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Incident on The Smiler 02/06/2015

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Oh for christ sake, read this for more gutter journalism:

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/thirty-accidents-alton-towers-three-9397443

Over 30 accidents logged at Alton Towers in the past 3 years, including:-

  • 13 year old hits head in a scare maze after being surprised - she was pushed into a wall by her friends....
  • Another female accidentally headbutted by a member of her friends who jumped after being scared in Nemesis sub terra
  • Ride op falls in water (on rapids or log flume) after losing balance on the station
  • Entertainer injured when sole of boot falls off whilst doing a pirate show
  • A ride op injuring themselves when pushing a harness down on a ride
  • An engineer injuring themselves when falling off the back of a flat bed lorry

They are curiously quiet on the other 24 instances. If they are as **** as the ones above, it no wonder. None of them relate to ride safety.

Seriously, has the news really got this dire in the UK?!!!!
 
Some of the things the news have stated against Alton Towers I am finding ridiculous. In a way, it is actually offending me to read some of the report published because it is so ridiculous, if that makes sense. All I can really say is that its the work of people who dont understand rollercoasters and parks like we do...I guess the difference that can really make is minimal though
 
Friends, don't waste your time with silly petitions. That news presenter is going nowhere. This is the world we live in and the media companies are proud of themselves for selling false information to you, the public, to keep you scared, to sell news papers, and keep TV ratings up. Reporting truth doesn't matter to these people as you can see by how she was desperately trying to twist and distort the story.

Just remember over the coming days, weeks, months - when you're watching the news and hearing about other world events, that most of it is total boll0cks. Most of it is untrue. You have this Alton Towers story as a reference point to prove it.
 
What he said ^^ :)

I too must admit that I have a newfound respect for Nick Varney after his recent appearances.

I've spent years slating the way Merlin have been taking the park and I honestly hope that this can be the turning point that both the park and Merlin need where they can start putting their customers first over profits. It's time to get rid of these stupid year on year budget cuts and put some enthusiasm into building the brand back up to what it used to be.

Just to note that i'm not suggesting budget cuts were to blame for the accident but now more than ever the brand needs customer loyalty, something that they seem to have forgotten in the past few years.
 
Danny said:
That petition is a waste of time. Sky are evidently going to keep her for ratings, and the best course of action is indeed to contact Ofcom.
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The interview was dreadful, but we need free press/media.
 
Croftybaby said:
What he said ^^ :)

I too must admit that I have a newfound respect for Nick Varney after his recent appearances.

I've spent years slating the way Merlin have been taking the park and I honestly hope that this can be the turning point that both the park and Merlin need where they can start putting their customers first over profits. It's time to get rid of these stupid year on year budget cuts and put some enthusiasm into building the brand back up to what it used to be.

Just to note that i'm not suggesting budget cuts were to blame for the accident but now more than ever the brand needs customer loyalty, something that they seem to have forgotten in the past few years.
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What he said ^^

:p
 
Does anyone know if the rides shut at chessington and thorpe are to give the staff more training or to change the ride in one way or another?

From a selfish point of view, i hope that school trips are affected (my class wasn't allowed to go - injustice) I hope queue times go down and the park is quieter.

What are the point of these petitions? Alton towers will keep smiler, no matter what. Sky will keep her as how many of us have now watched the interview when we wouldn't have before?
 
I wonder if any schools will be naïve enough, even when the park reopens, to say: "Sorry kids, Alton Towers trip is cancelled because the park's not safe enough."
 
I do wonder why the Rattlesnake has been closed. I know that it is a multi-car rollercoaster not dissimilar from the Smiler, however if the ride op simply steps out of their booth they can see almost the whole circuit. I understand Saw, although again ive never seen any cars stall on Saw

Should we take this new level of security to mean that Varney knows it was some kind of human error? I think not, although im curious as to your responses
 
Tom.B said:
I wonder if any schools will be naïve enough, even when the park reopens, to say: "Sorry kids, Alton Towers trip is cancelled because the park's not safe enough."
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I would imagine that, potentially, many parents would be concerned about it enough to not allow their children to attend such a trip - at least in the immediate weeks following this incident. From purely anecdotal evidence from my workplace, I've already met two mothers who are refusing to allow their children to visit the park currently so I wouldn't be surprised. I also wouldn't describe it as naive as it seems a fairly natural reaction to a terrible event such as this to attempt to protect those around you. We might know how safe roller-coasters are in general but the general public's trust in theme parks has certainly taken a beating.

