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The Smiler Incident - What Happened

DiogoJ42 said:
Five million seems like getting off lightly to me. I presume this doesn't include compensation?
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The judge said that this case was only to judge the extent of their legal failings in provide a safe place for workers and visitors etc. and any fine would be totally independent of compensation that would be dealt with in a civil court.
 
The judge said that the fine would have been £7.5 million had the case gone to a trial. The fine was reduced by a third due to the early guilty plea.

:)
 
Jonathan said:
Yeah, I think you're right. Especially with the front cover of the Daily Mirror this morning!
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Tomorrow's chip paper. If anything this pours a bit of cold water onto the ridiculous over heated stories about ride down time and stoppages being a bad thing for safety, as The Mirror try to insinuate at the moment. This verdict moves a lot of the debate away from the coaster itself, which we all no is sound, and on to Merlin management. They are big boys with broad shoulders who know how to handle tabloids. Besides, there's nothing to report during closed season and they would have found many other people to pick on by the spring.

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Statement from Nick Varney:

Nick Varney said:
From the beginning the company has accepted full responsibility for the terrible accident at Alton Towers and has made sincere and heartfelt apologies to those who were injured. I repeat those sentiments here today as we did in court yesterday.

In accepting responsibility and liability very early on we have tried to make the healing and compensation process as trouble free as possible for all of those involved. We have strived to fulfil our promise to support them in every way and I promise that this support will continue as long as they need it.

We were always aware that we would end up here today facing a substantial penalty, as has been delivered by the court today. However, Alton Towers - and indeed the wider Merlin Group - are not emotionless corporate entities. They are made up of human beings who care passionately about what they do. In this context, the far greater punishment for all of us is knowing that on this occasion we let people down with devastating consequences. It is something we will never forget and it is something we are utterly determined will never be repeated.
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There are a few files on the HSE website that may be of interest to some.
http://press.hse.gov.uk/2016/alton-towers-owners-fined-over-smiler-crash/ (zip file is at the bottom of the page)

One of them is an 'expert witness report' which details every event that happened. The other is the full version of the CCTV, which unlike those on the tabloid sites shows that the stalled train actually sat at the top of the inversion for about 20 seconds (which I at least was not aware of). They are saying that the wind didn't play much of a part, however if it was a westerly wind then that almost certainly determined that the train rolled back rather than forwards due to the shaping of the track.

This may have already been said before, apologies if that's the case.
 
James said:
Statement from Nick Varney:
From the beginning the company has accepted full responsibility for the terrible accident at Alton Towers and has made sincere and heartfelt apologies to those who were injured. I repeat those sentiments here today as we did in court yesterday.

In accepting responsibility and liability very early on we have tried to make the healing and compensation process as trouble free as possible for all of those involved. We have strived to fulfil our promise to support them in every way and I promise that this support will continue as long as they need it.

We were always aware that we would end up here today facing a substantial penalty, as has been delivered by the court today. However, Alton Towers - and indeed the wider Merlin Group - are not emotionless corporate entities. They are made up of human beings who care passionately about what they do. In this context, the far greater punishment for all of us is knowing that on this occasion we let people down with devastating consequences. It is something we will never forget and it is something we are utterly determined will never be repeated
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Says the guy with a huge PR team behind him who undoubtedly wrote that. It's good though, don't get me wrong but jeez, how ironic.
 
The guidance was £2m to £6m for this category of offence. I predicted £3.5m, but £5m isn't a huge surpise.

It's worth noting that while Merlin was fined for a 'high culpability' category offence, its lawyers argued for only 'medium culpability' - which the judge rejected.
 
The HSE wanted 'very high culpability' whereas from what I saw yesterday Merlin lawyers claimed 'medium to high culpability'.

