Unsafe rides

[Lisa.willsher]

My daughter nearly fell out of a ride at Alton Towers yesterday due to staff not checking her harness. Her legs were not secured on galactica. If it wasn't for her own strength who knows the injuries that could of happened!
My daughter made a complaint straight away but has not been taken seriously!!
What if both harnesses had failed?? We are both shocked upset and traumatised by this.
I've had a live chat and investigation is on going but I feel I need to post on here as a case of urgency and warning others as I don't think direct action is being g taken therefore others are in danger
If this hadn't been a young strong healthy teenager you'd of see this on the news as most would not have had the strength to lift their legs throughout the whole ride!! Resulting in serious leg injuries!! Or worse!!!
Alton Towers this is not acceptable

Update. Ava has told me the ride stopped and started twice clearly indicating something was wrong but no checks made by staff!! It just went. She looked over to a member of staff who she believes saw her legs not strapped in but it just went anyway. She screamed IM NOT STRAPPED IN!!!

 

[Mykeprime]

Back when it was Air, on my first ride the seats lowered down again because I hadn't properly pulled down the restraint and an operator came to make sure I was secure before they could lift up again and release the train. Freaked me out a bit, but there was no danger; The ride prevents dispatch completely if everything isn't fully locked in.

 

[Thameslink Rail]

Back when it was Air, on my first ride the seats lowered down again because I hadn't properly pulled down the restraint and an operator came to make sure I was secure before they could lift up again and release the train. Freaked me out a bit, but there was no danger; The ride prevents dispatch completely if everything isn't fully locked in.

I think she means the leg restraints were locked but her daughter's legs were not in the restraints.

 

[Plastic Person]

Unfortunately I am seemingly unable to tell the difference between what I've seen on the internet and witnessed in reality, but I am sure I have seen Air/Galactica dispatch with a loose leg or two on a couple of previous occasions over the years. I expect that it's pretty uncomfortable, but unlikely to result in serious injury. Obviously it should absolutely not be happening, but there is absolutely net-zero chance of the main restraint, that which takes the weight of guests, failing. The 'stopping and starting' referred to is quite common, and demonstrative of the ride's safety protocols, which are extremely sensitive by any coaster's standards. This instance sounds like a failure of observation by the ride hosts on the platform.

Sorry to hear your daughter went through this, and here's hoping the park take responsibility with an appropriate response.

 

[jibbsie]

Unfortunately I am seemingly unable to tell the difference between what I've seen on the internet and witnessed in reality, but I am sure I have seen Air/Galactica dispatch with a loose leg or two on a couple of previous occasions over the years. I expect that it's pretty uncomfortable, but unlikely to result in serious injury. Obviously it should absolutely not be happening, but there is absolutely net-zero chance of the main restraint, that which takes the weight of guests, failing. The 'stopping and starting' referred to is quite common, and demonstrative of the ride's safety protocols, which are extremely sensitive by any coaster's standards. This instance sounds like a failure of observation by the ride hosts on the platform.

Sorry to hear your daughter went through this, and here's hoping the park take responsibility with an appropriate response.

a similar incident has occoured on the same ride model in america, although I believe the opps caught it on the lift hill before it entered the course,

Also rides stopping and starting, or even the train rasing or lowering multiple times is perfectly fine especially on this ride model, each train has 250+ sensors, each one has to read as good to allow the train to rise, then depart, if one indicates bad for a seccond it will stop the lifting process, these bad readings are bound to happen with so many sensors, in adition stopping and starting may be a ride attendant letting go of the dispatch button for a seccond either by accident or they saw a guest doing something (it has to be held to allow the train to enter the station)

 

[Josh555]

‘Nearly fell out’, it’s obviously not great and she could potentially have sustained leg injuries I guess if her legs were dangling and hit something but she didn’t nearly fall out, the actual harness was securely locked which is what keeps you in the train, not the leg harnesses.

 

[Leigh]

Just wanted to jump in and echo a lot of what was said above - B&M flyers have been built with clearances such that, even with legs fully extended outside of the leg guards, there is no danger to the rider due to legs breeching clearance. In addition, the primary OTSR is designed to be sufficient to hold the entire body into the train without the leg guards; although I can appreciate it would be a very uncomfortable and unpleasant experience.

 

[imanautie]

Just wanted to jump in and echo a lot of what was said above - B&M flyers have been built with clearances such that, even with legs fully extended outside of the leg guards, there is no danger to the rider due to legs breeching clearance. In addition, the primary OTSR is designed to be sufficient to hold the entire body into the train without the leg guards; although I can appreciate it would be a very uncomfortable and unpleasant experience.

Plus they are safe even not in flying position aren't they?

 

[Lisa.willsher]

Back when it was Air, on my first ride the seats lowered down again because I hadn't properly pulled down the restraint and an operator came to make sure I was secure before they could lift up again and release the train. Freaked me out a bit, but there was no danger; The ride prevents dispatch completely if everything isn't fully locked in.

Her legs were dangerling. The restraint wasn't locked and the ride did not alarm. No checks were made. Unfortunately the system failed
She had to hold her legs up the entire ride.

 

[Burbs]

We have taken the decision as a team to lock this topic. @Lisa.willsher we advise that you await a response from Alton Towers themselves about this matter, as it’s not something we can really help with on the forum any more than what has already been posted above.

Thank you.