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War Hero Not Allowed To Ride Air - News Article

If, going by what they say, B&M have changed the restrictions, then there is not much they can do. I do, however, feel that signage should have been more clear as to what the new restrictions are. It was always the case that riders on air had to have 3 fully functioning limbs in order to ride. The new policy seems to suggest that they cannot ride if they have any lower leg amputation.
 
I can understand that there may be safety issues as to why he couldn't ride, due to the way Air locks you in. But I think Alton certainly could have handled this better - the British public don't take kindly to any perceived mistreatment of soldiers, and it's bound to draw fire from the 'Sport R Troopz' kinda people. He'll, I wouldn't be surprised if we see another of those annoying complaint posts on the Alton Towers Facebook page that gets hundreds and thousands of likes and simple-minded comments.
 
Thing is, its always said please remove artificial limbs before riding. Due to airs restraint system and the fact you need your legs restrained. I can't see how H&S would let them do it.

No point mentioning he's a war hero or not, he's still an ordinary person and if its unsafe for him to ride, its unsafe.

I swear the article is tipped to say he's ridden air before, but it was also mentioned he'd ridden other rides before.

Either way, stupid article... I wouldn't think he should get a refund either, it was just one ride... This is only in the paper because he's a "war hero"

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I think this is more down to mismanagement and miscommunication than the actual refusal of the ride. If he'd been given the correct information beforehand, such as when he asked whether all the rides would be OK to ride, then this wouldn't be a story. It's more the fact that he was told everything would be alright and then was refused by the ride host - I can understand why you would be quite irritated by the whole thing.

As for the "war hero" element - it's the classic jingoistic Mail - what else do you expect?
 
I see this as a miscommunication in the Guest Services department. The stated that all rides should be suitable for him to ride, however when it came to boarding, he was refused. Evidently, the wrong information was given to him initially, and hence this became a 'story' the DM thought worth reporting. The Ride Hosts information differed from Guest Services, which is the key issue here.

I also agree with the tremendous overuse of the word 'hero'. The guy has done good, we can't take that away from him, however that doesn't mean the entire world has to bow down to him (as the DM have. Tendency to make us think we should), however as I say, this appears to be more the media making an issue out of... well, nothing.

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This angers me.

If Alton had permitted him to ride and he had sustained an injury or worse, then they'd be to blame. It's a situation where they couldn't have won.
 
Clearly a hyped up story, I cant believe how this article ignores that it could be seen that tis guy riding it could put him and others in potential danger. Of course the alternative article they would have written would have been "WAR HERO INJURED BY ALTON TOWERS IGNORANCE OF H&S" So really they loose out either way.
 
B&M have changed their restrictions with some of their rides. Air is one of them. Johno was refused entry to the ride due to the new restriction recommended by B&M to Alton Towers.

As usual the Daily Fail have tried to inflate it to create some 'dramatic' news.
 
What does being a 'war hero' have to do with him being unsafe to ride?

"Sorry sir, we can't let you ride, it's too dangerous" "Ah, but I was in the army" "Oh, why didn't you say? Here, come sit at the front, and hey, here's free fastpasses for life, you hero."

And then the worst happens and then "Ageing attraction at deathtrap theme park kills war hero".
 
Completely agree with you Blaze. There is nothing they can do. It's not their fault that the ride would be unsafe if he had riden it!
 
To be fair, I'd imagine that after being in a war Air would seem even more boring to him than to everyone else, he wasn't really missing much.
 
You would have thought a sensationalist national news paper could atleast use an up to date aerial photo and it be of the correct area.
 
The daily mail don't recognise rollercoaster safety given to theme parks by the manufacturer, very strange newspaper
 
Alton should of made all staff that needed to know about this change, knew about it. that includes customer contact points. But oversights do happen.

I can see the reason for this restriction on riding air, and as long as it is communicated correctly to guest that request the information. they should not be a problem.

The Daily Fail/Biggot, misses out important bits of information. like the potential dangers to him, if he rode air. and drags the Paralympics into it too. ::)

Just a thought could a slip in place restraint be designed for riders with below knee amputation?
 
There are issues for Alton here, clearly they have not effectively communicated the change to guests and it wouldn't surprise me if the entrance and Guest Services staff who issue disabled wristbands where not told about the change as Towers is terrible at communicating between departments.

That said the Daily Mail have shown their usual brand of stupidity in the article suggesting they should essentially put this "war hero" at risk and I do question why he sold the story to the Daily Stupid before actually speaking to the park. Though maybe its just Daily Mails stupid reporting style the suggests he hadn't already contacted the park.
 
Of course though, The Mirror would report it first. They hammed it up so much that when my friend visited today, he said the park wasn't the busiest. Would this have any connection? And trust the tabloids to put a image of him fighting as sympathy. Yes he is a war hero, but no detailed picture of Air's restraints and how it works.

Some of the Mail's overreaction is so typical and ridculous. Where was the mention of Air and the Towers' immaculate safety record?

‘They kept throwing health and safety at me.' - Well that's concern from the staff, it all depends between each staff. Each staff member is taught H&S and in this day and age I wouldn't be surprised if this happens more often in other professions with discrimination.

And from the Mirror's interpretation, it was much less hammed up with fancy words and didn't anger me as much as this. I respect Johno and I think it is wrong, but I am furious with the tabloids... but it's the Daily Fail. I should get used to it. I'll just calm down with viewing some more SW7 pics.

And lol at the old Towers picture at the bottom.
 
according to the comments Alton Towers should be ashamed"and that "war heroes" should be allowed in for free... yup because we all are second class citizens compared to them.
 
I'm probably tempting fate a bit by saying this, but when I checked Towers' FB page earlier, I was surprised at the lack of comments on this story. It probably was a miscommunication at some point along the line. At the end of the day, health and safety is the most important thing , and Towers did the right thing by not allowing him to ride, although I can understand why he's annoyed.

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