:)
 
I have access to the newswires today, and these are the reports from the Press Association (that go to all media outlets).
This is in chronological order from yesterday morning. Will add a second post with today's reports.
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ALTON TOWERS OWNER BACK IN COURT OVER SMILER CRASH
Press Association (26/09/2016 02:45)
Alton Towers operator Merlin is due back in court today over the Smiler rollercoaster crash which left two teenagers needing leg amputations and several other victims with serious injuries.
Merlin Attractions Operations Ltd has been warned to expect a "very large fine" for health and safety breaches which led to a carriage on the #18 million ride smashing into an empty car.
Several of those left trapped on the ride after the crash in June last year will attend a two-day sentencing hearing at Stafford Crown Court.
A court hearing in April this year was told Merlin had conducted an internal investigation following the incident, which established that a worker manually "overrode" the ride's governing computer system.
Indicating a guilty plea to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act, Merlin's barrister told the previous hearing that the company accepted additional measures could have been taken to guard against safety risks.
Lawyers for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have said the 1.1-kilometre Smiler, which opened in 2013, never had "a proper settled system" for staff to follow when carriages stopped on-track.

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ALTON TOWERS OWNER FACING SENTENCING OVER SMILER ROLLERCOASTER CRASH
Press Association (26/09/2016 10:55)
Alton Towers operator Merlin is facing a very large fine over the Smiler rollercoaster crash which left two teenagers needing leg amputations and several other passengers seriously injured.
Merlin Attractions Operations Ltd had already been warned by a judge earlier this year to expect a fine for health and safety breaches which led to a carriage on the #18 million ride smashing into an empty car.
On Monday, several of those left trapped on the ride following the crash in June last year attended the start of what is scheduled to be a two-day sentencing hearing at Stafford Crown Court.
The Recorder of Stafford, Judge Michael Chambers QC, will hear evidence from the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) investigation into the crash, and mitigation from Merlin, before passing sentence.
At the beginning of the hearing, Judge Chambers said: "One of the features is not just the impact on those injured, but on those close to them."
He added that he had read all the victim impact statements. He said the wounds suffered, both physical and psychological, had "changed the lives of the some of those injured, in the most dramatic way".
Vicky Balch and Leah Washington, who each lost a leg in the crash, were in court for the hearing, along with Joe Pugh, Daniel Thorpe and Chandaben Chauhan, who were also seriously hurt.
A hearing in April this year was told that Merlin had carried out its own internal investigation following the incident, which established that a worker manually "overrode" the rollercoaster's governing computer system.
Indicating a guilty plea to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act, Merlin's barrister told the previous hearing that the company accepted that additional measures could have been taken to guard against safety risks.
Lawyers for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have said the Smiler ride, which opened in 2013, never had "a proper settled system" for staff to follow when carriages stopped on the track.

