The Smiler Incident - What Happened

[GooseOnTheLoose]

I just had a quick question (apologies if this has already been answered before):-

Does anybody know why Dragon's Fury and Rattlesnake at Chessington were closed immediately following The Smiler crash in 2015, whereas other rides at Chessington (such as Vampire) apparently were not?

(I am aware that Saw at Thorpe Park was also closed, but I believe that this was simply because it was manufactured by the same company as The Smiler)

I've never been to Chessington, but my understanding is that Dragon's Fury is somewhat similar to Spinball Whizzer at Alton Towers, so why was Spinball Whizzer not closed as well, or - for that matter - any other ride (besides the three mentioned above) at Legoland, Thorpe Park, Chessington, or Alton Towers?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sonic Spinball, as it was known then, was also closed in the wake of The Smiler crash.

Sonic Spinball, Dragon's Fury, Rattlesnake and Saw were all closed for additional health, safety and protocol training, as they feature a similar zonal block system (allowing for multiple cars on the track at the same time).

Although Vampire can have multiple trains on the track at the same time, its block system isn't zonal in the same way.

News round up – X Sector and Sonic Spinball return – TowersStreet - Your premier Alton Towers guide!

towersstreet.com

 

[Jb85]

Sonic Spinball, as it was known then, was also closed in the wake of The Smiler crash.

Sonic Spinball, Dragon's Fury, Rattlesnake and Saw were all closed for additional health, safety and protocol training, as they feature a similar zonal block system (allowing for multiple cars on the track at the same time).

Although Vampire can have multiple trains on the track at the same time, its block system isn't zonal in the same way.

News round up – X Sector and Sonic Spinball return – TowersStreet - Your premier Alton Towers guide!

towersstreet.com

looking back now I’m amazed the whole portfolio wasn’t closed down whilst all ride procedures were reviewed

 

[Alsty]

Presumably the coasters with only two trains were seen as a low risk. It would be obvious to staff if one train had stalled.

The coasters with multiple trains would be a higher risk since it wouldn't be immediately obvious if one train was missing.

 

[Secret Weapon]

News round up – X Sector and Sonic Spinball return – TowersStreet - Your premier Alton Towers guide!

towersstreet.com

Thank you for this link. The articles produced by BBC News (see below) and Channel 5 only mentioned the rides at Chessington and Thorpe Park being shut, with no mention of Sonic Spinball being closed as well (Channel 5 referred to Dragon's Fury as "Dragon Fury", so it may not have been that well researched to begin with).

My understanding was that Alton Towers was closed entirely for a few days, so the media may not have been aware at this stage that Sonic Spinball would remain closed for a while after the rest of the park reopened.

Alton Towers Smiler crash: Four rollercoasters shut

Four rollercoasters at three theme parks are shut after a crash at Alton Towers in which 16 people were injured, four seriously.

www.bbc.co.uk

Presumably the coasters with only two trains were seen as a low risk. It would be obvious to staff if one train had stalled.

The coasters with multiple trains would be a higher risk since it wouldn't be immediately obvious if one train was missing.

I may be wrong, but I think that I've seen Oblivion run more than 2 trains as well; the Towers Street article above states that Oblivion and Enterprise were closed due to their proximity to The Smiler, but I wonder whether Oblivion would have been closed even if it was located elsewhere within the park so that its block system could have been reviewed?

Then again, Oblivion has such a short track that perhaps the risk of a collision on that ride is very low anyway.

 

[Squiggs]

I wonder whether Oblivion would have been closed even if it was located elsewhere within the park so that its block system could have been reviewed?

I believe this was the case, yes, it was just masked by the entire of X-Sector being closed whilst this part of the initial investigation was completed.