I've just seen the entirety of the Sky News interview. Kay Burley's interviewing style is undeniably as terrible as usual but the questions she's asking are fairly reasonable (except for asking about the injuries sustained of course). I'd argue that they are the questions that the general public are asking themselves in offices and homes around the country - just done in an unnecessarily rude and obnoxious manner.

EDIT: Added in the bit about injuries sustained
 
A few further bits off the Press Association etc from yesterday (5th June):

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The park has tweeted that it will also be closed tomorrow. It's statement said it hoped to open in the next few days.
The Health and Safety Executive says it has issued a Prohibition Notice on the Smiler ride.

The HSE statement in full

'HSE will today remove the carriages involved in the incident on 'The Smiler' rollercoaster on 2 June and transport them to the Health and Safety Laboratory in Buxton for further analysis.

The investigation into the incident continues and HSE inspectors remain on site. They have served a Prohibition notice on the rollercoaster stopping its use until action is taken to deal with the cause of the failure.

Neil Craig, Head of Operations for HSE in the Midlands said:

"The Notice is specific to the 'Smiler' ride and does not affect other rides at the park. HSE expects the park operator to apply any early learning from the incident to wider risk management at the site.

"The decision about when to re-open the Park is for the owners to make."'

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Ms Balch is among four people seriously injured after Alton Towers' Smiler ride came to a crashing halt on Tuesday afternoon when two carriages collided.
The other three seriously hurt have been named as Daniel Thorpe, a 27-year-old hotel assistant manager from Buxton in Derbyshire, textile design student Joe Pugh, 18, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, and his girlfriend, Leah Washington, 17.
Nick Varney, chief executive of Merlin Entertainments which runs the Staffordshire visitor attraction, today said safety measures "were not adequate" at Alton Towers and defended the decision to close a number of other rides.
He said the group was adding "another layer" of safety measures to existing rides as a "precaution" against the prospect of another accident.
Alton Towers has been closed since the record-breaking Smiler ride crashed.
Today, bosses announced it had temporarily shut another Alton Towers ride, Saw, a similar rollercoaster at its Thorpe Park site, and two rides at Chessington World of Adventures - both in Surrey - to "reinforce the safe operation" of the attractions.
Mr Varney declined to comment on reports at least one of the passengers lost a leg following the crash when he appeared on Sky News.
He said "a rather unique set of circumstances (might) have played a contributory factor in the Smiler accident" and said his team was doing "everything" to help those affected.
He told Sky News: "What we have done today is put in another level of additional safety measures across all of our parks that operate these types of rides. All of them - bar two - have been able to implement those new procedures today.
"The two rides at Chessington that are currently suspended will take a few days before we can make the technical and training adjustments to bring them up to the new level of safety protocol - it doesn't mean they were not safe before.
"I think we have had very rigorous protocols across all our attractions. We have had the first - and I hope only accident - in one of our theme parks. We have to make sure that doesn't happen again.
"(Safety measures) clearly weren't adequate on Smiler, because the accident happened. We have taken steps to upgrade safety standards from what were already very stringent safety standards.
"I want to be able to look everybody in the eye and promise them when they come to our parks and get on our rides that they are safe."
The park is reckoned to be racking up losses of around #500,000 a day since the incident and it has also faced accusations staff dithered for 10 minutes before making the first 999 call, despite screams of distress from bloodied passengers on board Smiler.
Bosses today said Alton Towers is to re-open "within the next few days" but the ride involved in the crash will remain shut for the foreseeable future.
Since opening two years ago, the #18 million rollercoaster, which boasts a world-record 14 loops, has been closed twice because of safety concerns.

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ISSUED BY THEIR LAWYERS

"The family of Victoria Balch has been inundated by press enquiries following the serious injuries she sustained this week at the theme park. The family do not wish to comment at this stage and have asked all press enquiries to be directed to their solicitors, Stewarts Law who they have instructed to represent Victoria's interests following the incident.

Partner, Paul Paxton said: 'Whilst it is anticipated that there will be a substantial claim for damages to support Victoria in her recovery, the main focus at present for the family is Victoria's well-being and ensuring that the investigation into the accident is carried out swiftly and vigorously. They have every confidence in the police and the Health and Safety Executive. It is expected that serious consideration will be given to criminal prosecutions. The family are distraught that a fun day out could turn into such a potentially life-changing disaster.'