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ALTON TOWERS ROLLERCOASTER COLLISION IMPACT 'LIKE 90MPH CAR CRASH'
Press Association (26/09/2016 13:02)
The impact of the Smiler rollercoaster crash which left five passengers with life-changing injuries was similar to a 90mph car accident, a court heard.
Alton Towers operator Merlin Attractions Operations Ltd has been told it is facing a fine which could top #10 million after admitting a health and safety breach on the 14-loop ride.
Vicky Balch, then 19, and Leah Washington, then 17, who each lost a leg in the crash in June last year and several other people who were trapped for hours attended Stafford Crown Court on Monday for the sentencing hearing.
Prosecuting, Bernard Thorogood told the court that the passengers on the #18 million ride watched with "disbelief and horror" as realised they were going to collide with an empty carriage.
He said the kinetic energy involved in the crash on June 2 2015 was equivalent to "a family car of 1.5 tons having collided at about 90mph".
Opening the case, Mr Thorogood said the test carriage had been sent around the ride but had come to rest in a valley of the track, unseen by ride staff.
The engineers had overriden a computer system which they believed had halted the ride in error - and sent a full car along to the track and into the path of the empty carriage.
"The subsequent collision was plain to see to some in the train, and I refer to those in the front row's statements, where they speak of their disbelief and horror as they saw ahead up the track the train into which there were going to
dive," he said.
The court was told the victims of the crash were held at a "very difficult angle" around 20ft (6m) above ground waiting for medical attention because of the inaccessibility of that part of the ride after the two trains on the ride "meshed together".
Mr Thorogood said that while the mistakes which led to the crash were made by individuals, the ultimate responsibility lies with their employers.
In its investigation, the Health and Safety Executive found that a "near-gale" may have been to blame for the empty carriage failing to clear the Cobra Loop in the first place, following an early problem with one of the ride's lifts.
Mr Thorogood said: "One first empty train was sent to establish the lift was operating normally but, unknown to those present, this train failed to clear the loop - with which this case is unfortunately and sadly concerned.
"The problem was that the head-wind which that train could not overcome."
The Smiler ride itself, it was concluded, was "well-designed", as were the computer and "sophisticated" control systems, while the operator of the ride had followed safe working practices.
It concluded that the defendant, Merlin, fell "far short" when it came to governing the inevitable need for engineers from the park's technical service's department to fix faults on the ride.
However, he added that there was "absolutely no evidence of a task analysis-based approach for engineering work, in particular in dealing with ride faults".
Mr Thorogood, summing up that point, said "engineers revealed a range of understandings to important aspects, which with a single system (of working) there would not be".
Giving an example of the idiosyncratic approach, Mr Thorogood said one engineer who worked on the Smiler that day told investigators after the crash that he had "assumed" the rollercoaster had been fitted with a type of safety trip-switch present on at least one other park ride, when in fact it had not.
He went on to say there were "various states of knowledge" of the fault alarm systems on the ride.
He said: "The staff had come to distrust at that stage the fault signal on occasions and hence they thought that the one that was showing was an error.
"There was nobody, no individual who had to sign off and take responsibility for that event."
At the beginning of Monday's hearing, the Recorder of Stafford, Judge Michael Chambers QC, said: "One of the features is not just the impact on those injured, but on those close to them."
A court hearing in April this year was told that Merlin had carried its own internal investigation following the incident, which established that a worker manually overrode the rollercoaster's governing computer system.
Alton Towers has instituted 30 changes following the crash to improve safety of the ride, the court heard.
Speaking about the potential fine to Merlin, Mr Thorogood said it could be between #3,000 and #10 million, but could be increased even higher should it be found to be a "large organisation".

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14:40
In mitigation for Alton Towers, barrister Simon Antrobus said the company's top executives had accepted responsibility for the crash from the day it happened, and had apologised.
He added: "(The company) accepts its responsibility that this should never have happened and accepted that the accident was attributable to failures that, while they were never intended, would have been avoidable with greater care."
Describing Merlin as "the most reputable operator in this field", he added that the firm employed 8,000 staff across 11 different sites - with more than 120 individual rides - serving 16 million visitors a year.
Mr Antrobus said: "It's a good organisation that made a serious failure, but is one that is of otherwise good character."
Asked by the judge if anyone had resigned as a result of the crash, Mr Antrobus replied: "No."

