need to stop milking it. Move on. Give the people affected some dignity to recover how they can. Allow Merlin to handle this through their lawyers, without the press spinning the park as a poorly maintained death trap when all evidence points to otherwise.
 
EuroSatch said:
When the girl died at Oakwood, did we have his extensive coverage with daily updates? When Big Thunder Mountain literally fell apart on a passing train at DLP, did we have more than one news article?

No. I get that this was an awful incident, one that nobody imagined would happen. But it was an accident, and unfortunate, and the media need to stop milking it. Move on. Give the people affected some dignity to recover how they can. Allow Merlin to handle this through their lawyers, without the press spinning the park as a poorly maintained death trap when all evidence points to otherwise.
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I completely see your point. The problem lies with the general public continually reading about it though. Even after a week, I've seen the topic be number one on the BBC News most read chart when Leah Washington's amputation was announced and subsequently when One Direction said they were coming to visit her. The Mirror (which has really got behind the story as we all know) had the crash in multiple places in their Top 5 Most Read chart yesterday. Ultimately newspapers are a business and if those are the articles that people are reading they will continue to publish articles on the same topic or of a similar theme. I'm honestly not trying to justify it but simply explaining why the newspapers aren't the sole reason for the ongoing media attention.
 
EuroSatch said:
Actually, you're all right. It's an UTTER DISGRACE that this accident leaving people with missing limbs, broken legs and substantial internal injuries inconveniences YOU. Totally unacceptable. In fact, Alton Towers should be PAYING YOU to visit.

The idea that people think they deserve compensation because of this actually disgusts me. Get some f***ing perspective, and maybe some sensitivity.
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This doesn't make any sense. If a plane crashed and people died and the airline said your flight had been cancelled and you wouldn't be getting a refund because you used air-miles, you would be totally happy with that outcome?

Just because something is tragic the company still has a line of care to existing customers.

I'll say it again, IF YOU'VE PAID NOTHING and lost NOTHING... it's easy to judge those who are complaining on Facebook, Twitter and these forums.

In your own words PERSPECTIVE, it's different for you, it's different for those that have forked out money to visit.
 
Cant believe that people are actually complaining because they haven't been given a free return ticket. Surely there are more important things in the world to complain about than something that technically no-one visiting the park since it reopened was entitled to anyway?
 
LordOfDarkness said:
ANYWAY

Back to the point, in a strange way I'm pleased that The Smiler is running to a certain extent. Most be purely to do with the investigation though.
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What it does mean, IMO, is that the HSE have completed their data gathering for the investigation. They wouldn't have allowed anything to be moved until they had gathered all the evidence they needed.

I'm surprised the ride is running again so quickly - it might be being conducted in collaboration with the HSE to try to replicate the conditions at the time of the accident. I'm not so sure that the HSE would go to that length personally, but it is possible.

The fact that trains are running again so quickly, however, makes me think the ride could be open sooner than I thought. I personally thought the chances of it opening again this season were slim, but I'm not so sure now.

It would be interesting to see exactly how the HSE Prohibition Notice is worded. It might be worded to the effect that nobody is allowed to ride the Smiler, rather than the Smiler not being allowed to operate - 2 different things. If it was the former, there would be nothing to stop AT testing the ride without persons on board once the HSE have completed their data gathering - and that might be what is happening. Then, once they have tested the ride, and also tested any new procedures, the HSE would allow riders on the ride again.
 
Whether it is HSE or Towers the testing seems to be related to the incident, it could also be Gerstlaur (this is an assumption before anyone jumps on it) as they woikd I assume want to be sure the problem is isolated to the Smiler.
 
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