Victoria remains in hospital in a critical condition

----

On AFP (Agence France Presse): AFP-Britain-leisure-incident

The operator of a British theme park where a rollercoaster crashed earlier this week, seriously injuring four people, said Friday it had closed three rides at other parks.
A total of 16 people required medical attention after the carriage they were in hit an empty carriage on The Smiler ride at Alton Towers, in central England, on Tuesday.
The resort has been closed since then and another similar ride, Saw, at Thorpe Park west of London, was also shut down following the accident.
Merlin Entertainments, which runs both parks, said The Smiler and Saw -- both made by Germany company Gerstlauer -- would remain closed "for the foreseeable future".
The firm said it had also introduced new safety protocols across all its rides, and two rollercoasters at a third park, Chessington World of Adventures, were temporarily closed while these protocols were implemented.
"This has been a terrible experience for everyone involved and one we sincerely regret," said Nick Varney, chief executive of Merlin Entertainments.
Two of the four people who suffered serious leg injuries in the crash, were reportedly teenagers on a first date.
"It is an accident that should not have happened, and we are determined that it will never happen again," he said.
"Whilst the investigation into the causes is continuing, we have identified a series of additional safety protocols that we are implementing immediately across our multi-car rollercoasters."
The Smiler opened in 2013 and is billed as the world's first 14-loop rollercoaster. The Alton Towers website said the ride is "not for the faint-hearted".
 
Unfortunately the world we live in means the press explode everything into something 2000x times worse than what it is. The human nature is interested by disaster and catastrophe, even if it disgusts us we can't look away. Look at motorway car accidents as an example. It sells papers and gets online views.

Example on my industry (rail), disabled person gets caught in a level crossing, barrier sequence stopped, signaller prepares to raise barriers, with some kind helpers lifted the barrier to 'rescue' her, although they actually made matters worse.

That VERY evening the local rag published an article saying they were 'seconds' from disaster, if a train had come there would of been catastrophe with the train derailing on the wheelchair (lol.), and the heroes who saved the hour get an award.

No train would of gone across the crossing, and the nearest one was half a mile away slowing to stop!
 
Jamie G said:
Unfortunately the world we live in means the press explode everything into something 2000x times worse than what it is. The human nature is interested by disaster and catastrophe, even if it disgusts us we can't look away. Look at motorway car accidents as an example. It sells papers and gets online views.

Example on my industry (rail), disabled person gets caught in a level crossing, barrier sequence stopped, signaller prepares to raise barriers, with some kind helpers lifted the barrier to 'rescue' her, although they actually made matters worse.

That VERY evening the local rag published an article saying they were 'seconds' from disaster, if a train had come there would of been catastrophe with the train derailing on the wheelchair (lol.), and the heroes who saved the hour get an award.

No train would of gone across the crossing, and the nearest one was half a mile away slowing to stop!
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While I completely agree with the principle you're conveying (and the press has clearly highlighted how little knowledge they have with regards to roller-coasters), I'm not sure it's entirely applicable in this case. Certainly, with regards to the newspaper listing the thirty 'accidents' and similar such stories, that is them attempting to sensationalise the incident. However, these four visitors have experienced 'life-changing' injuries and if the papers are correct and limbs have been amputated, then I'm not entirely sure that's the press making it '2000x times worse than it is'. These people's lives would have been irreversibly changed forever with a subsequent grieving process for their previous life. And don't forget what effect this will have on their current/future careers or even their relationships/personal lives. We don't yet know the extent of their injuries but there's no denying that 'life changing' is severe and the press response is indicative of that.
 
Don't get me wrong, they haven't been so dramatic this time, but conveying "a poor safety record" like they was trying to do, and saying it should of been shut on the day is simply to sell papers. And saying someone has had their leg amputated, with no back up or reliable source is frankly disgusting.

I asked earlier on, but no one replied. As a matter of interest, does anyone know if the operators panels are recorded? As in a data logger?

If it does come down to human error, it's very difficult to factor that in to operation, especially during a fault and degraded working and you essentially don't have the integrity of the interlocking, and the block system. And that's exactly why a set procedure has to be in place IE, whys the block occupied, do we have all cars accounted for, if not why not, is it a fault etc. which is why I suspect saw (is that a similar ride in design?) etc are also closed!
 
Yes, the injuries are terrible, and I am not even going to try to claimthey arent, that would be irresponsible and if im honest competely disgusting. However, the thing a lot of peoplle in the GP are forgetting is that there were a lot of peculiar circumstances surrounding the incident. It wasnt as simple as a car being sent by accident I dont think, and the press dont seem to be respecting that, or the victims at all. Many keep trying to intrude on the families of the victims, which is obviously wrong, as well as trying to put pressure on Varney so he cracks. The media, in my eyes, do seem to be making out like the Towers were built by the devil and deserve to be shut down (not literally)
 
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