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ALTON TOWERS SMILER ROLLERCOASTER CRASH 'LIKE 90MPH CAR ACCIDENT'
Press Association (26/09/2016 17:50)
The Smiler rollercoaster crash which left five passengers with life-changing injuries was like a 90mph car accident, a court has heard.
Alton Towers operator Merlin Attractions Operations Ltd is facing a fine of up to #10 million - and possibly more - after admitting a health and safety breach on the thrill-ride.
Vicky Balch, then 19, and Leah Washington, then 17, who each lost a leg in the crash in June last year, and several other people who were trapped for hours attended Stafford Crown Court on Monday for the sentencing hearing.
Prosecuting, Bernard Thorogood told the court that the passengers on the #18 million rollercoaster watched with "disbelief and horror" as they realised they were going to collide with an empty carriage.
He said the kinetic energy involved in the crash on June 2 2015 was equivalent to "a family car of 1.5 tons having collided at about 90mph".
Losses of the parent company as a result of the smash were laid bare by Merlin's barrister Simon Antrobus, who said there had been a #14 million drop in revenue overall.
He said the company had "got the message" on health and safety, having accepted it was at fault and had fallen "far short" of the standards required.
The judge heard the firm's full-year turnover of #384 million in December 2014 was cut to #281 million two months after the crash the following year - after what would be the busiest summer trading period.
By this August, the company was #2.3 million down on the like-for-like figure.
He added that Nicholas Varney, Merlin Entertainments' chief executive - who had apologised for the accident on the day of the crash - had a #581,000 salary last year, adding up to #733,000 with pension payments.
Mr Antrobus revealed the company's directors did not get a bonus in 2015, but that Mr Varney had share options linked to performance targets worth a potential #1.2 million.
When Judge Michael Chambers QC asked Merlin's counsel if anyone had resigned over the failings which led up to the horror crash, Mr Antrobus replied: "No".
The Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) barrister Mr Thorogood said the company's financial loss "cannot properly have been said to have brought the message home".
Opening the case earlier, Mr Thorogood said the test carriage had been sent around the ride but had come to rest in a valley of the track, unseen by ride staff.
The engineers had overridden a computer system which they believed had halted the ride in error - and sent a full car along to the track and into the path of the empty carriage.
"The subsequent collision was plain to see to some in the train, and I refer to those in the front row's statements, where they speak of their disbelief and horror as they saw ahead up the track the train into which they were going to dive," he said.
The court was told the victims of the crash were held at a "very difficult angle" around 20ft (6m) above ground waiting for medical attention because of the inaccessibility of that part of the ride after the two trains on the ride "meshed together".
Among those treated for serious injuries were Joe Pugh and Daniel Thorpe, on the front row, and Chandaben Chauhan, who was in the row behind.
Those three were joined by Miss Balch and Miss Washington in court, together with friends, family and other victims.
Mr Thorogood said that while the mistakes which led to the crash were made by individuals, the ultimate responsibility lay with their employers.
In its investigation, the HSE found that a "near-gale" may have been to blame for the empty carriage failing to clear the Cobra Loop in the first place, following an early problem with one of the ride's lifts.
The Smiler ride itself, it was concluded, was "well-designed", as were the computer and "sophisticated" control systems, while the operator of the ride had followed safe working practices.
It concluded that the defendant, Merlin, fell "far short" when it came to governing the inevitable need for engineers from the park's technical services department to fix faults on the ride.
He added that there was "absolutely no evidence of a task analysis-based approach for engineering work, in particular in dealing with ride faults".
Giving an example of the idiosyncratic approach, Mr Thorogood said one engineer who worked on the Smiler that day told investigators after the crash that he had "assumed" the rollercoaster had been fitted with a type of safety trip-switch present on at least one other park ride, when in fact it had not.
Mr Thorogood added: "The staff had come to distrust at that stage the fault signal on occasions and hence they thought that the one that was showing was an error.
"There was nobody, no individual who had to sign off and take responsibility for that event."
At the beginning of Monday's hearing, the Recorder of Stafford said: "One of the features is not just the impact on those injured, but on those close to them."
The court was told that since the crash, Alton Towers has instituted 30 changes to improve safety of the ride.
Speaking about the potential fine to Merlin, Mr Thorogood said it might fall between #3,000 and #10 million, but could be increased beyond that sum should it be found to be a "large organisation".
Closing the prosecution, Mr Thorogood said there was a "frustration of those on the train that those on the ground did not grasp the enormity of the injuries" suffered by those on the ride.
The court heard that the collision between the two carriages took place at 1.51pm, with the first 999 call made 17 minutes later at 2.08pm.
Reference was also made to previous convictions against Merlin, which included a fine of #300,000 issued at Warwick Crown Court in April 2012 after the death of a person at Warwick Castle, over a separate health and safety breach.
In February 2013, a magistrates' court fined the company more than #20,000 after a worker fell from a walkway at Legoland in Windsor, Berkshire.
Mr Antrobus, mitigating, said the company's top executives had accepted responsibility for the crash from the day it happened, and had apologised.
He added: "(The company) accepts its responsibility that this should never have happened and accepted that the accident was attributable to failures that, while they were never intended, would have been avoidable with greater care."
Describing Merlin as "the most reputable operator in this field", he added that the firm employed 8,000 staff across 11 different sites - with more than 120 individual rides - serving 16 million visitors a year.
Mr Antrobus said: "It's a good organisation that made a serious failure, but is one that is of otherwise good character."
Monday's hearing was adjourned, with the judge now due to sentence the theme park operator on Tuesday.

