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The Smiler - General Discussion

Lisa - Thank you so much for coming on and sharing those pics. It has saved hours, maybe even days of arguements on our little forum. ;)

The pictures clearly show a missing bolt and another on it's way out. I'd say that points to load issues on the joint as opposed to a rogue dodgy bolt. HSE will be all over this.

School holidays started 48 hours ago and we're now looking at another period of heavy downtime. The saga continues ey. :/
 
Could just be a dodgy bolt and nothing to do with the ride. Remember RMT when metal fatigue in the coupling caused it to snap, despite all the routine H&S inspections.....

Edit... just saw the second bolt on its way out.... hmmm, ok I retract my statement above, this is obviously something to do with the track, too much force on the one side, will be interesting to see how they rectify this - probably longer bolts lol!!!
 
Novas said:
Lisa - Thank you so much for coming on and sharing those pics. It has saved hours, maybe even days of arguements on our little forum. ;)

The pictures clearly show a missing bolt and another on it's way out. I'd say that points to load issues on the joint as opposed to a rogue dodgy bolt. HSE will be all over this.

School holidays started 48 hours ago and we're now looking at another period of heavy downtime. The saga continues ey. :/
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Which is why we accepted an open-ended re-entry validation on our tickets. One of our party was visiting for the school holidays as she is a teacher abroad so she is going back in a few weeks. We were going to wait for the park manager to discuss it further but I had to come home to collect my son, so we will put it in writing and see if anything comes of it.

Glad I could help. :)
 
Those photos are horribly concerning, especially with there being a second nut that appears to be loose. You'd imagine that they are going to have to give all of the track a check over, I don't think loose nuts is something you can really risk. I've no idea how it could have happened but it could lead to a very nasty injury.

:)
 
Tom said:
It's the "these things happen" and "accidents do occur" statements that I take issue with really. Blame can always be given and it is important to identify who deserves it.

This was a highly serious incident that too many people are quick to laugh off.
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No body has really said that, though based on posts from the likes of Screamscape who review a lot of news from around the world this isn't unheard of.

The point some have made is you can't jump to conclusions about "who" is at fault a few hours after the event and without any knowledge of the circumstances. Speculation is fine but some have declared their judgement already.

Thanks for the pics lisadj, certainly proves a few points in the story
 
So from what I can clearly see a bolt had come off and a second one is looking a bit loose.

1) yes it could happen especially if that area is put under stress, and yes it could be a simple case of a bolt not being put in properly however just good enough to pass inspection.

2)The manufacturer must be absolutely held to account, if its found to be there fault.

3) Why would AT release a statement straight away. Surely they would give themselves time to get the facts together, and most likely the person who would do it wont work weekends.

4) Hope the delay is slight. Im off in October and I wont be happy of I cant get corrected.

5) Does all this bad luck (the smiler, Sub-terra, monorail crash, last years weather, this years weather and oblivion) link into the fact they have a ride called 13. Superstition
 
Benzin said:
Gerst are also at fault for Swarm's bolt flying out then...
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Must be, obviously B&M can't ever be at fault.

If The Smiler was a MACK we would be considering sabotage :D

(Note: The above is "humour" try not to take it seriously)

Seriously this happening isn't very good especially as the queue is under the ride, it's going to require some serious consideration from Towers.
 
I wonder if is to do with parts of the track not aligning correctly when it was built, we did see a few gaps just before opening which had to be sorted. Maybe they just bolted them together and hoped for the best (doubt it) but who knows, but there is obviously a lot of pressure there causing them to sheer off.
 
Dave said:
Benzin said:
Gerst are also at fault for Swarm's bolt flying out then...
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Must be, obviously B&M can't ever be at fault.

If The Smiler was a MACK we would be considering sabotage :D

Seriously this happening isn't very good especially as the queue is under the ride, it's going to require some serious consideration from Towers.
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That was the scary part. I didn't feel comfortable with queuing under the ride on Saturday. On Sunday we were talking about safety and my partner was saying about how safe the cars/gondolas are on the track. But we never really doubted the track. I did have a very uneasy feeling and after it was fine on Saturday I felt better, but then this did happen today!

Must've been so scary for the young boy and his family.
 
I absolutely feel for the family who were unfortunately caught up in the events - must have been terrifying for them on what should have otherwise been a fun and joyous day. I hope that all concerned make a full recovery, both physically and psychologically.

This is clearly not a good situation, and I have confidence that the rest of the structure will be thoroughly checked.

As a side note...
As for laughing it off, Tom (apologies for the apparent singling out, I just feel this is something I personally need to clarify), I'm not sure anyone is? If you are referring to a lightly hearted comment I made, then I absolutely assure you I don't find any of this remotely funny. I can see all the posts are in agreement that this is a serious incident, with the debate centered around blame being apportioned.
 
All we know for sure is, there is a team of people that are going to be looking closely at this incident and looking at the implications from it.

I feel sorry for the Head of Park operations, as they have this sandwich of stress waiting for them tomorrow. if they have not been called in today.

I am glad there is a eye witness with photos on this thread, giving a clear description of the incident.
Its better than how i found out, "have you heard the space station got hit by a bolt exploding off that new Alton Towers ride" ::) ::) how things get twisted by people.

You think i am joking about the ISS thing, no really someone believed it and told me.
 
delta79 said:
All we know for sure is, there is a team of people that are going to be looking closely at this incident and looking at the implications from it.

I feel sorry for the Head of Park operations, as they have this sandwich of stress waiting for them tomorrow. if they have not been called in today.
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Fortunately for him, he's on secondment as acting GM at Warwick Castle at the moment...
 
Not on topic, but I thought you guys might like this:
4cmy.jpg

:3
 
My 13 year old boy was in the que with family and my husband had to grab him as the bolt fell, he was crying he never went on any rides all day
 
I haven't been on or seen the ride in person yet.

But, I was under the impression H&S had already had a field day with the queue area and the whole thing was fenced in from all sides, including from above?

Did the bolt fall outside of the standard queue area, or am I incorrect in assuming the entire queue is covered with fencing?

It's mind-boggling to think someone ended up getting hit by something after all the H&S drama before opening.
 
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