• 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.

The Smiler - General Discussion

:twirly: just imagine if those nets weren't in place and they came off, I can personally remember riding it when no nets were over you, the incompetence of all involved is unbelievable !
 
I take it that it is still not reopened then?

I did wonder if this was just something daft, it's a bit bizarre this one. No one got any updates at all? No point asking Towers themselves lol!!
 
Won't be riding the Smiler again for a long time. This is shocking. This is the only ride at Alton I don't feel 100% safe on. There are too many faults and bits like this should not be falling off. I wonder what the general public would say I'd they knew all this and previous issues.

Maybe a partial rebuild of the ride will be on the cards come closed season. Extremely worrying, thank god those safety nets were in place. If this ride doesn't injure someone on it, it will injure someone waiting to get on it...... Either that or they will drown in the queue line.
 
In fairness, those don't look like bearings, nor would I thought that safety net hold several metal bearings either. They are probably rubber spacers. The problem is, how hard is it to replace them?
 
they look to me as if they are polypropylene covers for bearings. instead of having metal on metal they put a noise reducing plastic cover/spacer on them. it would make sense with the sound sensitively of the area and neighbours.
 
We were on the stairs on the way up to the station today just as the ride closed. We waited 5 minutes but were then told by a member of the public, coming back down the stairs from the station, that the ride was not going to open again in their opinion. He told us that someone had been hit by something on the ride and they had blood on their face. We then decided to leave before they announced its closure and saw a paramedic van on the road at the back of station.

The next thing we knew the closure was announced and the whole ride was cordoned off no one able to get near the netting where the parts are pictured.

Within the hour we saw engineers take a platform up the vertical lift and appeared to be inspecting the top of the lift (where these items are speculated to have come from).

I hope everyone involved is ok.
 
Freshollie said:
He told us that someone had been hit by something on the ride and they had blood on their face. We then decided to leave before they announced its closure and saw a paramedic van on the road at the back of station.
Click to expand...

What could have gotten through the nets though? I suppose it's possible that something could have fallen through the metal overhead fence which has wider spaces than the nets.
 
I really don't have much else to say on this joke of a ride. I will be shocked if it is still functioning at the park in 10 years time. Towers should be ashamed of themselves for such a shambles.

:)
 
Rob said:
I really don't have much else to say on this joke of a ride. I will be shocked if it is still functioning at the park in 10 years time. Towers should be ashamed of themselves for such a shambles.

:)
Click to expand...
It's posts like this that your signature smiley face seems inappropriate haha.
 
Alastair said:
Freshollie said:
He told us that someone had been hit by something on the ride and they had blood on their face. We then decided to leave before they announced its closure and saw a paramedic van on the road at the back of station.
Click to expand...

What could have gotten through the nets though? I suppose it's possible that something could have fallen through the metal overhead fence which has wider spaces than the nets.
Click to expand...

To confirm, the person coming down the stairs was coming down from the station and he was referencing someone that had come back into the station from the ride. The person hit was on the ride according to him.

This makes sense because they had to run 2 empty trains to get the people from that train back into the station even though the ride was broken.
 
From the BBC:

A new £18m rollercoaster at Alton Towers has closed after a wheel fell off and hit someone on the ride.

A spokeswoman said some "small guide wheels" came off The Smiler as it was being pulled up an incline.

One "hit a guest on the ride and caused some bruising". The rest of the wheels were caught by safety netting, she added.
Click to expand...
 
hobohippie95 said:
From the BBC:

A new £18m rollercoaster at Alton Towers has closed after a wheel fell off and hit someone on the ride.

A spokeswoman said some "small guide wheels" came off The Smiler as it was being pulled up an incline.

One "hit a guest on the ride and caused some bruising". The rest of the wheels were caught by safety netting, she added.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

:eek:

Freshollie said:
To confirm, the person coming down the stairs was coming down from the station and he was referencing someone that had come back into the station from the ride. The person hit was on the ride according to him.

This makes sense because they had to run 2 empty trains to get the people from that train back into the station even though the ride was broken.
Click to expand...

Great reporting Freshollie, you were pretty much spot on it seems.
 
Pretty appalling. Could have been worse had they not installed those nets too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.
 
Guide wheels? Pretty dubious explanation, there's no way that any wheels could fall off a train and hit someone on the same train.
 
Please tell me that they will do a full investigation into why these problems are occurring as well as a full inspection of the ride to make sure nothing like this occurs again?

It's lucky that the person wasn't blinded or injured more seriously. I think this really does draw the line now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top