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ENGINEER 'FELT PRESSURE TO GET ROLLERCOASTER BACK IN SERVICE JUST BEFORE CRASH'
Press Association (26/09/2016 18:26)
An engineer "felt pressure" to get the Smiler ride back into service after it developed a fault - shortly before the devastating crash last June in which five people were seriously injured, a report has said.
The expert witness report, compiled by consultant Stephen Flanagan, also said Alton Towers management linked bonuses to "acceptably low levels of downtime" on their rollercoasters.
It was submitted to Stafford Crown Court as the theme park's owners Merlin Attractions Operations Ltd face a multimillion-pound fine over the collision between two carriages which left the five injured in June 2015.
Two teenage girls - Vicky Balch and Leah Washington - both lost a leg in the crash and were in court as the sentencing hearing started on Monday.
Prosecutor Bernard Thorogood made repeated reference to a report compiled by Mr Flanagan, who inspected fairground rides and amusement parks for the Health and Safety Executive.
In the document, Mr Flanagan said: "It is clear that his (one of the engineer's) priority had become getting the ride quickly back into service, and he felt pressure to that effect."
Neither this claim nor any references to the bonuses was made during the hearing in front of judge Michael Chambers QC.
The report continued: "The evidence provided to me also indicates that management had set targets for downtime on rides, with bonuses linked to achieving acceptably low levels. There were also clocks in the ride control cabins showing the current performance on downtime.
"The operation of fairground rides is generally considered to be a high hazard activity. That is to say that an untoward event such as the one occurring on the Smiler ride would potentially have serious consequences, involving serious
multiple injuries or fatalities.
"Whereas the public perception of the hazards associated with rollercoasters may be focused on the danger of a train parting company with the track, in reality the bigger, and more difficult to resolve issue has always been the hazard of trains colliding on the track."
 
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And today's reports from the courts (so far):

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PRESS ASSOCIATION (27/09/2016 11:11)
Alton Towers operator Merlin Attractions has been fined #5 million at Stafford Crown Court after admitting health and safety breaches over The Smiler rollercoaster crash.

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ALTON TOWERS OWNER FINED Â#5M OVER SMILER ROLLERCOASTER CRASH
Press Association (27/09/2016 11:15)
Alton Towers operator Merlin Attractions has been fined #5 million after admitting health and safety breaches over the Smiler rollercoaster crash.
Two teenagers - Vicky Balch, then 19, and Leah Washington, then 17 - each lost a leg in the collision in June last year which "changed the lives of some of those injured in the most dramatic way", according to a judge.
Stafford Crown Court heard that the victims had watched with "disbelief and horror" before ploughing into an empty carriage on the track, with the impact likened by the prosecution to a 90mph car crash.
The company was fined after the court heard that an engineer "felt pressure" to get Smiler back into service after it developed a fault shortly before the devastating crash.
An expert witness report, compiled by consultant Stephen Flanagan, also said Alton Towers management linked bonuses to "acceptably low levels of downtime" on their rollercoasters.

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Newswires Clip: 27/09/2016 11:46
Merlin Attractions, which operates Alton Towers, been fined 5 million pounds after admitting health and safety breaches in relation to the crash on the Smiler rollercoaster. Two teenagers - Vicky Balch, then 19, and Leah Washington, then 17 - each lost a leg in the collision in June last year.
Neil Craig, the head of operations for the HSE in the Midlands, made this statement outside Stafford Crown Court:
"When people visit theme parks they should be able to enjoy themselves safely. On 2nd June last year, Merlin Attractions Operations Ltd. failed to protect their customers. They let them badly down. It is right that they've been held to account for those failings in a criminal court. // This avoidable incident happened because Merlin failed to put in place systems that allowed their engineers to work safely on the ride while it was running. This made it all too easy for a whole series of unchecked mistakes, not just the single push of a button, to result in tragedy. // Since the incident, Merlin have made improvements to the ride and to their safety protocols and the lessons learned have been shared with the industry."

