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.

 

[Secret Weapon]

Apologies if this is the wrong place to post this, but just a quick note that two of the Smiler crash victims (specifically, Leah Washington and Joe Pugh) are hosting a black-tie event in Barnsley on Saturday 7th June 2025 to commemorate the 10-year anniversary (approximately) of the incident, and to hopefully raise money for the charity that helped them on the day (as well as other causes, too).

See: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dani...ugh-and-joe-activity-7312810416835866624-pc9_

Tickets can be bought from [email protected] (if you know of anybody interested, then feel free to pass this along).

I will try to attend if I can, but if not then I will at least make a donation to the charity!

 

[AT86]

Ten years ago today since The Smiler incident.

Safe to say the impact was wide ranging for the victims, the park and the theme park industry.

Article on BBC News referencing the incident and the impact here, including the changes made to avoid repeat occurrences:

Alton Towers 2015 Smiler crash 'like driving into a car at 90mph'

Despite being badly hurt in Alton Towers crash, 10 years on Leah and Joe "couldn't be happier".

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Secret Weapon]

I always wonder how different things might have been if the accident had not occurred. Was it destined to happen on a Merlin ride at some point anyway due to the poor safety protocols, or was it something that was unlikely to ever repeat if it could have just been avoided on this one occasion?

(The fact that it had stalled on the batwing in 2013 should have meant that the park would have been even more vigilant by 2015, but unfortunately this warning sign apparently went unheeded)

P.S. I think that tickets to Saturday's anniversary charity ball are no longer on sale, although they are probably still accepting donations and entries into the raffles.

 

[Hid]

Although accidents are always a tragedy the industry is in fact better off because of these accidents to prevent something like this ever happening again.

This incident changed Alton Towers and hoping some day it will reach that greatness its once had before the accident not only did the incident leave lasting impacts throughout the park it also saw the loss of many rides during the aftermath. We lost many rides that year in 2015 to Ripsaw, Flume, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Nemesis Sub Terra, Hex, Driving School and Ice Age.

 

[Secret Weapon]

Although accidents are always a tragedy the industry is in fact better off because of these accidents to prevent something like this ever happening again.

It's an annoying part of human nature that people don't tend to react unless accidents force them to change.

(It's not exactly the same thing, but wrestling fans may remember that the cage broke during the Mick Foley vs Undertaker match in 1998 - which could have resulted in a fatality - but it wasn't until the death of Owen Hart the following year that the company finally improved their safety standards when performing stunts.

Likewise: Oceangate ignored repeated safety warnings about their Titan submersible until it was too late)

I wonder what would have happened if the operator of The Smiler had removed all passengers and sent an empty car around on the 2nd June 2015, so that the crash still would have happened, but with no injuries; would Merlin still have improved their operating procedures, or did it require human casualties in order to force them to change?

Also: I wonder if the victims take any comfort from the fact that their sacrifice meant that the 16 people behind them in the queue avoided injury?

 

[Hid]

Also: I wonder if the victims take any comfort from the fact that their sacrifice meant that the 16 people behind them in the queue avoided injury?

We know the 4 in the front had the most severe injuries, but did the others in the other 12 rows equally have severe injuries to because when it was on the media the other 12 were hardly spoken to as well

 

[Secret Weapon]

We know the 4 in the front had the most severe injuries, but did the others in the other 12 rows equally have severe injuries to because when it was on the media the other 12 were hardly spoken to as well

I've always been a bit hazy on this.

I remember one of the girls on the front row (Victoria) stating that the car crashed into a V-shaped tow bar, which is why the two girls in the middle were the most severely injured (and why the two girls had injuries to legs on opposite sides of their bodies), whereas the two boys on the outside were less injured.

I remember hearing that somebody on the second row (Chanda Chauhan) suffered from internal abdominal injuries; she stated in an interview that it had been "a battle" to get compensation from Merlin, which - if true - suggests that Merlin were more focused on the riders in the front row, presumably because their injuries were more severe and visible.

I also remember hearing that other riders had suffered from broken ribs and concussions (although I don't know who), but I don't think that I have ever heard anything from riders on the third or fourth row (or even heard them be identified).

During one of the court hearings, I can only remember seeing people from the front two rows in attendance (including Chanda Chauhan, and possibly some of her other family members from the second row), but I may be wrong about that.

 

[Hid]

I've always been a bit hazy on this.

I remember one of the girls on the front row (Victoria) stating that the car crashed into a V-shaped tow bar, which is why the two girls in the middle were the most severely injured (and why the two girls had injuries to legs on opposite sides of their bodies), whereas the two boys on the outside were less injured.