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Newswires Clip: 27/09/2016 11:51
Paul Paxton from Stewarts Law represented eight of the victims. He gave this statement outside Stafford Crown Court:
"Symbolically and practically, today marks a closure of what has been a long and painful chapter for my clients. One in which they've frequently been exposed to the horrors of that day back in June last year. The court have imposed what we believe is a record fine for the industry but of course money alone will never replace limbs, nor heal the psychological scars. It's worth remembering that this hearing is the first time that my clients have heard the full scale of the criticisms against Merlin. To be candid, they have been shocked and disappointed by the catalogue of errors. The list goes on and on: a catastrophic failure to assess risk; inadequate training; inadequate supervision; inadequate management; failure to communicate; failure to put in place safe systems of work. But this has not been about retribution, this has been about finding out why this accident occurred and making sure that lessons have been learnt, not just by Merlin but by others throughout the industry, and I think my clients can take comfort from that."

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LONDON, Sept 27 (Reuters)
A British court has fined Merlin Entertainments 5 million pounds ($6.5 million) over a rollercoaster crash at its Alton Towers theme park in June last year that seriously injured five people, ITV reported on Tuesday.
The fine was announced at Stafford Crown Court, central England, after Merlin admitted breaching health and safety rules over the accident on "The Smiler" ride.
Two victims of the crash required leg amputations.
Merlin, the world's second-biggest visitor attractions group behind Walt Disney, pleaded guilty to the breach at an April hearing.
The firm said in November its own investigation concluded the crash was caused by human error. It found the manual
override of the ride safety control system was implemented without appropriate protocols being followed.
Since the accident Alton Towers, one of Britain's biggest theme parks, has put in place improved safety measures across its rollercoasters.
Merlin's trade at Alton Towers has suffered since the crash, with the firm predicting a two-year period before visitor
numbers recover fully.
However, shares in the firm have increased 26 percent over the last year, reflecting robust trade in other parts of the
business. They were up 0.8 percent at 466.6 pence at 10.48 GMT.
($1 0.7725 pounds)

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SMILER CRASH: TIMELINE OF EVENTS LEADING TO Â#5M FINE
Press Association (27/09/2016 11:56)
Alton Towers operator Merlin Attractions has been ordered to pay #5 million following an accident last June in which five people were seriously injured.
Here is a timeline of the case:
:: May 2013 - The Smiler rollercoaster opens at the theme park in Staffordshire and is billed as the world's first 14-loop rollercoaster.
:: June 2 2015, 1.51pm - A carriage carrying 16 riders collides with a stationary one on the ride.
:: June 2 2015, 2.08pm - The first 999 call is made following the incident, with West Midlands Ambulance Service reporting that, of the 16 riders on board, four were said to have serious injuries. Other emergency services arrive on the scene within the hour.
:: June 2 2015 - Chief executive of Merlin Entertainments Nick Varney issues a statement saying: "This has been a terrible incident and a devastating day for everyone here." He added the park would remain closed until the cause of the accident was better understood.
:: June 8 2015 - The resort reopens but its X-Sector - which houses The Smiler - remains closed to allow the Health and Safety Executive access to the ride for investigations. Two rides at other Merlin Entertainments parks, Thorpe Park, and Chessington World of Adventures, both in Surrey, were closed until new safety protocols were implemented.
:: June 8 2015 - It is revealed that one of the victims - Leah Washington, then aged 17 - had to have her left leg amputated above the knee. Vicky Balch, then 19, also loses a leg in the crash, with several others injured.
:: September 11 2015: Victims of the crash praise the efforts of their rescuers at an awards ceremony. Ms Washington said: "The crews have been amazing, they were really caring at the time and also visited me in hospital afterwards which was lovely of them," while Daniel Thorpe said: "They were extremely professional throughout the rescue and even their presence was a huge comfort during a traumatic time."
:: September 17 2015 - Alton Towers owner Merlin Entertainments reveals the financial impact of the Smiler incident. Like-for-like revenues tumble by 11.4% across its theme park division over the first nine months of its financial year after seeing "significantly" lower numbers of visitors to Alton Towers, while other UK attractions, such as Thorpe Park, were also hit.
:: November 24 2015 - Merlin Entertainments says the crash was caused by "human error" and there were "no technical or mechanical problems with the ride itself".
:: February 25 2016 - The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) announces the operator of Alton Towers is to be prosecuted under the Health and Safety at Work Act over the Smiler incident. Neil Clark, of the HSE, said: "This was a serious incident with life-changing consequences for five people. We have conducted a very thorough investigation and consider that there is sufficient evidence and that it is in the public interest to bring a prosecution."
:: February 29 - Alton Towers confirms the Smiler is to reopen when the park opens for its summer season on March 19.
:: April 22 - Merlin Attractions Operations Ltd indicates a plea of guilty to a charge of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act over the Smiler rollercoaster crash at the North Staffordshire Justice Centre in Newcastle-under-Lyme. District Judge Jack McGarva warns that the company "may be ordered to pay a very large fine".
:: September 26 - At a sentencing hearing at Stafford Crown Court, it emerges that an engineer at the park "felt pressure" to get Smiler back into service after it developed a fault shortly before the devastating crash. An expert witness report, compiled by consultant Stephen Flanagan, also said Alton Towers management linked bonuses to "acceptably low levels of downtime" on its rollercoasters.
:: September 27 - The company is fined #5 million for what Judge Michael Chambers QC tells the court was a "catastrophic failure" of its health and safety procedures.

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PRESS ASSOCIATION (27/09/2016 12:13)
In a statement read outside court, Merlin Entertainments chief executive Nick Varney said the company had "let people down with devastating consequences".
Mr Varney said: "From the beginning the company has accepted full responsibility for the terrible accident at Alton Towers and has made sincere and heartfelt apologies to those who were injured.
"I repeat those sentiments here today as we did in court yesterday.
"In accepting responsibility and liability very early on we have tried to make the healing and compensation process as trouble free as possible for all of those involved.
"We have strived to fulfil our promise to support them in every way and I promise that this support will continue as long as they need it.
"We were always aware that we would end up here today facing a substantial penalty, as has been delivered by the court today.
"However, Alton Towers - and indeed the wider Merlin Group - are not emotionless corporate entities.
"They are made up of human beings who care passionately about what they do.
"In this context, the far greater punishment for all of us is knowing that on this occasion we let people down with devastating consequences.
"It is something we will never forget and it is something we are utterly determined will never be repeated."

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ALTON TOWERS FINED Â#5M FOR SMILER CRASH AFTER 'CATASTROPHIC' SAFETY BREACH
Press Association (27/09/2016 14:09)
Alton Towers operator Merlin Attractions has been fined #5 million for a "catastrophic failure" of health and safety rules over the Smiler rollercoaster crash.
Two teenagers - Vicky Balch, then 19, and Leah Washington, then 17 - could have bled to death from their injuries and each ended up losing a leg after the collision in June last year.
A mother-of-two who was on the ride with her grown-up daughters welcomed the "justice" of the fine, but said the physical and mental impact of the crash continued.
The victims, left suspended in the ride 20ft (6m) above ground for up to five hours, are now expected to seek civil compensation.
Lawyers for eight of those hurt said the fine was believed to be the largest ever of its kind for a leisure industry company.
Stafford Crown Court had heard that the passengers watched with "disbelief and horror" before ploughing into an empty carriage on the track, with the impact likened to a 90mph car crash.
The court was told that engineers overrode the computer system which had correctly stopped the ride because they believed it was an error, allowing the passenger carriage to collide with the empty car.
It was found that while the ride and control systems were sound, Merlin had failed to put in place proper systems and a suitable risk assessment for safe running leading.
The company was fined after a HSE investigation found an engineer "felt pressure" to get Smiler back into service after it developed a fault shortly before the devastating crash.
However, Merlin totally rejected any suggestion that it put money before public safety, adding that the judge made no reference to that part of the HSE's report in sentencing.
That expert witness report, compiled by consultant investigator Stephen Flanagan, also said Alton Towers management linked bonuses to "acceptably low levels of downtime" on their rollercoasters.
Sentencing, Judge Michael Chambers QC said the "obvious shambles of what occurred" could have been "easily avoided" by a suitable written system to deal with ride faults and a proper risk assessment.
Shortfalls in oversight and training were also identified.
The judge added: "This was a needless and avoidable accident in which those injured were fortunate not to have been killed or bled to death."
He said: "Those in the front row bore the brunt of the collision and had their legs crushed in the tangled steel."
Mr Chambers added that all 16 people in the carriage had been "injured to various degrees", adding that the company's safety failure had resulted in "putting at risk the safety of thousands of young people and children".
The judge said: "The defendant now accepts the prosecution case that the underlying fault was an absence of a structured and considered system - not that of individuals' efforts, doing their best within a flawed system."
Miss Balch, Miss Washington, fellow front-row passengers Joe Pugh and Daniel Thorpe, and Chandaben Chauhan, who was sitting in the second row, were all seriously injured when their packed carriage was crushed against the other car.
Lawyers for Merlin said the company had seen a #14 million drop in revenue as a result of the crash, and had "got the message", making 30 changes to safety measures, equipment and training.
The Smiler reopened earlier this year.
No-one from the firm has resigned over the incident, and after the hearing company chief executive Nick Varney ignored repeated questions from reporters as to whether he would step down.
Speaking outside court, he again apologised for the incident and said bosses were "not emotionless corporate entities".
"In that respect, the far bigger punishment for all of us is the knowledge that on this occasion we let people down with such devastating consequences," he said.
"It is something none of us will ever forget and it is something we are utterly determined will never be repeated."
Speaking after the hearing, Paul Paxton, of Stewart's Law, representing eight victims, said: "The court have imposed what we believe is a record fine for the industry, but of course money alone will never replace limbs nor heal the psychological scars."
He added: "But this has not been about retribution; this has been about finding out why this accident occurred and making sure lessons have been learned not just by Merlin but by others throughout the industry and I think my clients can take comfort from that."
Outside court, Ms Chauhan, from Wednesbury in the West Midlands, who suffered serious abdominal injuries in the crash, said: "It is justice on what they've done."
She added: "My personal message to Merlin, to the legal side - just do the right thing and look after us all.
"Psychologically, (the) psychiatric effects on people are invisible but they are there, do not be fooled. We struggle every day with it."
 