I remember hearing that somebody on the second row (Chanda Chauhan) suffered from internal abdominal injuries; she stated in an interview that it had been "a battle" to get compensation from Merlin, which - if true - suggests that Merlin were more focused on the riders in the front row, presumably because their injuries were more severe and visible.

I also remember hearing that other riders had suffered from broken ribs and concussions (although I don't know who), but I don't think that I have ever heard anything from riders on the third or fourth row (or even heard them be identified).

During one of the court hearings, I can only remember seeing people from the front two rows in attendance (including Chanda Chauhan, and possibly some of her other family members from the second row), but I may be wrong about that.

This accident has had way more impact and coverage then a similar accident Runaway Mine Train had back in the day that one is mostly forgotten compared to this one. Yet that should of been a warning sign in itself

 

[Jb85]

This accident has had way more impact and coverage then a similar accident Runaway Mine Train had back in the day that one is mostly forgotten compared to this one. Yet that should of been a warning sign in itself

Difference to the two was nobody lost a leg on the RMT crash

 

[Secret Weapon]

The bigger warning possibly should have been the Alton Mouse accident from 1991, as that was eerily similar to the Smiler accident (ride stalls and then operator incorrectly restarts it).

They may have gotten away with it because the ride itself was closed shortly afterwards, which subtly implies that it was the ride's fault and not AT's - even though it was.

I think the RMT crash was more to do with mechanical failure than operator error, although I may be wrong.

Another factor was that the Smiler ride itself was relatively new at the time; if it had been an older ride (e.g. the Black Hole) then the public may not have treated Alton Towers so harshly.

Social media was also starting to become big around 2015.

I can't prove this, but if the front row riders had been sat the other way around, so that the boys were in the middle and had been injured more severely than the girls, then this may not have generated so much negative publicity; likewise, if the front and second row riders had been sat the other way around, then it may not have been as damaging from a PR perspective.

It's terrible for me to say this, but I also wonder whether fatalities would have actually been less damaging to AT's reputation than amputations; people tend to be more horrified at the sight of mutilation than they are about reading about statistics.

 

[Secret Weapon]

Article on BBC News referencing the incident and the impact here, including the changes made to avoid repeat occurrences:

Alton Towers 2015 Smiler crash 'like driving into a car at 90mph'

Despite being badly hurt in Alton Towers crash, 10 years on Leah and Joe "couldn't be happier".

www.bbc.co.uk

Another point (sorry to double-post):-

I've just watched the video linked in this article, and it makes me wonder whether the compensation paid was different for each victim.

I remember one of the amputees (Victoria) saying in 2019 that her payout was strictly for medical expenses (i.e. her prosthetics) and that she would still need to work for a living as the compensation wasn't like a "lottery win" - but, unless I'm mistaken, the tone of the video above implies that the payout to some of the other victims (Leah and Joe) has enabled them to live a more financially comfortable life than they may have done if not for the accident?

There are a few possible reasons for this that I can think of, such as:-

1) These victims are married, and therefore they have probably combined their payouts (whereas Victoria's payout was solo).

2) This video was produced by the solicitors, and so perhaps they are slightly exaggerating the effects of the compensation in order to promote themselves.

3) Perhaps these solicitors were more successful than the solicitors used by the other victims? I'm not sure if this is true, though, as I think that many of them used the same firm anyway (Stewarts).

 

[rob666]

After a decade, isn't it about time this discussion was put to bed?
I think we know what happened by now.

 

[MaxPower]

Can't quite believe it's been 10 years already, time is going too quickly these days.

 

[Benzin]

After a decade, isn't it about time this discussion was put to bed?
I think we know what happened by now.

Funnily enough the Madeline McCann case reared its head yesterday as well.

 

[Secret Weapon]

After a decade, isn't it about time this discussion was put to bed?
I think we know what happened by now.

Maybe - although I think that yesterday's discussion was more about the long-term effects rather than the root causes, which are generally now well understood.

Perhaps you are correct that the thread title is no longer relevant to the current discussion, though (perhaps "The Smiler Incident: Aftermath" might now be more appropriate, given that the case was settled in 2019).

Funnily enough the Madeline McCann case reared its head yesterday as well.

I suppose the difference between the Madeleine McCann case and the Smiler accident is that the former is still unresolved.

There are definitely some similarities between the two incidents, though, because - as I said yesterday - the fact that the main victims of the Smiler crash were glamorous young females probably meant that - unfortunately for AT - the incident attracted more media interest than it would have done if the victims had been male and/or older and/or overweight and/or foreign, et cetera.