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This interview with Ms Chauhan reminded me how serious and long lasting the psychological damage has been for some of the people involved. Also until now I thought Merlin were doing a good job of taking care of them but the interview suggests they may not be.

 
Given what has come out over the past few days, I think £5m is pretty fair. They really screwed up, more than we initially thought.

Still, there is an opportunity to move on* now having learned various things that will be factored into current and future procedures at the park, across the group and the industry as a whole.

* While continuing to support those injured, as appropriate.
 
After reading the expert report the bit I was surprised about was the electrical engineer wasn't aware the fifth train had been put on. He then went to the bottom of lift 2 and pressed the reset block button along with the op pressing it in the control panel. I'm amazed he never saw the valleyed train whilst doing this.
 
Dan said:
After reading the expert report the bit I was surprised about was the electrical engineer wasn't aware the fifth train had been put on. He then went to the bottom of lift 2 and pressed the reset block button along with the op pressing it in the control panel. I'm amazed he never saw the valleyed train whilst doing this.
Click to expand...

Agree, and I feel this has been brushed over somewhat. All the blame has been given to Merlin for inadequate training procedures, but surely some blame has to be given to the engineer if he failed to even notice the stalled train sitting on the track.
 
andeyhart said:
Agree, and I feel this has been brushed over somewhat. All the blame has been given to Merlin for inadequate training procedures, but surely some blame has to be given to the engineer if he failed to even notice the stalled train sitting on the track.
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I get your point, but at what stage is a company accountable for creating a culture that leads to its employees taking such risks? I agree it's pretty shocking that he didn't notice and he and the op will have to live with this for the rest of their lives, but what kind of a culture did he work in at the time where he would have felt pressurised to get the the ride moving again?

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From looking at the report I get the impression there was one empty train which stalled near the second lift hill, which was then manually pushed onto the lift hill. They then sent round the second empty train which stalled on the bat wing. I'm not familiar with the layout of the Smiler - are these stalls on different parts of the track? If so that might explain part of the reason the engineer thought it was clear - as he was looking in the place the first train had stalled.

If I've understood it correctly it reiterates the case that they shouldn't have been running the Smiler in those conditions (e.g. wind speed), as two trains stalled one after the other.
 
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